Twinkle, twinkle

Shanghai Dumplings

2009-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

As one of the most important business centers in

China

, Shanghai always enjoys an image of modern, flourishing as well as internationalized. However, there can be something else to surprise you in such a multivariate city. For example, food in Shanghai is so inviting that it has already won a high reputation from all over the world just in recent years. Here it is Shanghai dumplings that I’m now going to tell you about.

Shanghainese traditional dumplings are easily found whether you are just roaming a street or having a meal in the restaurant in Shanghai. Even various kinds of frozen-packaged dumplings are available in supermarkets such as Tesco, Carrefour and so forth. These dumplings are often eaten as breakfast, snacks or sometimes the last dish of a meal in the restaurant. So it is obvious that Shanghai dumplings is such a highlight in local people’s daily life, and it still plays an important role till today in this new era.

Actually there are several species of dumplings which are popular in Shanghai. To begin with, I’d like to introduce the most Shanghainese one first.

Xiaolongbao, which emanated from Shanghai and Wuxi, is nearly as big as a table tennis ball and is basically made of flour and meat. It is traditionally steamed in small bamboo baskets, hence the interesting name (“Xiaolong” in Chinese means “small baskets”). It is sold per basket, and there are often 6, that is, half dozen in each basket.

Xiaolongbao, also known as soup dumpling in foreign countries, actually is not totally the same thing as what is called ”soup dumpling” in China. A soup dumpling is generally several times larger than one Xiaolongbao, and there is almost no stuffing or filling such as meat in it. We just drink the soup in the soup dumpling and leave the flour skin while we eat the whole Xiaolongbao including the meat and seafood inside. The most famous flavor of Xiaolongbao is the one with crab meat and crab cream in it, and it is most delicious in autumn and winter especially in Nanxiang Mantou Dian (a top-grade restaurant specializing in Xiaolongbao located in Yu Garden) in Shanghai.

Shengjian and Guotie are two other kinds of Shanghainese style dumplings. Some say they seem similar in a lot of respects, but at least they are entirely different in their shapes. Shengjian is kind of roundish, and Guotie is just fried Jiaozi (a most common dumpling). Even though maybe they were not originated from Shanghai, they are more popular than Xiaolongbao in some way. These two kinds of food are also mainly made of flour and meat just like Xiaolongbao, but they are fried in big pans instead of being steamed in baskets. The flour skin of Shengjian or Guotie is obviously thicker than that of Xiaolongbao and there isn’t so much soup in it, so it is easier and also takes less time for a worker to make Shengjian and Guotie in comparison with the demanding Xiaolongbao. Perhaps that’s why so many booths around the street sell Shengjian and Guotie but not Xiaolongbao.

In a nutshell, none of these wonderful Shanghai dumplings can be replaced by any other items. As a unique part of the city’s history and the native culture in Shanghai, these remarkable dumplings will be further developed and will certainly help Shanghai to attract more global attention in the near future. .

Starneon

2009-10-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

The song here you see was performed by KOMATSU RYOTA together with TORIYAMA YUJI (the guitarist) in Japan.

How I want to own such a bandoneon ！

Deadline's at hand :\

2009-10-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

How come?!

I even haven't thoroughly got the main idea of the assigned reading, so is it really possible for me to finish my paper as what the professor expects? Totally there're three points to talk about, but I just wonder how will all of these be demonstrated in a 3,000-word paper in such several days! A vague knowledge, obviously, is far from enough. And more important, I do hate Executive-led Political System or something always not just kind of abstract or complicated like this.

Hmmm, that's troublesome.

This cute guy here was seen in the Ocean Park in Hong Kong a few weeks ago when I together with some friends was having a trip there. (So frustrated! )

當寂寞卻沒有想念

2009-10-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

—“你沒有看出我的寂寞吧？”

—那是因為從很早以前開始，我就好寂寞。

來香港的整整第45天。維港的燈火很美吧。

Sem A 的日子差不多過了一半，有過那麼曾經短暫兩周的頹廢和新奇，不過從那之後就是永遠望不到頭的assigned reading、presen還有paper。

是啊是啊。就算漸漸忙起來了我也還是很寂寞。所以寂寞的話，望天吧，聽風吧，就這樣看著窗外明媚的太陽回憶從前吧。只是我終究還是沒有在最近的回憶中找到讓我回味的、安心的、溫暖的片段。於是我才知道，原來我是真的不想家，真的不留戀；我所謂的孤單，並不是因為一個人獨自走得太遠。

原來我不快樂了好久。

當今天又遭遇了小小的失敗，感覺到小小的不安，我其實又是多么想去想念一些人，想念一些往事，想念一些說不清道不明的小幸福。或者我應該僅僅看著喜歡的人努力，和他一同期待結果承擔失敗。不過其實何必要說呢，畢竟所有的這些，全部都與我無關，而我越來越能夠接受這樣的現實。

多想變成繁華夜色里的海岸燈火，與這個城市的喧囂為伴。縱然喧囂過後，還是會寂寞。