Mushroom and Pearl Barley Soup

Continuing the soup trend, the heavier and heartier mushroom and pearl barley soup is quite filling. It added some grains to a diet being overwhelmed with creamy, hot soups, the comfort of winter (at least mine). A lot of pearl barley soup recipes called for thyme, which was not easily found in the fresh markets of Shanghai. However, the bulk of the soup ingredients are readily available.

Instead of using one type of mushroom, an assortment of common white, shiitake, and enoki mushrooms were used for its flavors and textures. Most other recipes also called for about half the amount of pearl barley, but if you want something more grainy and filling, a full cup should do fine. More stock is needed with a larger amount of pearl barley as the grains seem to soak up all the liquid. The soup will thicken naturally from all the starch coating the pearl barley, but when using smaller amounts of pearl barley, adding a teaspoon of flour to the vegetables before adding the stock is an option. Considering pre-made vegetable stock was not on hand, grained vegetable bouillon was added to the pot to season the vegetables and grains before adding water.

This soup is easily served as a main course.

Mushroom and Pearl Barley Soup
2 Tablespoons butter
1 lb mushrooms
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
8 cups vegetable broth
1 Tablespoon mixed herbs (dried)

Melt butter in pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, carrot, celery, and onion. Sauté for about 10 minutes and then add pearl barley. Continue cooking until vegetables about to brown, about 10 minutes more. Add herbs and allow flavors to release, another minute more. Gradually add broth and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until barley is tender and soup thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Weekend Brunch at The Alchemist

Spring means temperate weather, sunny days, and the hopes that it will last a while before the wretched heat in Shanghai. Popular for its molecular gastronomy cocktails, Kelley Lee decided to expand the appeal of The Alchemist by offering a brunch starting on a particularly lovely early spring day. Inside tables were void of people as most diners opted to sit outside to soak in the sun. The brunch menu featured 3 set specials: Brunch Set A - 1 brunch item with choice of drink +30 RMB; Brunch Set B - 1 brunch item with choice of drink & brunch buffet +50 RMB; and Brunch Set C - brunch buffet with choice of drink 100RMB. The drink choices include coffee, tea, juice, sodas, sparkling Chandon, mimosa, red wine, white wine, Bloody Mary, and cocktail of the day. Attentive staff was on hand to take your food and beverage order and make sure everyone was comfortable sitting outside. It was the first run of the brunch, so we just must be honest with the experience.

It did not take a while for the food to come out. Each table had a bread basket to pick at in the meantime which had a few slices of white bread, squares of rosemary and olive foccacia, and a sweet muffin. If you ever tried the brunch at Azul, the muffin looked and tasted like it came from the same supplier. If the brunch buffet was part of the set, you could walk inside and help yourself to the plates of Mediterranean-influenced antipasti, meats, fruits, and salads. The yogurt served at the buffet came with unfiltered honey. However, the runny yogurt tasted like the regular plain yogurt you can find at the local supermarket or convenience store and was not anything special.




A few brunch and non-brunch items were ordered. The Farm (58 RMB) was a dish of grilled asparagus, slow cooked farm egg, parmesan cheese, and hollandaise sauce. You broke the yolk of the runny egg (the yolk was a bit more solid than gooey) to mix with the parmesan and hollandaise, creating a rich sauce that went well with the crispy asparagus stalks. The dish was really wet, but at least the bread basket had pieces of country bread to soak it all up. This item was on the small side to really be considered a brunch main. The Soft Scramble on Toast (88 RMB) was soft scrambled eggs with fresh herbs & roasted bell pepper-tomato coulis with a side of chorizo sausage and potatoes. The scrambled eggs were definitely not wet and cooked through all the way. The combination of flavors was comforting and slightly on the sweet side. The chorizo was mild and tasty, though the potato was underwhelming and slightly undercooked. The Caramelized banana-wheat pancakes (48 RMB) were wheat pancakes made with toasted wheat germ and served with coconut cream. This was a highlight breakfast item. The caramelized bananas tasted like it was cooked with a good knob of butter and some rum, which made this terrific sauce to go with the pancakes so maple syrup was almost unnecessary. No one could really taste the coconut in the cream, but there were enough bananas, cream, syrup, and pancakes to create several perfect bites where every component was represented. The Croque Madame (98 RMB) had thick sliced grilled ciabatta, jamon iberico, fried farm eggs, bechamel, and Gruyere. Cutting into the egg, the gooey yolks spilled over in this bright orange mess over the entire croque madame. The jamon iberico was a little difficult to cut into, but offered a nice salty bite to the dish. Burgers were also an evident feature on the brunch menu with The Alchemist Burger (138 RMB) being the most decadent. The large burger is made with 100% Australian ground beef layered with seared foie gras, caramelized onion, truffle-balsamic glaze, and crispy bacon and served with skinny fries with braised oxtail gravy.

Some criticisms include some confusion on the wording of the set menu deals. For example, for Brunch Set B, would you pay the price for the brunch item and drink and an additional 50RMB for the brunch buffet OR is the drink and brunch buffet equal to 50RMB? With the way the bill was printed, it also looked quite confusing. Perhaps better wording could have cleared this up. Also, individual pricing of each drink was not listed on the menu, as if to suggest diners are not mindful about the costs associated with the drink. The brunch at The Alchemist was a great value for standard Western brunch fare. It was also nice to lounge on cushioned garden furniture to digest after the meal. A return visit is a must to try the smoked salmon eggs benedict to see how they stand up next to the plate at Kabb.

The Alchemist. Sinan Mansions, Block 32, 45 Sinan Lu, near Fuxing Zhong Lu 思南路45号32号楼，近复兴西路. Shanghai, China.

Apothecary Sunday Dinner Fried Chicken

If the classic cocktails with an inventive twist are not enough to get lure you into Apothecary, then perhaps the American southern inspired Creole cuisine will. Apothecary came down to jazz up Shanghai from its original location in Beijing with its in-house-made touches and quadruple distilled ice cubes. It made its home in Sinan Mansions and is not to be confused with the nearby Alchemist, which specializes in molecular gastronomic drinks. Apothecary tries to make everything that can possibly be made in-house from its breads (still in works) down to the bitters used in its drinks. The front entrance displays bitters and tequila batches (for its Mi Amante cocktails) curing in jars that indicate when it was made. Just in its soft opening, Apothecary already started its Sunday dinner featuring fried chicken, biscuits, and coleslaw. The menu claimed in writing that the kitchen at Apothecary will remain open until 01:00. That guarantees you can get your fill of bar bites while enjoying one of their several concoctions.

The service staff is still in training, but at least eager to please and not afraid to ask the managers for advice on bettering their work (as witnessed). The managers were also apologetic about the current state of their service and were eager to ensure that they aim to improve service significantly in the near future. After ordering a dirty vodka martini and receiving a delicious gin and tonic in return, management gave the gin and tonic as a complimentary drink and reason for pardon while the dirty vodka martini was being prepared. Their consideration also guaranteed that waste was not made!


The dinner that was supposed to be centered on country fried chicken became a dinner sandwiched by bacon, which is cut and cured in-house. Greens with poached egg and maple bacon (50RMB) included the description of "mash the egg on top and leer at the runny yolk oozing out of the fried poached egg melting into the baconified greens. It's rather obscene...obscenely good." It was pretty good. The greens had a bit of stalk in them, a tad leafy, and cut into bite-sized portions. It remained crunchy and light to balance the saltiness of the thickly-sliced bacon. After puncturing the lightly poached egg and letting the yolk run out, the egg was tossed with the greens and bacon, almost visibly disappearing in the dish. The combination was excellent: salty, thick bacon you can really chew on, crunchy cooked greens for a fresh bite, and a luscious coating from the yolk. If only there was more bacon...

The reason for dining at Apothecary on a Sunday evening is the fried chicken special only available on Sundays. Currently, half a chicken with 2 biscuits and coleslaw is priced at 100RMB while a whole chicken with 4 biscuits and coleslaw comes at 200RMB. A whole, large organic chicken arrived on a massive plate, though pre-cut to fry appropriately, and on a second plate the biscuits and red cabbage coleslaw. The chicken is prepared by brining in advance before battering and frying. From the look of the chicken cuts on the plate, the deeply brown whole chicken was there, but cut in pairs of wing, breast, and drumstick pieces so it was easy to share and divide the bird in half. It is encouraged to eat the fried chicken with your hands instead of being polite about it with a fork and knife. The batter was simply seasoned with generous amounts of black and white pepper to allow the natural flavors of the chicken to come through. It was light not weighing down the exterior of the chicken yet incredibly crunchy and, at times, you would get bites of pure, crispy, delicious fried batter. The meat is cooked all the way to the bone and moist throughout with particularly supple and plump breasts. There was enough chicken to easily satisfy four diners or leave two absolutely stuffed. Management informed us that they will be soon switching to a new supplier of organic chicken that apparently gives its birds a special wheat feed that imparts a slightly sweeter taste to the chicken meat. This new bird will tack on 50RMB to the current price of the whole chicken dinner.

The biscuits had a texture more of a popover than a buttermilk biscuit. It looked like batter was dropped in small muffin tins and allowed to "pop over" giving the biscuit an airy, though somewhat chewy texture. It was incredibly buttery, but being more of a popover, throwing some fresh herbs in the batter would have helped balance out the peppery taste of the fried chicken. The red cabbage coleslaw was not mayonnaise-based and tasted very sweet.

The end of the dinner sandwiched with bacon was a dessert of candied maple bacon. The idea is thrilling as candied bacon implies both sweet and salty in one meaty bite. Or maybe it was from watching too many episodes of Epic Meal Time that the excitement of bacon became paramount. The thick-cut candied bacon was served on a plate roughly chopped to bite-sized chunks. There was a thin layer of what seemed to be granulated sugar on the bacon, as if freshly fried bacon was dredged in a vat of granulated sugar to candy. Whatever sugar clung to the bacon pieces were probably there from absorbing all that pork fat. The texture from this felt a bit gritty in your mouth. For some reason, my expectation was that the candied portion would basically be cooked bacon covered in a layer of sugar heated at least to a low-ball stage so the bacon would shine from the sugaring and not grease. Regardless, it tasted wonderfully salty, sweet, and smoky.

Just as the drink menu provokes exploration, the Creole-style food should also not be ignored. It will be interesting to see what in-house creations are made as this dining trend is also getting attention from Austin Hu at Madison. Summer should also be favorable to Apothecary as patrons can enjoy their drinks on the small fourth floor patio overlooking Sinan Mansions.

Apothecary. Bldg 2, 4/F, Sinan Mansions, Lane 507 Fuxing Zhong Lu (by Chongqing Lu), 复兴中路507弄2号4楼 (近重庆路), Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Senegalese Curried Carrot Soup

Less is more. Or with less you can make more. This Senegalese Curried Carrot Soup seemed relatively easy to make with the most complicated component being the blender. The number of ingredients is not a lot so selecting quality products makes a better soup. I am not so sure exactly what makes this soup "Senegalese" aside from the addition of good quality curry powder or the combination with milk. In any case, the soup seemed extremely easy to make and would produce a standout result that would make people wonder what really went into it.

With this recipe, I lacked the vegetable stock and bouillon to create vegetable stock, so a bit more curry powder was used before adding water. The flavor of the curry powder is spicy and strong enough to overwhelm the flavors of a vegetable stock. The block of butter I used was purchased in bulk so I may have cut off a 4 tablespoon chunk instead of 6, but even with less butter the vegetables still got coated and were not left too dry in the pan. The addition of milk to the soup gives it a creamy, cooler taste and smoother texture. The resulting carrot soup had an excellent kick from the curry used (and some heat as well) and brought more excitement to what would have been an ordinary soup.

Senegalese Curried Carrot Soup (adapted) serves 4
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cups roughly chopped carrots
3 cups vegetable stock
2 teaspoon good-quality, fresh curry powder
1.5 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Thick yogurt as garnish (optional)

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and carrots and cook until onions are translucent and carrots are almost soft, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle curry powder over vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, a few minutes more. Add stock and bring to a boil and then simmer until carrots are completely soft. Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth, in batches if necessary. Return to saucepan and whisk in milk. Heat the soup until a simmer and salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowls and garnish with yogurt, if desired. May be served hot or cold.

Morton's The Steakhouse Happy Hour - Volume 3

Let it be noted that the complimentary filet mignon sandwiches at Morton's The Steakhouse happy hour in Lujiazui are no longer served in fours on plates. Servers now come around with a large silver platter loaded with them. At first, one could believe that the bar staff has acknowledged most people were consuming these sandwiches en masse, but it allows patrons not to break off more than they can chew. Each person is given an individual plate on which to place the one, two, or three sandwiches removed from the silver platter. This method prevents waste of washing numerous plates and allowing individuals to dictate how much they would like to eat. The best places to sit for maximum filet mignon sandwich exposure are along the direct exit lines from the kitchen. Along these lines, the attention of the server is gained first and the surrounding tables either get what is (or not) left on the platter or will have to wait for the next wave of filet mignon sandwiches.

Morton's The Steakhouse. Shop 15-16, 4/F, Shanghai IFC Mall, 8 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 200120, People's Republic of China. Tel: +86 21 6075 8888. www.mortons.com