By Michael (smartshanghai.com)
Updated: 2008-03-20 11:40

 

When we first moved to Shanghai, with a wide-eyed sense of adventure and enough energy to walk all over exploring the city, we delighted in trying out all the divey little restaurants and street food stalls--you know, searching for all that "real China" stuff. Unfortunately, we soon found out that just because a cheap eatery was a small, mom-and-pop place with the kind of gritty charm we'd seen in Wong Kar Wai films, it didn't mean the food was any good.

Ironic, perhaps, that we were introduced to the mala tang (spicy-hot/numb soup) at Chuan Chuan Xiangby a well-heeled Shanghai princess. We rolled up in a Mercedes, the driver let us out, and we ducked in. Broken plastic orange chairs, greasy floors slippery with discarded scraps, bone-white fluorescent lights, and shouting matches between the kitchen and customers. We were told this was the place--the place where Shanghainese came to get mala tang. We were suspicious--the restaurant only seats about 40 total (there are 2 floors of seating) and mala tang is such a ubiquitous genre of restaurant that there must be other options. So we’ve tried different places over the years but every time we come back to Chuan Chuan, we have to agree, this place is a cut above the rest.

Since there's an eternal line here, mostly for take-out, you'll need to know the routine before you push your way in. There's a stack of empty plastic square baskets--yes, they’re greasy; don't wear your new Prada jacket here. Grab a basket. Fill the basket with skewers of raw vegetables, various starches (noodles, vermicelli, rice cakes), tofu, and then go to the refrigerator and select your meats. Each skewer is either .5rmb or 1.5rmb. Take time to look at which items are freshest because the popular items are replenished frequently.

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