I was most privileged to dine at 吴地人家大酒店, a themed restaurant in a scenic part of Changshu, a stone's throw away from Lakeside House. The architecture of this dining place leaves much to be desired, the intricate designs carved in stone, the colonial arches...
The balcony above that resembled the olden days. I was told, this is a series of themed restaurants throughout Shanghai and Beijing, made to resemble the olden days where entertainment was part of dinners.
On the way up, I spied the prized crustaceans...a whole fridge full of them!
Embroidered napkins.
Matching plates.
Live entertainment for the night, chinese musical instruments and a soprano voice to match.
Time again, I was greeted by tons of appetizers and weirdly enough, you hardly find repeats in the restaurants.
Pickles arranged in a beautiful flower form.
Yam and corn jelly with a sticky consistency without the sugar overload...nice!
Fried sesame buns with spicy preserved vegetables and shredded pork. That was a mouthful...but they call it the "chinese burger". The buns were fried to a nice crisp, the shredded lettuce gave this a refreshing twist. Overall, I found this finger licking good.
Hairy gourd with bamboo clams was normal though the opened clams amused me.
This is quite like 蘆筍 (garden asparagus) with a sticky taste.
The second dessert during dinner that was served! A hot flaky pastry with salted egg and lotus paste...reminds me of Mooncake! In all goodness, I enjoyed every bite.
Yam Nest with Prawn Mayo. Airy Fairy light and crispy yam shell but I did not fancy the mushy prawn mayo filling.
Stewed chicken with baby yams.
I adore how the chicken is stewed but still retained the firmness of meat. The starchy baby yams gave this dish an added texture...one of my favourites this meal.
Time for soup! Fishball soup with mushrooms, shredded chicken and vegetables in clear broth. The fishballs are not like our pingpong ball ones here, lacking in both bite and density. Theirs taste like the fishballs were blended with tofu.
Another hotpot soup with shrimps, black fungus and dumplings. By now, I was too bothered with the upcoming star of the meal to remember the tastes.
ALAS!
The crimson red crustacean so mini, it fits into my palms quite nicely. Weighing in at 200-250gsm, depening on gender..these hairy crabs are in season from Oct-Nov. The Shanghainese way of cooking them is to steam them and serve with garlic sauce.
The tag that certifies each of them.
The story goes...check the whiteness of the belly to see if the hairycrab is good. If it's white, it means the crab has been actively crawling about..so the flesh will be firm.
Another profile shot of its furry legs...before I tucked into it!
The Shanghainese say start with the legs, tease them apart, bite through the shell to slurp up the meat. Oh so easy it sounds but I ended up eating quite a bit of crab shell down! The meat albeit measly was firm and delicious. The experts of these can actually pry the crab open, polish off the meat and re-assemble it in all entirety! There are parts that are inedible..mainly the lungs and spongey bits upon prying open the main shell. The richness of the roe and flesh when I proceeded to the main body was absolutely pleasing. The garlic sauce gave this added zesty tones...Had it not been for the sky-rocketing cholestorol levels, I would have risked another.
Yellow wine has to go with hairy crabs to balance the heatiness, or so I was told. These are pricey stuff. A whiff of this could potentially knock anyone out..the pungent rancid smell that blocks the nose momentarily. Beyond that, the wine is quite lethal. It's meant to be enjoyed in sips, take a sip and let the sip dance around the tongue before ingesting.
Finally dessert of yam 粉圓 soup. On the bland side.
According to the Shanghainese, desserts are served intermittently and not only at the end. One of those meals I heartily enjoyed. Hairy crabs are a must try this season! The whole experience will be mine to remember for the longest time...if these are a gauge of how imperial meals were held, the court officials then must have been more than obese.
吴地人家大酒店
Changshu, Jiangsu
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