East meets West

Chicken Pilaf and Egyptian Day At School

2012-02-10T10:34:00.017+01:00

Chicken Pilaf

While the kids were excited about Egyptian Day and have probably learnt quite a bit about pharaohs, mummies and ancient Egypt, mums like myself were up to here (picture the chin) having to run around getting a costume ready, find material to help them create their projects (e.g. posters, models...) and cook something for the Egyptian lunch.

Part of the small buffet spread (didn't feel that there was enough food this year)

I actually had a costume tailor-made (for 250rmb!) last year when Baby Girl was in Year 3 so I was keen for Baby Boy to use it. It took some heavy-handed negotiation as he refused to "wear a skirt". I had to throw in a pharaoh's headdress, a jewel-studded stick, a necklace and the threat not to contribute anything to the buffet to get the boy to agree to wearing said costume. It was well-worth it as he looked quite splendid in the set-up and I believe that he had a great time this morning.

The Pharaoh with his Mummy best friend

I also managed to find an ingenious way to avoid having to work on our friend's project. Kids' projects are often parents' projects, who was the school trying to kid? I was inspired while picking up Lego pieces all over the house to suggest to the boy that he make a pyramid (model) out of Lego. I must admit that he surprised me. Took under 2 hours to build a pyramid - all on his own - and even thought of building an entrance leading to a chamber where a body was being mummified...Isn't he clever or what?

Baby Boy's Lego Pyramid

See the cadaver inside?

For the buffet, I wanted to make life easy and just bring fruit. I mean what did the ancient Egyptians eat besides bread, beer and foie gras? But baby Boy objected to it, which was just as well since most of the other parents brought bread or fruit which would make the meal a little too healthy kids being kids. I made 2 portions of Chicken Pilaf this morning and it was one of the few mains on offer which explained why it disappeared within minutes of lunch starting.

Chicken (Lamb/Beef/Shrimp) Pilaf :

500g chicken thigh meat (deboned)

100g plain yoghurt

1½ tbsp curry powder

1 tsp pepper

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp butter

1 small onion (chopped)

2 bay leaves

5-6 curry leaves

1 small cinnamon bark

4 whole cloves

4 green cardamom seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tbsp ground coriander seeds

2-3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

2-3 cups basmati rice (rinsed and drained)

3-5 cups chicken stock

½ tsp salt

Garnishing (optional)

raisins

sliced almonds (dry roasted)

fresh coriander leaves

fresh mint leaves

fried shallots

Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and marinate them with the curry powder, pepper and yoghurt for a few hours. Only salt as you are cooking the meat.

In a frying pan heat a bit of oil till smoking and brown the chicken pieces. Remove and set aside.

Heat up the vegetable oil in a large pot and fry the onions, bay leaves, curry leaves, whole spices, ground spices and ginger-garlic paste till fragrant.

If using vegetables like peas, long beans or carrots (all chopped, of course), add them now.

Add the butter and the basmati rice and coat the grains thoroughly with the fragrant oil.

Stir the cooked chicken into the rice. Pour in the chicken stock, stir in the salt. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, then lower the heat to the lowest and let the rice cook in its own steam for 15-20 minutes.

Before serving fluff up the rice with a fork and garnish with raisons, nuts, fresh herbs, fried shallots etc. As the school has a nut-free policy and kids usually do not like to eat anything green, I cooked a very simple Chicken Pilaf for the occasion.

A few of the projects presented by the other Year 3s

Bacon Loaf and Coffee & Almond Bread Rolls @ ABC Cooking Studio

2012-02-06T05:53:00.013+01:00

Bacon Loaf

Judy, Fei and I have signed up for a total of 6 bread and cake-making lessons at ABC Cooking Studio (SWFC branch) so we were there before Christmas to make a Bacon Loaf and Coffee & Almond Bread Rolls. We have been having the same instructor from the last session whom we are pretty fond of, for she's an expat housewife like us (Taiwanese married to a Malaysian) only she has no kids so she had loads of time to kill. Otherwise I suppose one wouldn't want to work for peanuts.

Coffee and almond rolls

I realise that the members of my family prefer savoury breads to the sweet ones. The kids still rave about the bacon loaf and ham rolls, but refused to touch the coffee ones. I am unfortunately not much capable of sitting through the proofing periods required for making bread, so they haven't been seeing much of it at home.

The proofing and baking ovens at ABC cooking studio

We are still left with 2 cake-making sessions and should be going for them in March, in between mosaic and Chinese calligraphy workshops.

Bacon Loaf :

125g high gluten bread flour

1½ tsp dried yeast

1 tbsp sugar

165ml water

125g high gluten bread flour

⅔ tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried basil leaves

⅓ tsp garlic powder

Garnishing

2 tbsp parmesan cheese (grated)

2 bacon slices

Method :

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Combine ingredients A in a bowl taking care to place the yeast next to the sugar.

Combine ingredients B in another bowl.

Our Taiwanese instructor and my 2 neighbours

Combine doughs A and B. Knead till smooth. Roll the dough into a rectangle.

Sprinkle ingredients C onto it and roll it into a log bottom up. Fold the log into 2 and knead it to mix everything well together.

Form a ball, cover with clingwrap and proof in a warm environment (e.g. 41°C) for 25 minutes.

Poke a floured finger into the middle of the dough. It should come out clean. Gently punch the dough 3 times to remove the air in it, form it into a ball, cover with a wet cloth and proof it on the table for 10 minutes.

Using a rolling pin gently press the shape of a cross on the surface of the dough.

Roll out a 24cm by 15cm dough. Garnish with the cheese and bacon. Roll into a log bottom up.

Slice ⅔ of the roll into 2. Holding on to both strips, plait the dough, overlapping each strip alternatively.

Gently put it into a loaf tin. Cover with the wet cloth and proof for 20 minutes.

Bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes.

If planning to store the loaf, let it cool completely first.

Walking Around Shanghai (Fuxing Park, People's Square...)

2012-02-06T05:46:00.021+01:00

Dance demo at Fuxing Park...with Marx looking on

Shanghai is much more a city for business (and eventually international cuisines) than culture or tourism. Almost everybody who came to visit would leave impressed but unconvinced. After you've gone round the parks, gardens, temples, old houses, small shops, skyscrapers and few lousy museums, there isn't usually much else to do except the usual eating or shopping (and even then).

But better be in Shanghai then anywhere else in China or life would not be as convenient, clean or comfortable.

When JW was here I tried to bring her round to see the usual tourist spots, as well as catch the locals in their habitat. One such place was People's Square - on a Sunday.

We know that for a few decades now China has enforced a one-child policy across the country. Shanghai as an important city therefore has many families with only one child. This usually translates to parents (and grandparents) doting on their precious one progeny, wanting the best for him/her.

I was told by many people here that boys generally have a tough time in Shanghai. Most are expected to own a flat/house before they could find a wife, and when they do, many of the girls would expect to have their names on the deed. Then the guy is also expected to turn over his salary to his wife and do at least his share of the housework.

To cut a long story short, a number of the city's marriageable population finds itself still single. So their parents may take things into their hands and gather at People's Square on Sundays to help look for a spouse for their children.

I need a DIL to cook for me...

We were swamped when we arrived. Since JW was obviously white, they wondered if she was offering a white boy or girl to their marriage mart (think foreign passport); I was asked if I was married (they must have thought I was an old spinster) and if I had a flat (some old guy's son had no flat so it would be difficult to find a local girl)!

Selling daughter selling son!

Everyone was holding a piece of paper with their progeny's CV on it : age, sex, height, weight, monthly income, property ownership (including description of the place), expectations of the opposite sex (whose, I wonder?)...Some even had photographs and usually the person in it would be quite good looking.

Found anyone you like here?

There was a corner where an entrepreneur offered matchmaking services and another corner where from the look of things the offerings were a little more um...mature. My driver's guess was that some of those ladies earned well and were good looking and therefore had high expectations, but they waited too long and were getting past their teeth...

Matchmaking corner

The square near the modern art museum used to be a race course but now it's all proper and legal. There are cafés and restaurants and of course lots of shopping malls all around. On a good day, this is the place to go to for a breather in between shopping sprees.

The lake at Fuxing park

We also visited Fuxing Park. It sounds very Chinese but used to be a French park open only to the French. Located in the former French Concession, Fuxing park is styled after your typical Parisian city park with tree-lined walks, flower beds and a lake in the middle.

Chess at Fuxing park

We were greeted by couples dancing everywhere when we arrived. It was like an open ballroom. There were also families flying kites in the field, a few kids kicking a soccer ball, people playing chess, a few others practising Tai Chi near the water...

I got him to carve stamps for my kids (so-so)

Airing your wet linen in Tianzifang

With JW we also walked around Yu Yuan Gardens, Tianzifang, Xintiandi, Dongtai Antiques Market, the Bund, a few temples...I must admit that if she had stayed another week I would have run out of ideas as to where else to bring her. This year I will make it a point to discover more of Shanghai so that I wouldn't bore myself visiting the same places again and again.

Chinese New Year 2012

2012-02-05T10:47:00.017+01:00

CNY 2012

I left Singapore in September 1995 and have probably celebrated Chinese New Year once before I got married. After that it was too expensive to travel home just for a week, with summer being the preferred period for home visits.

When we arrived in Shanghai last year, it was just a week before the CNY, so we "celebrated" our first CNY in Asia riding on the free-flow firecrackers around us. Shanghai is usually dead during the holidays as its large migrant population closes all shops/restaurants/services and head home, so we weren't too impressed with the experience.

2 months ago we realised that we would be having a week-long break towards the end of January - because it'd soon be the CNY! And the year of the (water) dragon too. We decided to visit Singapore now that we're closer, but many others had the same idea so SQ was fully booked months in advance. We therefore booked ourselves on China Eastern which honestly was a mistake. In this day and age there is still a regular airline that doesn't offer inflight entertainment, that serves horrible meals (piled high on top of the trolley), that doesn't give you a new set of pillows and blankets on a new flight!

Still, it was exciting celebrating my first CNY in 16 years with my family. What I missed was the reunion dinner on the eve of CNY, embracing the traditions of giving red packets and oranges, staying up late, sleeping with lucky money, watching the Hongbao show on TV, checking out the lanterns in the Chinese garden, doing a spot of last-minute shopping in the night markets, visiting friends and relations, lo-hei, wearing new clothes, catching the Chingay procession...everything I have given up when I started living overseas and married a European.

年年有余

When the Teenager was very small, I kept up with a few of the traditions and organised steamboat dinners with Chinese friends during CNY. Then it fizzled out because Hub never seemed interested enough in my traditions, keeping anyway the barest minimum of his own. Then the babies came along, we moved around more and more and CNY just moved to the back of my mind (and priorities).

This year I stuck 2 red paper cuttings of the character 福 (luck, prosperity) on my doors though I would stop there as I personally find it a little vulgar the Chinese obsession with money (钱 or 财) all times of the year. We should wish for good health and for things to go smoothly - and everything else would follow. You could have all the money in the world, but if you do not have the health to enjoy it, it would be worth nothing.

Lo-Hei

Mum had to help refresh my memory of what needed to be done for CNY, though I didn't participate in the praying since I wouldn't be doing that when the parents leave the world. I wanted to visit the night markets but the skies refused to cooperate, sending the rain promised by the Water Dragon down on us almost every evening.

Treasure pot

We ate reunion dinner as a family though : my own, my brother's and my parents. Only my sis was missing, but she had her Hub's family to eat dinner with. It was an expensive meal filled with lucky and prosperous-sounding dishes though the kids and Hub failed to appreciate it. I had my first lo-hei in donkey years - and still only ate the crackers. But I ate through everything else, especially my favourite Kum Hiong 金香Crabs.

金香Crabs

On the first day we visited my 3rd uncle. It was to be our only visit as most of the relations would gather there so that there would be no need to do the rounds like we used to when we were kids. It was a little disappointing, but let's face it : at my age, most of my parents' older relatives that we used to visit would be dead and we would have little to do with their children or grandchildren. For my parents, with no longer any kids to drag along, they've probably lost most real interest in the visiting so they ended up staying at home watching TV for the past decade. Since we've never been into CNY gambling, we never got into hosting big gatherings either, so all was calm.

This is sad, I suppose. But like everything else there's a time (and place) for celebrating CNY. Take Shanghai, for instance. My Shanghainese friends told me that with small families they no longer see any point in celebrating CNY either. In the big city which becomes dead with most of the migrant workers gone they also fail to gather enough atmosphere for the occasion, having to cook their own meals and just hang around waiting for the shops to open again. Those who can afford it would take the opportunity to travel, since there are basically only 2 holiday periods in China : CNY and the Golden Week in October.

But I talked to my hairdresser yesterday who as a migrant worker went home to his village in Sichuan. There it was the big occasion with waxed meats, big meals (but no touching of sharp objects or fire on the first day), a sharper observance of the traditions, gambling and big red packets. Since he was single, he came home with thousands of Chinese yuan in red packet money. Compared to the 122S$ that each of my kids amassed in their week in Singapore...

红包 money of course is an interesting part of CNY especially for the children. And nowadays it's not like before, you can't usually get your kids to surrender their hoard to you. The amount of money you put into your red packets could also be a study of the differences between the Chinese in different parts of the world.

I was quite surprised to discover that inflation has not reached angpow money in Singapore. When I was a kid (very long ago), we usually received between S$2 and $10. Apparently kids still receive the same amount today 2-4 decades later. A check with my HK and Chinese friends revealed that the Mainlanders (even my driver) put at least 200 rmb (about S$40) in their red packets, if not 500, even 1800rmb!

They seemed a little more reasonable in Hong Kong though, kids usually get between 40 and 80 HKD (in pairs of red packets though) and elderly parents will get much more. I chose to do $6, $8, $12, $18 on average. We agreed that the red packet is a way of giving blessing, so the money shouldn't matter. It shouldn't ruin the giver, shouldn't be a race to see who can give more, shouldn't provide one with yet another opportunity to show off one's wealth. And kids shouldn't become greedy about receiving red packets. There is the whole year for one to show one's family that one cares, why wait for the CNY?

One thing we agreed with Hub and the kids at the end of our stay was that a week is too short a time for visiting Singapore. There was so much I couldn't do, so many friends I couldn't meet up with, so many things I've yet to eat.

年年高升

Sticky rice cake dipped in egg and pan fried

We are coming to the end of the CNY - tomorrow? I fried my own sticky rice cake年糕 (offered by Hub's Chinese colleague) for the occasion, nudged the kids to let off a few of the harmless fireworks (to no avail), and will go to bed wondering what I could/should do next year to make CNY a more meaningful occasion for my kids and myself.

祝大家龙年大吉，身体健康，万事如意。

Xiaolongbao小笼包Class at the Chinese Cooking Workshop, Pudong

2012-02-03T14:45:00.010+01:00

My 小笼包

Xiaolongbao小笼包 is a famous Shanghainese delicacy that, in my humble opinion, is only edible when it's good. I say that because I have tried it at so many restaurants in my one year here, including at the famous Nanxiang Xiaolongbao chain of restaurants (with long queues everywhere), and I have arrived at the conclusion that I would only bother to eat those served at Din Tai Fung鼎泰丰 - very expensive they may be.

Needless to say I wanted to know how it was made so when JW came to visit I arranged for us to attend a private cooking class at the Chinese Cooking Workshop - a cooking school mainly attended by expats in Shanghai. They have opened a branch here in Pudong which saved us the trouble of going all the way to Puxi for the lesson.

JW all geared out for the lesson

Every Shanghainese, when I mentioned that I would be attending the class, laughed in my face. "It's too much trouble, just buy it from a shop!" was the usual advice. My driver told me that he has not eaten them for a long time, "They don't taste as good as they used to..."

Pudong branch of the Chinese Cooking Workshop (also premises of the Bakery Kitchen)

We did make xiaolongpao that morning, albeit pretty ugly ones. The difficulty lies in making a wrapper thin yet flexible and strong enough to wrap the meat in, in making the jello for the meat filling, and especially in wrapping the dumpling.

We were given a recipe for making the meat filling but did not get to see how the jello was made. The jello provides the broth in the dumpling when it is steamed. It is derived from boiling animal parts that provide the gelatine, left to cool then cut into tiny cubes to be mixed with the meat.

Rolling out the wrapper

There is a technique for rolling out the skin, another for wrapping it around the meat. Not at all easy for first timers like us.

Freshly wrapped

The instructor was an experienced cook but I felt that she must have simplified her recipe for her students because the wrapper was yellower and thicker than they should be. She also made us use a lot of the filling - and I do not like my dumplings too meaty or big.

Xiaolongbao - steamed

Still, it was satisfying making my own dumplings and I hope to find the time to try out the recipe on my own in the near future.

Flower rolls - freshly rolled out

At my request we also learnt how to make Steamed Flower Rolls. I was told that mine were very pretty though I have no idea what I did to make them so.

Flower rolls - steamed

I may consider attending other classes organised by the Chinese Cooking Workshop when I have friends visiting because they provide a fun introduction to Shanghai and give us something interesting to do together. Other than that do not expect value-added instructions that more experienced cooks may need and unless you speak Mandarin the young lady they provided as interpreter was only good for simple instruction.

Chinese Cooking Workshop

Room 418, Bldg 1

3611 Zhangyang Lu by Jinqiao Lu

Tel : 139 1732 6055

www.chinesecookingworkshop.com

Cooking/Baking with JW in Shanghai

2012-02-03T10:30:00.004+01:00

JW making cheese scones (watched by my 2 pretty neighbours)

The cooking club I had helped found in Modena lives on in my absence. I miss my friends cooking, eating and gossiping without me, but I haven't found the energy nor the motivation to start another one here in Shanghai. Unless you consider the one or 2 private cooking sessions I've been having with my neighbours here, 2 ladies who are fond of la bonne bouffe like myself.

When JW came to stay with me, I took the opportunity to relive old times by organising a pasta-making session with J and F. Especially when LY so generously sent a jar of the precious squid ink over with JW.

And while waiting to start the hard work kneading, JW made us a batch of her famous cheese scones - a hit with the girls. Lovely with a glass of kir.

Risotto ai funghi porcini

I then demonstrated cooking a simple risotto ai funghi porcini followed by seafood pasta, and we ate everything up for lunch after that.

Seafood pasta

That was probably the beginning of a series of private cooking sessions that I would be doing with the girls. I am starting small as I have to do my own housework at the moment added to demands on my time at the children's school. I've also signed up for a mosaics workshop as well as a Chinese calligraphy class - all to start in a week or 2.

I am going to be busy - again.

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

2012-02-03T09:27:00.007+01:00

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou

I have visited a number of gardens in different parts of the world and my favourite to date remains the Generalife in Granada, with probably Versailles a close second. The former is lustful, royally exotic, a tribute to Andalusia's moorish past; The latter is splendid, majestic, orderly and so very French. Having said that, I'm not a big fan of gardens in general, being much more of a teak and pebble enthusiast when it comes to lawns and backyards.

Suzhou is famous for its classical gardens (UNESCO world heritage sites) and one of the largest and finest was the Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政园 built in the early 1500s by a retired official. It would be a sacrilege to visit Suzhou without a trip to said garden so we dutifully made our way there on our second day. Seeing that my only idea of a Chinese garden was the one in Singapore, I was also keen to be educated on the subject.

I will tell you upfront that it's not my thing though the garden was truly beautiful. It is believed that Cao Xueqin based much of the garden in his novel Dream of the Red Chamber 红楼梦 on the Humble Administrator's Garden (having lived there as a teenager). Having fallen asleep trying to watch the TV series donkey years ago, I marvel at how one could find so much inspiration from a garden filled with pavilions, bonsai, bridges and more pavilions.

Standing in the pavilion you get the impression of being on a boat

But that's because I'm inculte. The only piece of Chinese poetry I knew was the Li Bai one and even then only its twisted version. With the garden based a whole lot on Chinese poetry, naturally I couldn't understand nor appreciate it much. I also couldn't quite get the landscaper's thing for giving one the impression that one is on a boat. Why not just go live on one?

I like the blue stained glass windows very much

The garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 40 stelae, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style bonsai. I rented an audiophone and passed it to my driver to listen to and lead the way. We could have hired a live guide, but I didn't feel like hearing stories about the bonsai. From time to time we latched on to a few groups being led by tour guides and just listened when we wanted to have information on a building or lake.

I find Chinese gardens a little too contrived in general, often trying to resemble still life/frozen moment or a piece of poetry. Maybe I'll look at them a little differently when I have a better understanding of Chinese culture, catch me out when I'd have completed my beginner Chinese Calligraphy class in a few months' time.

An example of famous Suzhou silk embroidery - beautiful!

I still want to visit Suzhou again. But next time we'll do the pagodas and museums. There is only so much I can take of pavilions, ponds, rock carvings and very precious but ugly wooden furniture.

T8 Fusion Cuisine Restaurant, Shanghai

2012-01-31T05:40:00.004+01:00

T8 Shanghai

I haven't told you about T8. Hub brought me there - was it in November? Goodness, time does fly, doesn't it? We are now moving into February...

Anyway he went there once with a few colleagues for a business dinner and thought that I would enjoy trying it out. It's sweet when Hub displays such little acts of thoughtfulness. After more than a decade together, you fear sometimes that you have become part of the wall paper together with the resident spiders and flies. But if he still wants to bring you out to dinner and share every order, you know that he still cares. Hub's not into gifts and sweet words, but he's big on gourmet cuisine.

Still, I thought that maybe we hadn't needed to go for the big tasting menu @ 1398rmb pax. The kids are growing up really fast and one may go to college soon - and we have nothing saved up yet. But Hub said he may die of a heart attack tomorrow and would rather enjoy life while he could. So we ate and we drank.

Spiced and roasted pumpkin soup

Salmon Tsunami

The restaurant specialises in serving European food with an Asian touch and is located in the trendy Xintiandi area. It had dim lighting which while creating atmosphere spelled doom for food photography. It contained an open kitchen in the middle of the dining hall and you could catch the cooks in action. Like 2 of them (Chinese) taking turns to shuck oysters - and not managing it.

Cold lobster lasagna

Shanghainese hairy crab meat with squid ink pasta

The serving staff was friendly and good looking - but as usual sometimes clueless. The high turnover in Shanghai with jobs aplenty probably doesn't help create trained personnel no matter where you go, whether it be a restaurant or an electronics store. And many of them have no concept of hygiene, etiquette or product safety, like this cleaner I saw the other morning cleaning the glass walls of a swimming pool - dipping her scrapper in it...I digress as usual.

Passionfruit sorbet

Australian Wagyu beef striploin grade 9+

The food was good as were the wines that came with every dish. I still dream of the wagyu beef grade 9+ that came in a very small portion but melted in my mouth...I must admit that I've never really eaten wagyu beef before because it tends to be so expensive, but once I've tasted it, I keep thinking that I must eat it again soon! And as luck would have it, we were invited to dinner in an Italian restaurant the other evening and I had wagyu beef grade 6 for my main course. Better than lobster, in fact it did cost more than the latter actually. Another expensive taste on the way to being cultivated, I fear.

Cheese

Chocolate soufflé with sour pear sorbet

Xintiandi on a wet evening was actually pretty crowded as expats and rich Chinese turned out for the trendy restaurants, jazz bars and European cafés. Times like these we regret that we do not live in Puxi, but when you have young children Pudong is definitely a nicer option with its green space and cleaner air.

T8 Shanghai

上海市卢湾区太仓路181弄北里8号

Tel : 021 6355 8999

A Weekend in Suzhou with JW (Part 1)

2012-01-09T16:42:00.036+01:00

上有天堂下有苏杭

-- Chinese saying.

I must have mentioned somewhere that we get quite a lot of visits here from both friends and relatives. Dieting, for a start, is as such impossible. After MIL returned to France, it was JW's turn to visit - this time from Italy. Though for those of you who have been with me for a while, we all know that JW's very English, buttered scones and all.

She first came to Shanghai about 7 years ago and the city has metaphor-sized since. Pudong probably was still partly farmland then and the exciting stuff only happened in Puxi. This time she landed at Pudong airport and was picked up by our driver Ju. In those days I still had an ayi to vacuum and mop so I was seen in my full glory so to speak. Hub even timed his business trip to Europe quite nicely (a coincidence really) so that we had the car most of the time.

It was nice to see J. To know that I have not been forgotten by friends in my last destination.

Traditional pingtan performance

With most afternoons paralysed by the kids and their schoolwork, I tried to make it worth J's visit by keeping us occupied most mornings. We visited a couple of tourist spots, shopped a bit, attended a xiaolongbao 小笼包 cooking class, lunched at nice places, taught the neighbours how to make pasta, and made a short weekend trip to Suzhou.

Inside one of the gardens in Shantang

Even before coming to China I have heard of Suzhou (Jiangsu Province) and the beauty of its meticulously designed classical gardens that have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1997 and 2000. Once here I was told that it is an important centre for silk in the country and the location for an industrial park set up by Singapore.

Xuanmiao (a Taoist temple, Song Dynasty architecture)

It would have taken about 2 hours to reach Suzhou from Shanghai if there had not been a traffic jam. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Jasmine which I would recommend. The hotel was conveniently located in the heart of own, offered a good view of the surroundings and was clean and very comfortable. The breakfast spread was decent and my only complaint was the noise that came from the streets below that plagued us through the night.

Candy floss near the temple

Street food : meat skewers and haw sticks

There is quite a lot to see and do in Suzhou, I do not know how anybody could do it justice by staying just a day. In our case we spent our first afternoon there visiting a Taoist temple (Xuanmiao 玄妙观) and the famed pedestrian shopping street before it, followed by the 1200-year old Shantang Street 山塘街 which has a canal with old elegant bridges running through it. We returned to Shantang street the next morning for a cruise and a traditional Pingtan song performance and only had time to visit the famous Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政园 before we had to return to Shanghai. I would have liked to visit the Silk Museum but I guess it'd have to be for another time.

Biscuit seller (with moving fly swatter)

Potato chips, anyone?

The very touristic Shantang street seemed to be succeeded by a dirty, seedy street only frequented by locals. We decided to check it out and found it quite interesting, with its own micro world filled with fishmongers (selling fish out of pails in the street), biscuit and bun sellers, knitters, small boutiques, poultry shops, restaurants etc.

Leather jackets, hats and slippers

Woollen jumpers made-to-order

Live poultry

Otherwise Shantang street itself was quite charming with nice little shops many of them selling silk - but we nearly expired from the horrible smell coming from stinky tofu which seemed to be sold almost every where!

According to our boat master the waste is collected, not drained into the water

snow vegetables 雪菜 drying outside

View of the Shantang Street village from the boat

Lunch was in an old local noodle shop 陆长兴 - a difficult moment for J who had little time to get used to eating local. We did better for dinner, going upmarket at the 2-century old Song He Lou 松鹤楼菜馆. We didn't realise that the portions were enormous there and ended up eating way too much. I had a bout of the tourista that evening, killing my enthusiasm for local food the next day.

The kitchen

JW's beef noodle soup (and a very starchy gongbao chicken)

My fried fish and pork rib noodle soup (so-so)

We were our fellow passengers' object of interest on the sightseeing boat. It turned out that we were all born in the year of the rat (though not necessarily of the same decade), they were excited to have 2 foreigners in their midst and of course we found ourselves part of a photo album to be pointed at and talked about in the years to come.

Canal at 7-mile Shantang

Old theatre

shantang@night

On our way back to Shanghai on the second day we thought of visiting the sex museum in Tongji. But were thwarted in our plan by the high entrance ticket prices (just for the old water village, museum not included yet). A resident of the village turned up and offered to bring us in for a reduced price (an example of corruption at the local level), but we decided not to collaborate so we gave it a miss. We left her screaming at our backs, seemingly frustrated at having missed the chance to earn a quick buck.

(probably a spinster) posing for a photo in ancient wedding gear (no groom in sight)

I would want to return to Suzhou for another visit in the near future. There are still pagodas, temples, gardens and of course the silk museum to discover.

Lanzhou La Mian Somewhere in Puxi

2012-01-09T14:10:00.008+01:00

My bowl of delicious Lanzhou La Mian

I have been AWOL for quite a while, haven't I? I have stopped announcing to the whole world that I would be away before I would be away, does it not prove that I have other things to do with my life than spend it blogging?

Actually, I haven't had the time to blog, period. And with the Chinese New Year round the corner, I do not want to tempt fate by announcing on the WWW that my house would be empty. I was told that crime rates are particularly high in the city when the CNY approaches as many migrants return to their hometowns during this period and many would be hard pressed to do so bearing gifts of goods and cash. So if they hadn't accumulated enough in the months before, they may be tempted to steal, snatch, burglar or cheat - or risk going home looking like a failure.

As it was I left my house to my ayi (aka cleaning lady) in our absence and ended up firing her with an sms when I was skiing in the French Alps last month. So I am currently busy unpacking plus I have to do my own housework. Tough luck.

I might as well tell you the story lest I need to email the curious separately with it. I am normally a trusting person. I believe what most people tell me, mainly because I think that everyone should be responsible for their own thoughts, words and actions. So for many months now I have always believed all the excuses that my ayi had given me for not coming to work regularly during the periods I was away - even though I had paid her for it plus given her at least half the time off. Hub wouldn't stop telling me that I sucked at managing domestic help.

The Christmas holidays had been the last straw because not only did she not turn up to work on the days we agreed upon, she had taken to keeping my key even though I had forbidden her to do so. I just felt that this was a classic case of give an inch and take a mile. Since I no longer felt that I could trust her, I decided to terminate her services on the last day of the year.

The weeks before we left for France had been busy too because JW came over from Italy for a visit. I've also been going around doing things with my 2 favourite neighbours, not to forget catching up with friends from all over Shanghai before everyone broke for the holidays.

Not a very inspiring shopfront

On one such outing with a local friend and her best friend, I was brought to a Lanzhou La Mian eatery somewhere in Puxi for lunch. I have yet to find the courage to eat in a local place, but somehow I've managed to eat lanzhou la mian twice (and a third time not long after - on my own) in a few months.

Cutie bum pulling noodles very expertly

My fascination with Chinese Muslims probably helped toughen the stomach lining, plus don't spices help to some extent to kill germs? As if it were fated we were seated right in front of the cute young man pulling noodles for our lunch. The guy had a pair of strong hands not to mention a tight round bum. I made a comment at some point about those hands probably being good for a massage and he promptly offered to let us have a try. I know I sounded like a dirty old woman, but like I said I've always had a thing for these exotic-looking Chinese Muslim men. They made me think of Mirlanbek from such a long time ago...

With a plate of extra beef

The noodles were really quite good, very al dente, and so cheap. But all my shameless flirting didn't win me their secret recipe for the broth. Meanwhile I've discovered another eatery in another part of Puxi that I felt did an even better broth though the noodles were definitely better at cutie bum's.

The other lanzhou la mian shop where I ate solo

I feel that I am going to embark on a lanzhou la mian adventure here in Shanghai. And why not? I have decided that I must see more of Shanghai a pied in 2012.

And Happy New Year, by the way!

Sarsi/Root Beer Cake

2011-11-15T11:19:00.011+01:00

Sarsi Cake

Sarsi is one soft drink that you either love or hate. My Chinese friends said it reminded them of some toothpaste they used to use in their childhood. I only used Lion toothpaste when I was a kid and it tasted of grape or strawberry. Hub said it tasted like medicine. Anyway sarsi is quite like root beer (I believe the herb sarsaparilla goes into making both drinks) and I love root beer.

I decided to experiment with the drink and used it to bake a Sarsi Cake this morning. I used the recipe for yesterday's Light Chocolate Cake, substituting the hot water with the sarsi. The cake turned out to be less tall and had craters on the surface (probably caused by the gas in the drink). The texture was also quite different, I would call it a cross between cake and kueh.

You could taste the sarsi in the cake, but it wasn't strong. I thought of making a sarsi-flavoured icing to go with it, but changed my mind as we've been eating cake almost every day this week. The kids are hyper enough as it is.

After I've finished baking the cake, I cycled from the house (down the path I've been meaning to try) to the kids' school. It took about 25 minutes and was actually quite an easy journey, though I've been sworn at a few times for being on the wrong side of the road. Parked my bike in the school as 3 teachers have already had their bikes stolen at the new mall opposite, so I wasn't going to take any chances.

Shopped at Gap Kids and then ate a bowl of beef noodles in a Taiwanese eatery. I must do this more often.

Sarsi Cake :

125g flour

1 tsp baking powder

100g sugar

100g butter or margarine (softened)

2 eggs

2 tbsp soluble cocoa powder

125ml sarsi or root beer

Preheat the oven to 180°C/365°F.

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.

Make a well in the middle and break the eggs into it.

Add the sugar and butter on top of the flour (or the sugar may cook the eggs).

Mix the cocoa powder and sarsi together in a separate bowl and pour into the large mixing bowl.

Whisk everything together till you get a smooth batter.

Pour into a paper-lined 20-cm round mould and bake in the hot oven for around 30 minutes.

Craters will usually form in this cake because of the gas in the sarsi so do not be alarmed. The inside of the cake may also have a slight honeycomb structure.

Let the cake cool for a few minutes in its mould then turn it over onto a cooling rack to be cooled further.

Light Chocolate Cake

2011-11-14T09:50:00.008+01:00

Light Chocolate Cake

The Babies have gone out of the house to play without permission. So I've locked them out. Will not let them in until the sky turns dark and the air cold. When you cannot cane your children to punish them, you have to devise other ways to get their attention and help them remember your instructions. And while they are waiting outside, you roast a chicken and cook rice with ginger and garlic so that they can smell the aroma coming from the house...Will they or will they not get to eat dinner?

My mother would tell you that she never had such a hard time bringing us up. Are kids today more of a pain, or am I an ineffective parent?

I had the piano tuned this afternoon. The Chinese piano Tuner came by bus and walked who-knows-how-many kilometres into my compound. An hour's work for slightly more than 20 euros. I offered him a glass of orange juice and a slice of freshly baked Light Chocolate Cake. He told me I was kind and beautiful. I should consider distributing cake, it seems good for my self-esteem.

My kids like cake but will usually not eat more than a slice, maybe 2, at a time. They each had 3-4 slices of this cake today and I had to stop them from eating more of it or they'd surely fall sick. I adapted it from Trish Deseine's I Love Cake and she meant it when she called her cake "Léger". It was a light and simple chocolate cake, a recipe to be kept and used again and again.

Incidentally, I was not concentrating and accidentally used 4tbsp of cocoa powder and 2 tsp of baking powder - but the result was very good, so maybe in the future I should continue with this mistake?

Light Chocolate Cake (adapted from Trish Deseine's I Love Cake) :

120g butter or margarine (softened)

120g sugar

2 eggs

120g flour

2 tbsp cocoa powder dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water

1 tsp baking powder

20-cm round mould

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk till you get a smooth batter.

Pour into a paper-lined 20-cm round mould and bake for 25 minutes.

Let it cool for a few minutes and de-mould the cake on a cooling rack.

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

2011-11-14T05:47:00.010+01:00

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous

Hub worked through the weekend and even when we ate out/in with other people they were either former or current colleagues. The thing about Shanghai is that though it's a big city, it's a small world. You always have someone from your past turning up at some point to live/work there as well, or a friend turning up for work or visit. So if he wasn't stuck on the computer or screaming away in a conference call, he would be talking shop with the men we had lunch/dinner/brunch with over the weekend.

Coming back from brunch on Sunday, we discovered that the Teenager had gone A.W.O.L.. He didn't call to ask for permission to leave the house, and we didn't find his note till a few hours later. This was the first time that this has happened - and just a few weeks after I told a few mothers that my son loved staying in his room and had never asked to go out.

I know that it's normal for Teenagers to want to hang out with each other when they can. At the same time I'm starting to worry that they may get up to no good. Shanghai can be a very dangerous place for expat teenagers.

My instinct was to scream, get him to come home immediately, ground him for 3 weeks etc - but I resisted and decided to wait for him to come home. I worked out my speech and it contained the following grand lines :

he's still a minor under our responsibility, therefore he needs to ask for our permission before he goes out. And that by talking to us, not leaving messages around the house;
we need to know who he's seeing, the person's phone number and address;
I'm not the first mother to set this rule, surely he needs to have done reasonably well at school in the week before he's allowed to go out;
a curfew helps protect him (and prevents him from being a nuisance to others) for I didn't give birth to him, give up my career etc to have something happen to him;
I expect him to behave himself no matter where he is and that should start with his attitude towards his mother at home.

I should also work on my BGR speech, but it'll have to be for another day as he has a short attention span and may already not be able to absorb the above points. I told Hub that I do not want a confrontation with my Teenager, I want to be able to talk with him. Besides, he may just be motivated enough by these hang out sessions to want to work harder at school.

Our guest on Saturday evening has 3 kids too of which 2 are twins. The boys were late bloomers who after a shaky lazy start are starting to do well academically in addition to being good musicians and sportsmen. I can only hope that something positive will rub off on my boy before it's too late (meaning before the IB Diploma in the short term).

I've kept the menu simple for dinner : Salad with Tandoori Prawns, Grilled Vegetables with Couscous, Steak and Chocolate Fondant. Hub really enjoyed the couscous, which was like a winter version of the Taboulé.

Before adding the fresh herbs

Grilled Vegetables with Couscous :

240g medium dehydrated couscous grains

360ml hot vegetable or meat stock

1 tbsp salted butter

pepper to taste

olive oil

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

1 carrot

1 fennel bulb

1 celery stalk

1 small red onion

1 zucchini

1 red chilli

3 garlic cloves

salt and pepper to taste

fresh basil leaves

fresh flat leaf parsley

fresh mint leaves

3 cherry tomatoes

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Chop the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Spread them out in an ovenproof dish and drizzle olive oil generously over them. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a hot oven till they are cooked (but still crunchy), turning them over half-way through the cooking.

Turn on the grill and brown the vegetables.

Place the couscous grains in a large salad bowl. Pour the hot stock over them. Leave for a few minutes till the grains have absorbed the liquid, add the butter and fork through the grains to fluff them up.

When the vegetables are nicely grilled, place them on top of the couscous. Chop the fresh herbs and tomatoes and add to the dish. Squeeze a lemon over everything.

Mix just before serving, adding more olive oil if necessary.

Fondant de Nathalie

2011-11-11T08:20:00.018+01:00

Fondant de Nathalie

I woke up this morning making great plans for the day e.g. cycling on the pathway along the river and seeing where that would lead me to. Have always wondered what I would find at the end of the path. No cars are allowed on it so we've always turned just before.

The sun was shining so the day looked promising. I walked out of the house and stopped. It was so cold.

16 years in Europe (including 6 months in a very snowy Rochester, NY) and I do not think that I've managed to embrace the cold. The mind spent the day cycling outside the house, but the body stayed indoors. The men arrived this morning to repair the heater so now I have heating going and then a new leak appeared. No showers till they come to repair it on Monday. But no worries, I have another 4 showers/bath in the house. No doubt once we start using them more leaks will be discovered. I do not know how many of these guys they have on the payroll, but when they constructed these houses they probably made sure they would give them enough work to do for years to come.

Hub's colleague and friend from Germany (but he's French-Serbian) would be dining chez nous tomorrow. Bottles will be uncorked and I am expected to furnish a few bites. I haven't gone grocery shopping this week since the car's gone, and will have to make do with my end-of-the-world food stock. Incidentally it's 11/11/11 today and the Chinese will be celebrating what they call "Singles' Day". Cheesy, huh?

I had all the ingredients required for a Fondant de Nathalie in Trish Deseine's I Love Cake book. It is actually almost like my own fondant recipe. This calls for overnight preparation wherever possible, whereas I usually make mine to be eaten on the spot. So I've gotten tomorrow's dessert out of the way and can concentrate on the rest of the menu.

What I really want is to blog about a recipe from the book. Because this book has been offered to me by a few precious friends when I left Modena, namely fellow members of my cooking club. JW will be visiting me in Shanghai next Saturday, by the way. We should be doing a spot of cooking together when she's here, which could include a pasta-making session with a few neighbours.

I've reduced the egg and the sugar. The fondant turned out really well and was a hit with both guest and family.

Fondant de Nathalie (adapted from I Love Cake) :

200g dark chocolate

200g butter

200g sugar

4 eggs

1 tbsp flour

Preheat oven to 190°C/375°F.

Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave oven.

Stir in the sugar and set aside to cool slightly.

Using a wooden spoon stir in an egg at a time.

Incorporate the flour and pour the batter into a paper-lined 20-cm round cake mould.

Bake for 22 minutes. The centre should still be slightly wobbly.

Remove the cake immediately from the mould and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Best consumed the next day.

Virgin Voyage on the Shanghai Metro

2011-11-11T03:04:00.010+01:00

First stop Huamu Lu (line 7)

I've been in Shanghai 10 months and regret to say that I've never gone on its metro - until yesterday. It's not that I do not need to take the train (with Shanghai being such a big city), but I do not have a metro station within walking distance of my house. Nor any bus stops come to think of it.

To get around I depend on Hub's driver (when he's available) or the taxi. Sometimes I cycle to the supermarket when I'm really desperate (and end up eating 麻辣火锅).

Hub's away again this week (and with him the driver) and I had a coffee morning to attend at the younger kids' school yesterday. Near the school a new metro station (huamu lu, line 7) has just opened together with the Kerry Parkside mall and hotel. This gave me the idea to take a taxi to school and then make my virgin voyage on the Shanghai Metro on said line. As it was, a group of ladies were meeting for lunch at a Singaporean restaurant in Minhang. I arranged to meet SW at the lines 2 and 10 interchange so that we could make our way there together.

A few months ago there was an accident in the metro near Yuyuan due to a signalling problem. A train entered into another one creating some chaos and injury. I've also read about how the trains tend to be very packed during peak hours. Added to the general lack of civility among the Chinese, it didn't make riding on the system particularly appealing.

Not a soul at 10am

10am on a Thursday morning was a good time to try out the metro though. There wasn't a soul at the Huamu Lu stop (it being the final/first station), I already hold a public transportation card (used it sometimes for the taxis), the station was clean, brightly lit and the signs simple and visible.

As the train went along, it started picking up more and more passengers but it was still not too crowded. I changed at Longyang Lu for line 2 and then at Nanjing Dong Lu for line 10. So far so good. The trains were quite clean and the system seemed efficient. And it was so cheap : 8 yuan for almost an hour spent travelling on it.

However we still needed to hail a cab to reach our destination. The network is still not as dense as say in Paris or in London. Or you may need to know the bus routes.

People started moving, train must be coming

On the way back, the trains were really packed and it was only about 3:30pm. I hung on to my bag for dear life and as I was waiting to get onto a coming train (with the Chinese around me starting to crowd the door), I reminded them to have the courtesy to let those inside the train to alight first before we started to rush in. I just felt I had to do it, otherwise from what I've observed on my trip out they just do not have this reflex.

A blind man walked through the train with a helper, playing the harmonica. Most people just pretended that they didn't see him (now who's blind?), some even lowering their heads when they passed. Even if you do not wish to give him anything, you can try to appreciate his playing. In my carriage, 2 European (I think they were Dutch) men and myself were the only ones to drop a coin into the cup. In fact the men actually gave them a 5-euro note, though I'm not sure it may be of any use to them.

Train's almost coming to a stop

I was standing next to 2 young Italian men. They kept making comments about the Chinese girls (or rather their silhouettes) around them. At one point, they were wondering about what Liujiazui was about and I told them (in Italian) that it was the financial centre. You should have seen their faces.

The experience has been a positive one on the whole and I am impressed with the metro system. Wish I could have easy access to it for surely the way I live in Shanghai would be different if that should be the case.

Chicken Wings Braised in Chinese Hua Diao Wine

2011-11-09T04:26:00.011+01:00

Chicken braised in Hua Tiao Wine

The girl who calculated my fortune said that I wasn't meant to do business because I was too "nice". The kind who wouldn't dare sell anything to the friends for a profit. In other words I'm no entrepreneur.

I was therefore feeling a little awkward when I found myself last evening in a beautifully restored old house in the former French Concession, at a wine tasting dinner that turned out to be a test session organised by a newly set-up wine investment company in Shanghai.

We were 6 : Hub, myself, the American sommelier, the Scottish manager, Hub's married Italian colleague and his lovely and magnetic Shanghainese girlfriend MY. There was also a Chinese girl serving us and a Chef à domicile newly hired and being tested.

They have been in business for quite a long time, even in Singapore, and have arrived in Shanghai a few months ago (everyone comes to Shanghai soon or later). They hope to find investors for good Australian wine. Investors are (rich) people who would buy the wine, have the bottles stored for up to 15 years if not more, not drink the wine, expect the price to go up (hopefully by a lot), and who would finally sell everything at a profit to someone else (who may or may not drink the wine).

Most of the people in the room (meaning except us) were seasoned investors and business people. They don't just like things. When they are interested in something (e.g. sex toys, lingerie, art, cars, whiskey...), they usually also want to make money with it.

I want to get rich, of course. But I have a difficult time trying to imagine buying wine and not drinking it. Or a nice painting and not hanging it up on my wall. I have nothing against sex toys, but I would prefer not to have to buy it in front of 20 other people in the same room. And I'm sure business'd be great when you round up a couple of guys in a room, throw in a few Chinese girls lounging around in scanty lingerie and next thing you know a couple of wives, mistresses and girlfriends get a new set of something sexy.

Anything is possible and there is a lot of new money here in Shanghai. People are bored and they do not know how to spend it. We should try to cash in - just don't ask me how. Ask them.

Dinner was kept simple so that the wines would not be overwhelmed by the food. But there was no real effort to pair the food with the wines either. Conversation flowed rather easily, especially when you have such an interesting character as the manager (between his family's and his own experiences) and the alluring MY.

I've mentioned her in one of my earlier blog posts. We met a few months ago at a company dinner held literally in "her" arena. We are actually of the same age, though of course I'm fat, dowdy and useless next to MY who's tall, slim and pretty like a model, very confident, exudes sexuality whether in gesture or parole (a couple of smartly inserted sexual innuendos always work well with the men, especially European men, you can literally see their minds and other body parts working over time), has a successful career and men running to her for her sexy person, business acumen/partnership, lovely company or all of the above.

Hub asked me if I was jealous (I guess I should be if I were not, I mean when your Hub asked you a question like that it meant he thought that you ought to be, don't you think so?). I think I can honestly say that I'm not. At my age, I have learnt to accept that there are all kinds of people on earth, some better, some worse off. I am envious though, because she seems to have everything going for her, while I'm just a housewife doing nothing exciting except growing fatter and fatter. And even then I'm not doing a good job (as Hub likes to tell me) for my kids are not brilliant academically and my youngest has been really mischievous lately (surely my fault).

But in this macho world I think it's good to see women like MY holding their own. Make the guys salivate, run to you with their tails between the legs, run the show and enjoy it at the same time. This girl smokes cigars, drinks, dances etc. She sounds intelligent, has business acumen and lots of guts. I only wish she could have better taste in men.

Keeping to the theme of wine, though not investment grade, I made Chicken Wings Braised in Hua Tiao Wine today. I've been meaning to use the pyrex dish I bought some time back and this seemed like a good time. I cooked the dish entirely in the oven. If you have a gas stove, a claypot would do great.

Chicken Wings Braised in Hua Tiao Wine :

a dozen chicken wings

30g ginger (finely sliced)

3 garlic cloves (halved)

2 tsp sesame oil

3 pieces black fungus (soaked in hot water - will become quite big)

60ml (or more) chinese rice wine (hua tiao)

200ml chicken stock

1 tsp salt

Heat up the oven to 190°C.

Dry roast the ginger and garlic in a pyrex casserole in the hot oven till fragrant.

Add sesame oil to brown the ginger and garlic.

Cook the chicken wings in the sesame oil till they render their own fat.

Add in the black fungus (cut into smaller pieces), the wine, salt and the chicken stock.

Cover the pyrex dish with its lid and simmer in the oven till the chicken wings are tender.

Adjust seasoning, and drizzle more wine over the dish.

Could be eaten immediately or cooled so as to have the fat removed. It actually tastes (and smells) even better reheated.

Gai See Hor Fun 鸡丝河粉

2011-11-04T06:29:00.006+01:00

鸡丝河粉

I made a Vietnamese Beef Pho one evening and a roast chicken the next and found myself with some leftover chicken breast, beef stock and flat rice noodles. Images of Gai See Hor Fun 鸡丝河粉 started to flash before me so that was what I made myself for lunch.

I grew up more or less with 2 versions of this dish : flat rice noodles in clear soup and flat rice noodles in dark gravy. And have somehow always preferred the latter. So it was the dark gravy version that I will blog about. We usually use the thinner flat rice noodles to make this dish, but I had to make-do with whatever I could find here, of course. So fresh medium-broad rice noodles'll have to do.

Flat Rice Noodles and Shredded Chicken Meat in Dark Gravy (serves 1) :

a piece of fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves

1 tbsp sesame oil

200ml meat stock

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp fish sauce

2 tsp small rock sugar

salt and pepper to taste

2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1-2 tsp water

flat rice noodles (cooked and drained)

chicken meat (cooked and shredded)

bean sprouts (blanched)

spinach (blanched)

fresh chilli

fried shallots

Pound the ginger and garlic into a rough paste. Fry the paste in the sesame oil in a small sauce pan till it turns fragrant.

Pour in the stock. Followed by the sauces and rock sugar. Stir to mix well. Taste to adjust the seasoning, adding salt or sugar if necessary.

Prepare the serving plate. Fill it with the cooked and drained flat rice noodles. Top with the blanched bean sprouts and spinach.

Dip the chicken meat for a minute in the gravy still cooking on the stove. Remove, shred and garnish the noodles with.

Stir the cornstarch into the gravy to thicken it. Remove from the heat and pass the gravy through a sieve.

Pour the gravy over the noodles. Add chilli and fried shallots if desired.

涟 is my new nickname

2011-11-04T02:42:00.004+01:00

涟

lian (2)

As you know, I am Lotus. A flower that is associated with the Goddess of Mercy, a very useful plant that can be used almost entirely. It has stood me well all these years, if giving me a little of a burden which I have assumed quite willingly before.

But I am now entering a phase in my life that is lacking in the water element and I need to change my name in order to create some balance in my fate.

For a short while I will therefore be known as 涟 - ripples. Say it aloud, associate it with me.

Jade on 36, Shanghai

2011-11-02T15:09:00.009+01:00

The kitchen @ Jade on 36

I just turned 39. Or 40 if you listened to my mum (who's Chinese - not that I'm not, but...). Anyway it gave Hub the occasion he had been waiting for to try out the champagne brunch at Jade on 36 in the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong.

We were not supposed to eat another buffet till we've lost some weight. But Hub had been tempted by the caviar and free-flow alcohol while I wouldn't mind collecting a few more points on my Shang Rewards card. So he got us a table next to the window giving us a 36th-floor view of the Huang river. You will notice that unlike other husbands he didn't dare tell the restaurant that it was my birthday - for fear that we would get one of those goose bump-producing all-staff-sing-happy-birthday-to-Lotus scenarios.

View of the river, the Bund and the other half of the hotel

I must admit that things were a little strained between us in the past few weeks. We have been rubbing each other up the wrong way more than usual lately and nobody felt ready to back down. It doesn't help that he was trying to make us drink soup every evening (as part of said diet) and we (as in the rest of the family) are really getting quite sick of it. Seeing your husband stuck to the WC on his iPhone first thing in the morning when you were running around getting the kids ready for school doesn't help improve your feeling of bien-être towards him either, and when he actually opened his mouth to ask you why you couldn't be quieter...Maybe you get the picture.

Then the French Presidential Elections are round the corner and the French are more-than-ever interested in politics at the moment. Hub and his family have always been peeved that I've some sort of partiality for Sarkozy (which I don't, but you just need to rub them up the wrong way when you see how they can get on their high horses when it comes to this), and would take any opportunity to take me to task for it.

The dining hall

During brunch, while sipping yet another glass of Moët & Chandon, Hub started telling me about how horrible Sarko was (again). I answered in turn that his policies aside, I actually liked him for being true to himself e.g. never bothering to hide his pretty wife, penchant for expensive watches or filthy rich friends. The French have such a thing for never discussing the private lives of their politicians that most of them would indulge in all kinds of weird things behind public scrutiny only presenting a certain face to the world. And that's supposed to be good?

You should see his reaction. He ticked me off : I was shallow, had no reading of politics, how could I claim to have studied politics, I could say such rubbish to the driver but not to him blah blah blah. On my birthday, in a very expensive French restaurant on the 36th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong. Was that the way to treat a birthday girl?

Some of the appetisers

That aside, I would recommend the brunch. They had quality offerings that included foie gras, grilled scallops, sashimi, salads, smoked ham, beef tartare canapés, raw oysters, king crab legs, cooked prawns, caviar...and you get to enter the kitchen to choose your mains : roast wagyu beef (a little too cooked), lobster, rack of lamb, veal shank, grilled goose breast, seared cod...to be accompanied by truffle risotto, gratin dauphinois, grilled peppers etc.

Lobster & cod main course

You get free-flow champagne, red and white wines, water, porto and even coffee. There was also a cheese trolley.

Crèpe Suzette

For dessert, there was an ice cream stand where you can also order a crèpe suzette. It wasn't too bad, lots of orange juice and couldn't really taste the alcohol - the way I like it. Another crepe stand where you can have your crepe prepared with other fillings. A selection of desserts like panna cotta, opéra, mille-feuille, fresh fruit etc were on display in the cellar. I found them so-so however. I am a bit difficult when it comes to French pastries.

The bill came up to nearly 1600rmb for the 2 of us. A reasonable price for a brunch of this quality though expensive if you should indulge in it too often. Meanwhile it's back to the zuppa for now. I still haven't lost any weight, thank you for asking.

Jade on 36

Shangri-La Pudong

33 Fu Cheng Road, Pudong
Shanghai 200120
China
Tel : +86 21 6882 8888

Ham Flower Rolls @ ABC Cooking Studio, Shanghai SWFC

2011-10-31T07:31:00.012+01:00

Flower bread Rolls with Ham

I came across the ABC Cooking Studio the last few times I lunched at the SWFC and had always wanted to try it out. However it's not fun doing things like that on one's own so when my 2 neighbours Judy and Fei invited me to join them to try out bread making at said studio I didn't hesitate.

I was not surprised to discover that the cooking studio's a Japanese outfit. Apparently a wildly popular women-only import. It was bright, colourful and functional, with an all-glass shop front that would allow passers-by to watch what's going on inside. You are invited to use the free lockers to the right of the entrance to keep your handbag and shoes in exchange for an apron and a pair of slippers. They do not wash the aprons too often, by the way.

The hands-on classes have to be reserved in advance and class sizes are small. The instructors have been reasonably well-trained and would conduct the lessons only in Mandarin (except for one or 2 who could speak Japanese - mainly for communicating with the Japanese Manager). They are paid very local rates though - 50rmb for 5 hours and 100rmb for 8 hours (according to a recruitment poster in the shop).

You need to be a member before you are allowed to join the classes. They offer 3 trial lessons to choose from i.e. cake making, bread making or cooking and once you become a member you are expected to complete, say, all the classes under basic bread making before you are allowed to proceed to classes under advanced bread making.

Since we are not total beginners, we found the rule a little ridiculous. But the Japanese didn't become successful because they are given to one's whims and fancies so they would tell you that their's a tried and tested industrial learning process, not to be tampered with by a few bored housewives.

Since we just wanted to find something interesting yet educational to do together, the 3 of us decided to sign up for 6 more classes, which would add to our current list of activities which include badminton, lunches and visiting food/plant markets.

Actually Judy is already a good baker so between copying her movements and listening to the instructor I baked my bread and forgot to take notes. We had to do own washing during the lesson which probably helped keep costs reasonable. There were 2 types of ovens in the studio : one set at 45°C and used mainly for proofing bread dough and the Toshiba ones for baking and even steaming.

Ham Flower Rolls :

Bowl A :

75g bread flour (high gluten)

1 tbsp sugar

2/3 tsp dry yeast

1 egg (beaten, about 26g)

70ml water

Bowl B :

75g bread flour

1/3 tsp salt

15g unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)

6 round pieces of cooked ham

egg wash

mayonnaise (optional)

Add flour into bowl A. Followed by the sugar on one side and the yeast next to the sugar. On the other side of the bowl (with the flour in between), add the egg. Pour the water onto the yeast.

Add flour into bowl B. Followed by the salt and butter.

Mix the ingredients in bowl A with a wooden spoon. When you start to see holes in the dough, add the content of bowl B into it. Continue to mix with the wooden spoon till you get a dough.

Turn the dough out on a clean and dry working surface, using a scraper to scrap out any dough/flour in the bowl. Knead the dough till it doesn't stick to the working surface any more, using the scraper if necessary to help pick up the dough stuck to the table.

Form a ball with the dough and place it in a bowl smooth side up. Cover with cling wrap and proof it in a 45°C oven for 25 minutes.

Flour a finger and poke it into the dough. If the hole doesn't close up, the dough is ready for shaping. Gently press out the air and form the dough into a ball again, tucking in the sides at the bottom. Divide into 6 portions. Shape each portion into a ball and place them in a baking tray always smooth side up. Cover with cling wrap and a wet cloth. Proof in the 45°C oven for 10 minutes.

Using your fingers flatten and smooth out each ball till it's big enough to hold a slice of the ham. Roll up from the bottom and pinch the edges close. Fold the roll into half (using a finger in the middle of the roll to help sustain it) and slice it into 2 about 2/3 of the way (at the part that is folded). Open up the dough and you'll get a flower roll with visible layers.

Gently brush with egg wash and drizzle mayonnaise over the roll (if you wish). I didn't use any mayonnaise as I do not like it. Return to the baking tray and cover with the cling wrap and wet towel. Proof in the slightly warm oven for 20 minutes.

Bake in a hot 185°C oven for 13 minutes. Best eaten hot.

I've also made a version with pork floss at home, worked out just as well.

ABC Cooking Studio, SWFC Shanghai

浦东世纪大道100号上海环球金融中心2楼, 近东泰路

麻辣咸鸡 Ma La Salted Chicken

2011-10-29T14:46:00.002+02:00

麻辣咸鸡

This morning we drove to Baoshan which is about an hour from our home so that the men could catch the Lake Malaren Golf Shanghai Masters 2011 at the Lake Malaren Golf Club. The Teenager's school had a few tickets to give away and we grabbed them.

There were apparently quite a few famous Golf Pros in the competition e.g. Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim, Noh Seung-yul, Ian Poulter, Hunter Mahan, Geoff Ogilvy, Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington...all fighting for the 2 million USD top prize. One of my regrets about Italy certainly would be losing the chance to become a successful golf Pro's mum. When we were living next to the Modena Golf and Country Club the boys used to train and play there and we've been told by their instructors that they had talent. Moving to Shanghai killed whatever talent they had for golf in the bud what with golf being such a very expensive and elite sport here. Irony's that we actually live next to the Tomson Golf and Country Club - but couldn't afford to play/train there.

While the boys were following the Pros in the competition, we girls did a spot of shopping at the Lake Malaren Outlet next door. This Baoshan neighbourhood is literally covered in "European-style" construction. Villas and apartments are sprouting up everywhere each one looking more luxurious and expensive than the last one. The Outlet however is crap - another example of Chinese plans always looking better on paper than in reality. Even on a Saturday it was quite empty and the shops had almost nothing to sell. We managed to buy a few items though - a woollen skirt (supposedly some Parisian brand), a pair of Converse shoes, Betty Boop sports shoes and Nautica swimming trunks.

The highlight of our day was our first time eating in a cheap Lanzhou (Chinese Muslim) eatery. I thought that there weren't other restaurants around (which wasn't true as I would discover later) so I dragged the driver and the Girl to the "only" eating place I could find for a late lunch.

They did a good thing hiding the kitchen from public view while the dining area itself was messy but looked reasonably clean. The prices were really low (for us) : 5 rmb for a plate of egg fried rice, 9 rmb for a small bowl of beef noodle soup, 7 rmb for noodles in spring onion oil. The driver said that the same things used to cost much lesser not that long ago though. And he paid for lunch!

I have never eaten in such a very "local" place since we moved to China because I'd been so afraid of falling sick. But when you thought you had nothing else to eat you discover that you were not that afraid of having a stomach upset after all. And I do so love noodles of any kind.

I also couldn't resist the sight of Chinese Muslim men in white caps. For some reason they fascinate me. The low prices probably helped, I was curious to see how such cheap food would taste like.

Quite good's the verdict. The egg fried rice was oily but tasty, the rice cooked al dente and the egg well-mixed with the vegetables. The noodles in spring onion oil was very oily but quite yummy and even came with small slices of beef and a small bowl of hot soup that tasted of beef and spices. I could get really used to eating so cheaply - if I do not die of a stomach upset after this meal. Actually quite unlikely as I also drank a bottle of Coca Cola during the meal to help clean out the stomach.

This set me thinking that I've yet to post my Ma La Salted Chicken dish. Inspired by our lunch at our hostel in Hangzhou. It was a chicken dish that came in a big bowl filled with a skinny whole chicken chopped into pieces, covered in a very salty clear soup and topped with red chillies, leeks and whole szechuan peppercorns.

I made mine using a combination of methods : first poaching the chicken pieces Hainanese chicken-style, reducing the broth and finally frying the leeks, chillies and peppercorns in hot oil and then pouring them over the chicken in its broth just before serving.

Ma La Salted Chicken :

1 whole chicken (chopped into pieces) or a few chicken thighs (separated)

salt and pepper

a large piece of fresh ginger

5 garlic cloves (bashed)

spring onions

chicken stock

vegetable oil

fresh ginger (sliced)

3-4 garlic cloves (halved)

1-2 thin leeks (cut into 3-4 each)

1-2 dozen(s) whole red chillies

1 tbsp szechuan peppercorns

Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces. Rub salt and pepper very generously all over them.

Bring a pot of stock (just enough to cover the chicken pieces) to boil with the ginger, garlic and spring onions. Add the chicken pieces and when the stock starts to boil again, lower the heat to the lowest and cover the pot. Simmer the chicken for about 20-30 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces and put them in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Remove and drain. Set aside.

Reduce the stock. Ideally it should be quite salty. Put the chicken pieces in a serving bowl and cover with the stock.

When ready to serve, heat up some oil till sizzling in a frying pan and fry the ginger, garlic, leeks, peppercorns and chillies till fragrant. Pour over the chicken pieces and serve hot. They should not be removed as you fish out the chicken pieces since they add flavour to the stock.

Mine will require improvement as the chicken pieces were too juicy and the stock not salty enough. I could also have been more generous with the garnishing.

Cream of Porcini (Crème aux Cèpes)

2011-10-20T14:34:00.012+02:00

Cream of Porcini

Lunched with a Chinese friend AD yesterday and she told me about a friend of hers who seemed to be really good at fortune telling. The girl has apparently predicted extra-marital relationships, divorces, pregnancies, illnesses etc with uncanny accuracy.

I am not a particularly superstitious person, but I do not rule out supernatural/metaphysical or illogical occurrences in life. Just for fun I passed AD my birth date and this morning she called to inform me of her friend's initial calculations.

We have never met, but the girl knew a few things about me that she normally shouldn't know. She even made a few quick predictions which involved my marriage and a loved one's health. They were a little cryptic, but not without foundation.

I was reading a biography of Sun Yaoting the last eunuch of China recently and there was a passage in the book that described a prediction in an old Taoist almanac about his life : "Enough food and clothing. Without wife or children." Another of his eunuch friends told him that he shared the same prediction. Sad...

Just for fun I went on the Net and worked out the (western) astrological birth charts for my family, even checked out the compatibility predictions for me and Hub and for me and an ex boyfriend. It was amazing what they said about us, I couldn't have put it better into words myself. I did one for my little sister too and one funny bit was the prediction that she would have a big family and of course she's at this moment waiting for her 4th baby to pop out.

All the above had nothing to do with the Cream of Porcini soup that I made this afternoon, but I did spend quite a bit of time contemplating about life and destiny while making it. How much of our life is destined (e.g. decided by the position of the planets at the time/moment of our birth) and how much of it is made by our own will and actions? Should I be happy with the way my life has turned out, or should I work at making it a more interesting and useful one? Am I really destined to finish my days as a boring housewife?

The soup turned out well, a success with Hub and Baby Girl. There is nothing like eating according to the seasons and while the Chinese porcini lacks the intense aroma and taste of its French and Italian relatives, it makes up (a little) for it with is firm texture. I cheated with dried Italian porcini for the soup stock, so let's just close one eye and get on with life.

Cream of Porcini (feeds 2) :

3-4 dried porcini

120ml white wine

25g salted butter

2-3 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)

1 leek (sliced)

2 large fresh porcini (cleaned and roughly sliced)

fresh thyme

2 tbsp plain flour (for thickening)*

600ml chicken stock

cream

black pepper to taste

In a small saucepan gently heat up the white wine and add the dried porcini. Do not let the wine boil or it'll evaporate. Remove from the fire and allow the porcini to infuse/soften in the hot wine for at least 15 minutes. Remove the porcini from the wine, chop it finely and set aside. Reserve the wine.

Melt the butter in a soup pot and fry the garlic and leek till fragrant. Add the fresh porcini and thyme and cook till soft.

Stir in the flour followed by the porcini-infused wine (like making a béchamel). Then stir in the chicken stock (try to remove the lumps), cover the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the stalk of thyme and mix the soup till it's smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste, drizzle some cream over it and serve with the reserved dried porcini. (Or if you prefer it, cook the dried porcini in the soup and mix everything up together.)

*The flour can be replaced by a small potato to help thicken the soup.

MIL in Shanghai (Pictures)

2011-10-20T03:45:00.000+02:00

Lunch on the 91st floor of the SWFC (100 Century Avenue)

I guess it's normal that we should have so many guests in our first year in Shanghai. My own family is now less than 6 hours away by air, many friends and colleagues would have an occasion or 2 to visit Shanghai at least for work (and many have other friends here), others drop by when they are touring other parts of Asia, and MIL would want to spend time with her grandchildren plus visit China at the same time.

Outside Lu Xun's house in Hongkou (that we visited)

I have therefore been too busy to return to the old routine of experimenting in the kitchen, being involved at school, learning music etc. 10 months in Shanghai have gone by in a flash and sometimes I get the feeling that I've not done much since I moved here. I have been meaning to go back to school, pick up a skill, visit other parts of China, visit friends in other parts of the world, work part-time, lose weight - but only managed to put everything off.

Checking out old stuff at the Dongtai Lu market

In addition to that I've started to worry about the Teenager's future (or lack of), wondering if he'll manage to wake up in time to work for and succeed in his IB (looks bleak at the moment), what he'll do at 18 if he fails to get it, how he's going to get on in the next few decades. Should I return to work just so as to be able to help him out financially for the rest of my life?

Exciting moment : 2-yuan bus trip to the Bund from Changle Lu, being surrounded by the locals

If I started working though it would be difficult to find the time to entertain guests who turn up at various moments in the year. It may also be difficult to make time for the various demands that the children's schools make on our person. Yet there are mothers at the schools who have careers, businesses and still time for their children (though maybe not guests).

A French mammie in Hangzhou

Anyway this is a brief view (5 pictures) of MIL's visit (3 weeks) in Shanghai. She had spent many hours reading books in our garden (all these Europeans like to stay outside when the weather is good), we have been to a few museums, old gardens, temples (both Buddhist and Taoist), water towns, longtangs, to Hangzhou, lots of restaurants, took our first public bus in the city together, shopped for souvenirs and tea...Unfortunately with the kids at school we couldn't manage trips to Beijing or Xi'an so hopefully that'll be for another time.

Meanwhile you can go ahead and mention it. MIL doesn't look her age. And she still has almost all her teeth.

Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Porcini Bits

2011-10-19T13:18:00.011+02:00

It was crazy how one could suddenly develop a craving for macaroni and cheese. But I suspect that Carrefour selling grated French emmental cheese 2 for the price of 1 contributed some towards said craving. Imported cheese (if there were Chinese ones I prefer to remain in ignorance) costs quite a lot here in Shanghai, so my need to take advantage of the offer could surely be understood.

10 months after leaving Modena finally saw the onset of pasta withdrawal symptoms da noi. The kids have been asking for spaghetti alla carbonara, Hub all'arrabbiata and I for some reason kept seeing macaroni or chifferi as the Italians prefer when it comes to short elbow-shaped pasta. Actually I do not recall seeing macaroni when I was living in Italy. There was Maccheroni, but it was long and best eaten with meat sauces.

Imported pasta isn't cheap in Shanghai, but one should rejoice in the fact that one could find them rather easily. Armed with my packet of chifferi from Barilla, vintage cheddar from Kerrygold (Ireland) and the French emmental from President, I was ready to cook myself some Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Porcini bits.

It's the end of the Chinese porcini season and I managed to buy some of the last fresh mushrooms a few days ago. Mac and Cheese is basically comfort food that is often featured in kids' menus in American-style diners here though precisely because it's so basic I prefer to make it myself. I have seen packets of Kraft Mac n Cheese mixes at the supermarket and the thought of eating them freaked me out for some reason.

What I love about the dish is the gratinated cheese, so I usually make shallow casseroles that have more surface area for melted cheese. And I also like to make Mac and Cheese in individual ramekins because any excuse to use my Emile Henry porcelain bakeware is a good one.

Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Porcini Bits :

The pasta :

Cook enough elbow pasta (to fill up 3/4 of your bakeware) in salted boiling water. Needless to say the pasta has to be al dente. Drain and place in the casserole.

The Béchamel :

Melt some butter in a small pot. Add a pinch of nutmeg, generous turn of ground black pepper and salt.

Stir in a bit of flour and milk to make the béchamel. Keep stirring and make sure that the flour is cooked before using the sauce. Make enough to cover the pasta in its recipient.

Add grated cheddar cheese to the sauce and stir to melt it (over low heat). Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Pour the sauce into the bakeware and coat the cooked pasta with it.

The Filling :

Cut a few slices of bacon and a fresh porcini into small pieces and cook in a frying pan (adding a bit of butter or olive oil if necessary) till the bacon is crisp. Add minced garlic and cook till fragrant.

Stir into the pasta-béchamel mixture.

Final Touch :

Pre-heat oven to 375°C.

Top the pasta casserole generously with grated emmental cheese. Many would add panko or other breadcrumbs to the dish at this stage but I prefer it without.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. In the last 5 minutes turn on the broiler if necessary to bronze the cheese and make sure that it's nicely gratinated.

Eat it hot!

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

2011-10-19T09:35:00.008+02:00

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

I was often told that MIL looked Jewish because of her nose. Even the ticket seller at the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (formerly the Ohel Moshe Synagogue) in Hongkou asked. I was tempted to reply in the affirmative in the hope of securing a free ticket (they cost 50rmb each, not exactly cheap for such a small museum in China), but decided otherwise. As far as I know MIL was born Catholic and though non-practising as an adult had been baptised when she was a child.

Back of the former synagogue

It wasn't easy trying to find something to visit almost every day in Shanghai - for 3 weeks. At some point I came across a quick mention of the Jewish Ghetto in an old guidebook when I was looking up the Lu Xun Museum in Hongkou. I later learnt that some 20 000 Jews found safe harbour in Shanghai during the Second World War.

Main entrance of the museum

We all know that millions of Jews were exterminated during WW2. What I didn't know was that the Shanghai Ghetto, formally known as the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees (無国籍難民限定地区), contained in a tiny (poor and crowded) area in the Hongkou District of Japanese-occupied Shanghai, saved Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Lithuania from certain death.

I didn't expect us to spend so much time in the very small museum, for we didn't know that there was a video filled with testimonies about those times being shown. It was fascinating catching sight of Shanghai in the 1930s and 40s, listening to stories about why and how those Jews arrived in Shanghai, how they survived the difficult years there etc.

Chaim Weizmann (chemist, 1st President of Israel) wrote in 1936, "The world seemed to be divided into two parts—those places where the Jews could not live and those where they could not enter."

Starting from the mid-1930s, doors and borders in Europe and even the Americas were starting to close to Jewish immigration and most Jews who had thought to escape could find nowhere to go. 2 heros turned up rather unexpectedly in those times : the Chinese consul-general in Vienna Ho Feng Shan who issued visas for Shanghai between 1938 and 1940 against the orders of his superior, and Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese consul in Lithuania who got many Jews to Shanghai via Russia and Japan.

Life in Shanghai was not easy for these now stateless Jews. Those who were French or British could eventually live in the French Concession or International Settlement, but the rest lived mainly in squalid conditions (e.g. overcrowded rooms, disastrous sanitation, rampant disease, near starvation, unemployment) in impoverished Hongkou. What amazed us was the fact that the Chinese living in the area were not better off - yet they had to accept the influx of thousands of refugees.

Local Jewish families like the Sassoons and a few American Jewish charities aided the refugees with shelter, food and clothing. However, in no time the refugees managed to establish a functioning community with their own schools, newspapers, theatres, sports clubs, restaurants, shops and even cabarets - a testimony to their resilience.

Things unfortunately turned for the worse for the community again after Pearl Harbour (late 1941) when the Japanese moved them into a restricted ghetto (in 1943) and imposed a curfew. Passes were needed to enter or leave the ghetto and one could get beaten up for no reason by the Japanese manager of the area. Yet though the Japanese were allies of the Germans, they didn't give in to German demand to round up the Jews in Shanghai and exterminate them.

Interesting enough there were many local Chinese living in what was known as Little Vienna. Hence the Jewish refugees had little freedom but they were not isolated either. And according to the testimonies displayed in other parts of the museum, most were really grateful to Shanghai for having saved their lives. The only yeshiva in Europe to have survived the Holocaust was also the one whose members managed to escape to Shanghai.

Almost all the Jewish refugees left Shanghai after the war. There were a few (mainly doctors) who joined the Communists in their military operations, but the huge majority left when they could especially since the foreign powers gave up their concessions in Shanghai in 1943, followed by the Communist takeover of the city in 1949.

Blumenthal's former house in Shanghai

After the museum we took a walk in the neighbouring streets which used to be part of Little Vienna. Saw the outside of the house in Zhoushan Lu where Michael Blumenthal (former US Treasury Secretary) used to live in.

Little Vienna

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

62 Changyang Road

Hongkou