four things

Albert brought home some croissants yesterday for breakfast this morning. Sure enough, they were still quite fresh, so I couldn't wait to break into my jar of Nutella, slab some on, and add strawberries onto them. 

The smog level has been quite unbearable lately, so adding to my quintessential air purifier, I brought home an English Ivy plant from my local florist to help filter our place for only 13RMB! For a wonderful list of house plants that help with cleaning and purifying your home, click here.

Home made hot pot. Using one can of low sodium chicken broth, tofu, fish balls, vermicelli and whatever leftover veggies you have lying around (and want to get rid of) - boil and voila! Low carb, easy and delicious!

Baby clementines. Ten RMB at my fruit stand for a whole bag full of 'em(it should be in that range at most fruit stands in Shanghai). Load up on the vitamin C in a very sweet way. 

taiwanese cucumbers: my version

This is a staple ”小菜“ that I love and is also quite easy to make - especially if you want something quick, easy, and are looking to find ways to add to your daily serving of vegetables. I always enjoy making this dish because it seems like everyone around me loves it as much as I do, and lucky for me, fresh cucumbers are usually available at my local neighborhood market.

Feel free to use a variety of types of cucumbers - I find that aside from the English Seedless kind, all of the other kinds seem to work pretty well for this recipe.

Prep time: A little over one hour

Use three large cucumbers.

Cut ends off cucumber and smash with cleaver.

Remove seeds from cucumbers and break cucumbers into smaller pieces.

Cover with two teaspoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of salt.

Toss for two minutes and drain liquid.


Add two tablespoons of rice vinegar to cucumbers. Mix well.
Put in fridge and allow to marinate for one hour.

In the meantime, remove tunic and ends of one small red onion. 

About half of the onion will be used.
Slice onion into thin rings, then cut rings in half.

Take a quarter of one whole garlic and remove skin, and ends.

Smash, dice and chop.

Chop up a small handful of cilantro (I tend to go heavy with this!)

Once cucumbers have marinated for an hour, take out of fridge.
 Use a little bit of water (about half a cup) to rinse them and drain liquid.
Toss and mix in onions, garlic, cilantro to cucumbers. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper.

Mix in one tablespoon of Sesame Oil (right) and 

half a teaspoon of spicy oil if desired (left, this kind with peanuts). 

Et voila! My version of Taiwanese cucumbers! Serve immediately and enjoy!

pork chop soup, aka 排骨湯

One of my new years resolutions was to cook more - at least three meals a day in the week. With the weather being so cold in Shanghai these days, I figured that soup would be a good way to cure my winter blues. Pork chop soup, or 排骨湯 rather (doesn't sound as great in English for some reason, but I promise it is delicious) has always been one of my favorites since childhood. The good news is also that this soup seems so much more difficult than it really is to make. 

I truly believe that the key to all good cooking is fresh ingredients. And, in doing this, take advantage of going to your local fruit and vegetable stands versus going to a supermarket. Luckily in Shanghai, these are quite accessible in most neighborhoods. It's also a great place to discover something new and to get all the things that are "in season". 

Love it!

So, here is my version of pork chop soup.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: at least 3 hours

To make this, you'll need to prepare the following:

One large cooking pot with one quart tap water inside,
one quart tap water (not pictured) to add in. 

One whole piece of large pork chop (for soup).
Ask your local butcher for their recommendation.

Blanch pork chop.
Start by placing pork chop in separate pot and using cold water, bring to boil.
Allow to boil for at least ten minutes.
Drain, rinse, and clean pork chop thoroughly.

Ginger (Half of this, roughly sliced, unpeeled).

A fist-full of green onion, ends removed.

One whole yellow onion, tunic and ends removed.

Three to four small-medium sized tomatoes,
each sliced in half.

Lotus Root, ends removed, peeled and chopped
into one-inch quarters.

Half a large daikon, peeled and sliced into half-inch pieces.

Three to four small potatoes, peeled and chopped
into one-inch quarters.

Two big fist-fulls of bean sprouts, tails removed. 

Place blanched pork chop, yellow and green onions, and ginger into pot with water. Simmer with low heat for an hour. Following, place the remaining ingredients (lotus root, potatoes, tomatoes, daikon, bean sprouts) into the pot.

Add one tablespoon of salt to soup,
or to taste.

An hour later, add half the remaining quart of water to pot.
Allow to simmer, and continue to add the remaining water as soup simmers.
The longer you simmer, the more flavorful the soup! After three hours, serve if you please
(but I'd hold off until just a bit longer!)


Add chopped cilantro for a flavor kick/garnish.
Remember to remove the ginger and/or onion prior to serving.

 And ta-da! Healthy, hearty, and yummy! Cheers to kickin' away the cold.

a new stroll down a not so new street

Victoria and I had our usual work day and then we decided to walk around the block a bit because our lunch orders were a bit on the heavier side (think crepes - chocolate, strawberry jam, bananas, cream, and more crepes).

While I was already quite familiar with Shanxi Nan Lu from the Jingan side, I've never explored the Xuhui end of it - where I've noticed numerous florists, home decor stores, as well as cafes, while driving through. Since we were already in the hood, I suggested why not.

It was just as I remembered, dozens of cute shops in a row. And there were several florists indeed, all with their respective stores filled with the freshest seasonal selection. As presumed, these florists had much more of a selection than your neighborhood street peddler, but they charge double if not more. A bouquet of 20 roses is about 80RMB.

To bring some color to such a grey day, I settled for these. 

Wan Qu Florist

406 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Fuxing Road

陕西南路406号近复兴路

As we kept walking, we entered Lulu Living - a very cute home decor boutique. It's hard to find places in Shanghai (well, in most places for that matter) that carry nice smelling yet affordable air diffusors, and it just so happened that this store did. Amongst these were also portable electric furnaces, cuckoo clocks, frames, and other random, adorable things.

I choose the ZEN room diffusor for my apartment, very fitting indeed. 85RMB for the bottle and 5RMB for the sticks.

Lulu Living

414 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Fuxing Road

陕西南路414号近复兴路

Victoria had to head home but I continued walking. My next stop was a little shop called The Life. The Life instantly lured me in because I could see tubes of paint for sale from the outside  window - hence I assumed it was an arts and crafts store. To my surprise, not only was it an arts and crafts store - it was fully loaded with all kinds of creative goodness I'd want to dive into when I have some spare weekend time.

Paint pens and ceramic mugs

The Life
438 Shanxi Nan Lu, near Fuxing Road

陕西南路438号近复兴路

Finally, I also passed by Le Creme Milano, but it was closed - what a shame. I guess it was a sign that I had not yet earned my afternoon snack despite my stroll and thus wasn't meant to be. So from there, I went home. :)

poor molly!

Albert and I came home from a family gathering to find half of Molly's face swollen. Whilst trying not to panic, we looked up the severity/possible cause of Molly's reaction, as well as locating a 24-hour pet clinic at 10:30PM in Shanghai. Needless to say, we were hoping for lady luck to be on our side. After noting that her reaction needed immediate care from a professional, we were thankful that out of the tiny selection of listings available for 24-hour care, we were able to speak to a someone on the other line who said that he could take her in right away.

30 minutes later via cab from Xujiahui to Minhang District, we arrived to Doctors Beck and Stone's Emergency Clinic. Dr. Xiao, the gentleman who greeted me on the phone, along with a nurse who was also present on hand, were collected, competent, professional, and treated Molly on the spot. It turned out that Molly likely had an allergic reaction to one of her chew bones. After getting her blood drawn, a shot, and 900RMB later, Molly was already looking much better and ready to go home. Although 900RMB is on the pricier side, it was emergency care. And, for us to find such professionals at our hour of need and in a clean, comfortable facility, it was well worth it.

 

Before (lots of swelling on her left side)

I would definitely recommend Doctors Beck and Stone for anyone who needs pet care. They also have English speaking staff available, as well as numerous other services and treatments for your pets' every need.

After (still a little swollen, but much better)

Now to follow Dr. Xiao's regime for home care! Molly will hopefully be back to 100% soon.


Doctors Beck & Stone
Phone #: 6402 9226 Address: 66 Qingshan Lu 青杉路66号 Area: Minhang 闵行 Metro: Longbai Xincun, 5 mins. walk Hours: Daily, 9am-7pm For an appointment, pet pick-up or emergency, call: 400 103 8686 or email info@drbns.com.

an evening in

Living in one of the most exciting cities in the world like Shanghai can be both mentally and physically exhausting at times. So what to do on a cold Friday night in January when you feel like taking it more low key? After dinner, opt out on the late night partying and dare to stay in.

These wax holders were given to me by my dear friend Victoria who got them at an art show last year. I've filled them up with a little bit of rice (to avoid the heat from melting them through) and put red tea lights (Ikea) in them. The tray is from a nice vendor who is stationed on Anfu Lu.

Crack open a bottle of red. Bottles tend to be pricy in Shanghai due to the import/export taxes but Cityshop usually has a buy 3 get 1 promotion which usually seals the deal for me.

Cuddle buddy (optional).

Pop in a movie or jam to a playlist, have a little sweet and your night is complete (dark chocolate kit-kat bars, available in select 7-11's).