Guess who’s going on holiday to Shanghai this fall? Yep! The Astronomer and I recently booked our flights, which reminded me of this most excellent Shanghainese dinner that we shared with Diep a few months back. Located in the same busy San Gabriel strip mall as Golden Deli and Ton Chan Ramen, Southern Mini Town came highly recommended to me by my friend Tsz.
Seemingly less splashy than its northern, western, and southern Chinese counterparts, Shanghai cuisine satisfies with subtlety and finesse rather than a double punch of sodium and spice. Sometimes, it’s just what I crave.
A ‘lil dish of salty peanuts covered in seaweed, as well as hot tea, arrived with the menus. A classic Shanghainese start.
Next on the scene was a platter of fresh-from-the-fryer “Fried Seaweed Yellow Fish.” The fish, coated in an airy, tempura-like batter flecked with green algae, were crisp-tender and completely addictive sprinkled with a bit of coarse salt. These are the kind of fish sticks that I can really get behind.
