Search This Blog

Sunday, July 3, 2011

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?

8 comments:

christina said...

難怪老爺上次拜訪上海的印象 和一般國際城市一樣的 沒有差別 想必也是跟著國際化進行 只希望沒有失去原有的特色

Miss LK said...

christina,
我在上海的家位於舊時的法租界, 兩旁栽滿梧桐樹的街道, 紅磚小洋房... 別有風味 :)

上海歷史與文化產業豐厚, 很有潛力的都會!

Echomiao said...

對上海有份愛恨交織的心情 曾經有父親早年的足跡 有親戚們熱情的環繞招呼 但是都市經濟的極度發展 尤其是浦東 少了綠地 遮蓋了藍天 車水馬龍 步調快得讓人心驚

不變得是鄉味和美食的召喚 看了妳的照片 對著江米藕 大閘蟹 薺菜年糕。。。懷念不已 讀著讀著肚子也忍不住一陣咕嚕

material girl said...

哇,才去了巴黎又跑上海,Miss LK 拜訪的都是時尚與歷史兼具的都市啊!而且這一篇感覺也很有上海文人的語氣喔。
其實我也很想拜訪上海呢。但是久聞上海女人伶牙俐齒,害怕帶著老公去上海會馬上淪陷... ^^; 我的中國同事說她連跟丈夫去餐廳,明明兩人一起坐在吧台上,都有女人來搭訕呢!

Miss LK said...

Echo,
上海是魔性之都, 繁華來得快到讓人擔心哪天要塌樓... 陣陣風華握不住, 只能旁觀 :)

上海菜的確有特色, 我自己看照片都回味不已, 哪天相約在上海品嚐美食, 豈不快哉?

MG,
哪裏, 都是趁小V放假偷跑的 :P

若是老公們淪陷, 太座們也可以解放啊! 不過上海的男生有點陰柔, 讓我覺得自己比他們更陽剛... not your cup of tea.

下次ㄧ起去玩囉 :)

Anonymous said...

從過去到現在,上海攤似乎都是個敢愛敢恨的地方.早年台商在那裡一派風光,但如今許多終已不敵當地的繁華經濟.回台的回台,倒閉的倒閉,還有人躲在上海樓閣上,無顏回家見江東父老.

看到LK的遊記,除了美食讓人垂涎,也讓人有許多遐想惆悵.不過還是羨幕你可以偷得浮生半日閒,趁小V放假稍稍偷跑一下.這個旅程應該很有趣吧!

christina said...

To Material Girl

看到你的回應 不禁也想回話 就借Miss LK的版面囉

結婚的女人都有如此的顧忌 早就聽說那兒的女人甚是厲害 雖說我們家老爺非常可信賴 當老爺去的時候 我們還是先耳提面命一番 先告知當地的狀況 幸好他們公司都是正規行事 也有同事一路陪行 安全返回

像你說的 都還有女人來搭訕 上海女人真厲害呢

Miss LK said...

fish,
說得很是, 上海灘真是個大賭場, 不能衣錦還鄉只好願賭服輸囉! 中國經濟發展迅速隨之衍生許多社會問題, 要看當權者有無智慧與行動力處理了...

你也是媽咪, ㄧ定很瞭解我的心態, 小小偷閒很開心, 太久的話害相思的都是當媽的 :)

christina,
安啦! 我相信你家老爺和吾友MG的另ㄧ半都不會為小小誘惑背叛自己的選擇.

casual flirts有時也是不成文的社交禮儀吧?

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...