face the whole world. anthony: what is the future? i don t know. but to a very great extent, it is surely being determined here. is there a plan? probably not. only appetites. and increasingly, the means to fulfill those appetites, those dreams and aspirations. who will drive the car that takes us to wherever we are going? they will be young, whoever they are, and not unlike yao minji, a 30-year-old shanghai native educated in the usa at wellesley, currently a features reporter for the shanghai daily. she may be the picture of modern china, but this is minji s favorite restaurant, chun. china and shanghai in particular might be transforming fast, but this place stays resolutely the same. mrs. qu runs the place, serving classic, home-style shanghainese.
there s no menu, no waiting list, and you only get a seat if she likes you. minji: oh, i ordered i ordered too much. sorry. anthony: no, that s fantastic. minji: i was trying to get all my favorite dishes. anthony: no, i m very happy. we re joined by minji s friends, liu jing, an artist, and matthew lei, a restaurateur. this looks fantastic. how do you eat these? whole? minji: i eat them whole because i really like this. ooh. anthony: that works. mmm! minji: good, yeah. anthony: oh, they re good. minji: i think they cook it, you know, a few seconds. that s the secret. anthony: youbao xia are tiny little shrimp, deep fried first, and then quickly tossed in the wok with garlic, ginger, salt, and soy. what is classic shanghainese food? what s distinctive about it? well, this, for instance. it s often black or dark and heavily inflected with oil, soy, and sugar. shanghai is, and has been for
as close to the kitchen as possible to capture that elusive, fast-dissipating breadth, flavor of the wok itself. toss them around, coating those bones with all that good stuff, then serve. and because we like it to burn, thomas orders some la sa shi ding, a spicy chicken dish. hei means energy, life force, or breath, and that s what you re looking for the vestigial flavor, the essence of a very old, carefully seasoned cooking vessel. anthony: oddly enough, thomas tells me there s no mandarin or at least shanghainese word for
face the whole world. anthony: what is the future? i don t know. but to a very great extent, it is surely being determined here. is there a plan? probably not. only appetites. and increasingly, the means to fulfill those appetites, those dreams and aspirations. who will drive the car that takes us to wherever we are going? they will be young, whoever they are, and not unlike yao minji, a 30-year-old shanghai native educated in the usa at wellesley, currently a features reporter for the shanghai daily. she may be the picture of modern china, but this is minji s favorite restaurant, chun. china and shanghai in particular might be transforming fast, but this place stays resolutely the same. mrs. qu runs the place, serving
you re looking for the vestigial flavor, the essence of a very old, carefully seasoned cooking vessel. [ chef speaking mandarin ] anthony: oddly enough, thomas tells me there s no mandarin or at least shanghainese word for wok. it s simply called a cooking pot, to which i say, i really do know nothing about this country. oh, fantastic. wow. thomas: it s actually so-so. anthony: yeah? thomas: it s actually so-so. anthony: no? you re not loving that? thomas: not so, not too good, but it s not bad. anthony: to me, and i ve eaten a lot of food, look, this is spicy, fresh, bright, vibrant. i m telling you. thomas: after this i will