Foodle

Jian Guo 328 (建国328) - Shanghai (China)

Famous for its MSG-free policy and homestyle cooking, Jian Guo 328 is another classic Shanghainese neighborhood joint.

Our main dish was a plate of stir-fried pork liver (酱爆猪肝) that was cooked to a very nice and silky texture, complemented by a rich brown sauce.

It was followed by a serving of xin tai ruan, or red dates stuffed with glutinous rice, an item that I had frequently seen during my days in Shanghai but had not had the opportunity to order before.

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Hele (和乐点心店) - Shanghai (China)

Hele is another no-frills guotie shop that is highly recommended for anyone willing to get dirty with the juices coming out of the potstickers. A delicious and quick snack.

Watching the cooking method is another pleasure on its own. The dumplings, which are pan fried in oil on one side, are also steamed once the pan is covered and water is added.

Hele is also known for their wontons, which gives me a good reason to come back next time.

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Auntie`s Private Dumplings - Chengdu (China)

Tucked away in a residential complex in Chengdu, a couple serves food in their own apartment.

With the TV on the ashtrays on each table for the ones smoking cigarettes, guests are invited into an actual Chinese household for an affordable and outstanding meal that feels, at least to an outsider, borderline invasive.

Their main specialty are Zhong Shui Jiao, or Zhong Dumplings, which are half-moon shaped and boiled.

The dumpling skin is very thick and doughy, while the lean pork filling has a subtle ginger flavor and is very smooth, like a paste. Overall flavors are pure, without much seasoning, and I found it curious that they were not even fully folded.

Once boiled, the dumplings are served with a combination of their homemade sweetened soy sauce, raw minced garlic and chili oil. It is important to stir everything up, ensuring that the magic sauce coats all sides of each single slippery dumpling.

The place also prepares other Szechuan regional specialties, including sweet water noodles and a refreshing dessert to wash things down following the madness of spicy, aromatic and savory-sweet flavors.

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Nigiri from several different meals at Sugita. With food, pictures don't mean everything, but they can convey a whole lot. The symmetry, draping, sizing - almost of of the visual elements of Sugita-san's sushi are in appealing balance. Despite no sense of the scale in these pictures, the bold flavor and large sizing is apparent.
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There are always edomae classics in the sushi course like kohada, kobashira or kasugo, and tuna cuts from the less-fatty back portion. But more luxurious items like shima-ebi, namigai ("black" mirugai), and if you hit in the right season, the film rainbow (green, red, purple) or sea urchins. Sugita-san's variety of neta is probably unrivalled. Less

Exceptional quality: exhibit 1. Shirako and ankimo are two standards to expect at any high end Japanese restaurant in the winter. The cost of these products, even for average quality, is incredibly high and their rarity is even greater outside of Japan, since nearly all of the product generally comes from Japanese waters. The shirako served on this evening had a subtle pink color, which Amamoto-san explained was an indicator of its freshness. Shirako can often hit heavy, but the flavor in this case was light and refreshing. Similarly, ankimo is often steamed with sake or marinated to add further richness and moisture in most preparations. In this case, however, Amamoto-san noted that the quality was so high that he had only cured it in salt for a short period of time after being lightly steamed. Less

Amamoto-san is probably most filmed/photographed smoking whole katsuo over wara in the dining room. I mean, I posted exactly this a few days ago. The performance is unique, the preparation is not...at least superficially. But the cross section here reveals something that can only be produced with quality and technique - just the tiniest "smoke ring" on the outer edge of the fish filet, a rim of crisp skin, and glistening red meat that isn't oxidized or over smoked. Even for some of the most skilled grill chefs, achieving this sort of result is incredibly difficult. Fried garlic chips are a common garnish for katsuo, but in the case ultra sweet and thin-sliced raw garlic (think the prison dinner scene from Goodfellas) was used instead. Another incredible bite. Less

Amamoto-san's nigiri are medium-sized, with medium shari strength (6/10, with a decent proportion of akazu in the blend), and strong balance. Ingredient quality once again shines through. I have a picture of a kohada nigiri made by Amamoto-san back when he worked at Umi from 2013, and I lined it up side by side with the kohada in this picture, taken almost exactly 12 years later. The shaping, cut and size were nearly identical, right down to how the markings of the fish lined up with the rice. That's consistency for you. Less

The first time I dined with Amamoto-san was at Umi in 2013. At that time, he was the second-in-command for the late Nagano-san, and rising in seniority. (The story of Umi is a good topic for another post, with all three of the major apprentices that trained under Nagano-san now running Michelin and Tabelog-recognized shops). One unforgettable element of that meal was that fact that, towards the end, Amamoto-san popped in the back and cooked the best dashimaki I've ever had in about 5 minutes. It was amazing.
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The tamago served since opening here is considerably less "rustic" that the one from Umi. It is a kasutera-style cooked in a special oven with incredible balance. Light, fluffy, just subtly sweet, but not dry at all. It is always served with a drizzle of the rare wild honey foraged by @khmerrabbit. This is a world class dessert by any standard. Less