Shanghai surprise

They had me at xiao long bao.

Delicately wrapped in wanton sheets and served in a dimsum basket, this soup-in-a-dimsum treat bursts with flavor in every bite.

But wait! You’re not supposed to dunk it in your mouth as soon as it’s served. Dimsum lovers follow a “ritual” before giving in to their cravings.

Using your chopsticks, pick a piece from the basket, then transfer the dimsum in a soup spoon. Count from one to five before taking a little bite into the wrapping — as it takes five seconds to cool down the “soup” inside. Now that it’s warm, sip the warm liquid coming out of the tiny hole. Lastly, dip it in ginger and Zhenjiang vinegar sauce, and indulge with gusto.

Xiao long bao is a Taiwanese delicacy, but I fell in love with it in a restaurant that serves Shanghainese cuisine — Modern Shanghai, Bistro Group’s newest dining concept located on the second floor, North Veranda of SM Mall of Asia.

“Shanghai, being a relatively new city in China, does not really have a cuisine of its own. Instead, Shanghai chefs get their inspiration from the surrounding provinces and eventually have created a style of cuisine peculiar to the region,” notes Lisa Ronquillo, AVP marketing of The Bistro Group.

Taiwanese and Shanghainese cuisines have the same taste profile since both can be loosely described as Chinese — an amalgamation of the different regional cuisines of the mainland. While the Taiwanese use a lot of basil and sweet sauces for cooking, Shanghainese dishes are usually characterized by the use of “heavy and highly flavored sauce.”

The braised pork Lucky Knuckle is one delish example. The pork pata is slowly braised in brown sauce for hours and then served with baby pakchoy. And who can resist the Tung-Bor-style braised belly? Named after the Chinese city of Tung-Bor, the meat is slow-cooked in a secret sauce so the flavors seep into the meat fibers.

What’s on the new menu?

A closer look at Modern Shanghai’s extensive menu reveals more culinary gems that you continue to unravel even after several visits. Here, diners need not worry about taste fatigue as the resto added 10 new dishes this July to suit the Pinoy palate.

Known for its traditional hand-pulled noodles, Modern Shanghai tempts the palate even more with the crispy yellow noodles and fried Shanghai noodles with seafood.

If you think native chicken is only for tinola, think again. At Modern Shanghai, the flavorful chicks with leaner skin is deep-fried to a golden crisp.

Whether you want to discover what Shanghainese cuisine is all about or rediscover well-loved Chinese dishes done in a different way, Modern Shanghai is always a welcome surprise!

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Modern Shanghai has branches at SM Mall of Asia and the new Glorietta 2.