Noodle Shanghai
There’s a dinner scene in “The Joy Luck Club” where the lone foreigner at the table douses the piece de resistance with soy sauce, thereby committing gastronomic seppuku. With Shanghainese food, this kind of slathering is encouraged, especially at Noodle Shanghai. Vinegar is the region’s granddaddy of condiments, so much so that the restaurant indulges diners with two types. Liberally drizzle rice vinegar on glutinous dishes such as Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings), Column Vegetable Rice Cake and Scallion Shredded Meat Noodles. Reserve the brinier Worcestershire vinegar for hearty meats like Crispy Duck (best sans noodles) and ZhengJian Pig Hoof Meat. To complete the trinity of acids, salt and fat, try most, if not all, of the stellar cold dishes, many of which are braised with wines from Shanghai: Salted Duck, Shanghai Smoked Fish, Pork Lungs in Chili Sauce (akin to headcheese), Tofu Dry Malan (diced bean curd with a leafy green called Indian Kalimeris) and Pork Ears With Parsley. — April Chan
If you go: 2116 S. El Camino Real, San Mateo, (650) 577-8333, www.noodleshanghai.com. Lunch and dinner daily.
What to order: Crispy Duck (without noodles), Lotus Root With Glutinous Rice, Shanghai Steamed Gluten, Shanghai Smoked Fish, Pork Lungs in Chili Sauce, Shelley Yellow Croaker Noodle Soup, Cane Shoots, Shredded Pork (sans noodles), Beancurd, Bamboo Shoots, Eight Treasures Rice