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.
possible to capture that elusive, fast-dissipating breath, 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. [ 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
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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
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 take you guys to somewhere take you somewhere better. anthony: so are you a foodie, you thomas: yeah, i eat a lot. anthony: were you born here? you re from shanghai? thomas: yeah, i was born and raised in shanghai. anthony: at least in modern times, it s hard to imagine that any place has changed as profoundly and is changing as