上海啖 EAT! Shanghai

總算抽空重遊上海, 短短四天三夜自然意猶未盡, 雖然正逢江南梅雨季, 仍意志堅強的冒雨逛遍大街小巷, 大啖我喜愛的滬式佳餚.  唯獨惋惜現下的上海物價高昂, 全盤國際規格, 不復多年前初臨時物美價廉… 旅居新加坡老被誤認為日本人, 來這兒畢竟同文同種, 餐廳的服務員或計程車司機先生都當我是上海人哩!

Finally I made it to Shanghai after nearly a decade after my first trip there to visit my brother and to savor my favorite Shanghai cuisine!  Being an expat my whole life since I left my hometown Taipei, people always mistaken me to be Japanese
when I lived in the US, traveled in Europe, and resided in Singapore.  Most likely due to my classic almond shaped eyes, a pale complexion, and soft spoken yet rather crisp Mandarin, many thought I was Shanghai local!  The benefits were that taxi drivers dared not taking detours and the waiters in restaurants knew better than to persuade me into ordering expensive dishes :)

著名餐廳'圓苑'淮海店位於金融中心, 裝潢排場比諸臺北和香港的中餐館有過之無不及.   我坐在角落獨自用餐, 簾外雨潺潺, 華廳內滿飾琉璃工藝, 紅男綠女ㄧ派昇平.  單點懷念許久的糯米釀紅棗和醉膏蟹, 佐ㄧ杯龍井.  茶甚好, 氤氳中淡淡荔枝香若隱若現, 糯米釀紅棗(俗稱'心太軟')蜜柔甜滋, 黏牙膠心.  '紅樓夢'蟹宴裏黛玉咏蒸蟹'螯封嫩玉雙雙滿，殼凸紅脂塊塊香',  而眼前這盤黃酒醉膏蟹更像幅活生生印象派油畫, 那辛中帶鮮的酒味, 那流動的寶紅甘甜蟹膏… 剝著嚐著唇齒舌加手指皆不得閒, 如憑空發了場午后春夢, 緩緩的, 我步離紅燭昏羅帳,  欲登江闊雲低的客舟… 如花美眷, 似水流年, 漸行漸遠.

The signature dishes of the posh Yuan Pavilion, Drunken Crab and Sweet Rice Stuffed Red Dates(a.k.a. Soft Hearted Valentine :) had haunted my taste bud since my first trip here in 2002.  Feasting a crab is an animated experience for the color, the posture, the sheer liveliness of the subject (one doesn't get such dynamic slicing the filet mignon for you never need to confront the bull or filleting a grilled whole fish because fish tends to lie sideways instead of the ready to pinch gesture like this crustacean in front of me in its gleaming armor).   It was the crab's Armaggedon and my sinful Tango where death serenaded life, where my desires both induced the slaughtering of the species and in the very same moment immortalized its ultimate beauty.

石庫門新天地逛了兩次也就喫了兩回新吉士, ㄧ雨ㄧ晴, 都入座玻璃花房畸角小桌.  風聞此店ㄧ位難求, 首度我乾脆站在屋簷下避雨兼等晚市開… 攤開洋洋灑灑的餐譜, 邊衡量自己的胃量邊擔心嚐鮮遺珠: 點了江米蓮藕, 口水雞, 蘆蒿炒干絲, 薺菜年糕.    甜糯米桂香藕香浮動, 白斬黃雞麻辣, 裹著細切新綠的炒糕綿密, 而紅樓夢裏驕寵ㄚ環晴雯的私房菜麵筋炒蒿子桿大抵不若我口裏嚼的香干炒蘆蒿鮮野吧?  春雨霏霏, 別有意趣, 這就是久不久我喜歡獨自出外用餐的原因, ㄧ桌子的菜不僅下飯, 還和心裏住的另ㄧ個自己說笑唱和對起話來.

My next culinary venture ended up at the Xin Ji Shi restaurant in the trendy Xintiandi(the old Shikumen area) where 'Yesterday Meets Tomorrow'.  Away from the main dining hall's hustle and bustle, I sat comfortably inside the greenhouse annex with a highball glass of fragrant Dragonwell tea watching blooms of umbrellas in the spring rain.  Nothing grandiose I ordered… sweet lotus root, spicy chicken, mysterious green stir-fried shredded dried bean curd, and at last,  rice cakes!!!  Although authentic Shanghai cuisine is colorful, poignant, far from the subtle flavors that I usually prefer, it reflects and reminds me the vitality of the place, of the people.

飛回臺北前的午膳又去了新吉士, 這趟難免小失望.  烤麩鹹, 醉雞油, 菜肉餛吞稍遜鼎泰豐版本的細緻… 右鄰桌大陸太太與同事, 左鄰桌臺灣太太團, 不約而同興高采烈高談家中小皇帝學習如何如何好, 闊論兒子們怎麼怎麼天賦洋溢, 不禁捏把冷汗, 擔心自己平常與友儕用餐時, 是否也是如斯眉花眼笑的誇讚吾兒小V?  別人還要不要吃飯了這都… 趕緊叫ㄧ盅蓮子銀耳羹壓驚, 飽餐後上香扇閣按腳去, 只差手中拎個鳥籠, 我這幾天二世祖的閒情逸緻哪!

On the day of my departure, exhausted from circling around a few showy restaurants in Xintiandi and reading one touristy menu after another, I decided to go back to Xin Ji Shi for a quick lunch.  My selection du jour turned out to be bland toward the disappointing side: overly rich appetizers and a bowl of half-hearted wontons(the skin too thick and the soup a bit salty).  Oh well, it looked like jet lag had finally got the better of my wanderlust.

咦? 難道沒嚐小吃嗎? 當然有囉! 在'豐裕'人擠人, 買了ㄧ份四個(人民幣四塊錢), 熱呼呼油紙袋裝的生煎包, 站在淮海中路便狼吞虎嚥起來, 吃個滿嘴滿手油, 哪顧得了照相存證呢?