Speaker A
um what are our expectations which of the things we desire are within reach if not now when and will there be some left for me? Felt the cool rain on my shoulder.
Anthony Bourdain explores Shanghai's contrasts of ancient cuisine and hyper-modern growth, reflecting on China's economy, global interdependence, and the future of work.
Key Takeaways
- Shanghai embodies China's rapid transformation, blending deep cultural tradition with explosive modern consumption and wealth.
- China's economic rise is closely tied to decades of peace, reform, and global trade, making its fortunes inseparable from the world's.
- Automation poses a major societal question: how people will find meaning and livelihood when fewer workers are needed.
- Food serves as a window into culture, history, and immigration, with Shanghai's cuisine reflecting its layered identity.
- Understanding China is an ongoing, humbling process, as its scale and pace of change defy complete comprehension.
What the video covers
- Bourdain opens by reflecting on expectations, desire, and what remains within reach, set against the rain-soaked streets of Shanghai.
- He describes Shanghai as a city of stark contrasts: ancient culinary traditions sit a block away from ultra-modern luxury and consumption.
- The Huangpu River divides the historic Bund area from the newer, built-up Pudong district.
- Bourdain admits that he will never fully know China, calling the steep learning curve both humbling and exciting.
- An economics dean interviewed in the episode explains China's manufacturing boom, rooted in a long period of peace and reform and open-door policies.
- The interviewee emphasizes that China's economy and the world's economies are deeply intermingled, so a failure in one would be disastrous globally.
- The conversation turns to automation and the question of what human beings should do with their time when fewer workers are needed.
- Bourdain samples Shanghai food, including xiaolongbao soup dumplings, Shanghai-style pork chop with Worcestershire-like sauce, braised pork belly, and clay pot bean curd soup.
- Shanghainese cuisine is described as often dark and heavily flavored with soy, oil, and sugar, reflecting the city's history as a center of immigration.
- A local journalist, Yao Minji, represents the modern, educated, globally connected generation driving China's consumption and future.
Chapters
- 00:00Opening Reflections on Desire and Expectation
- 00:45Arriving in Shanghai: Old Culture Meets New Wealth
- 04:15The Impossible Learning Curve of Understanding China
- 06:47China's Rise, Peace, and Global Economic Interdependence
- 09:20Xiaolongbao and Classic Shanghai Cuisine
- 13:00Automation, Work, and the Future of Human Purpose
- 17:00Meeting Yao Minji and Modern Shanghai Youth
- 23:00Braised Pork, Soups, and Closing Feast
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] shy china's younger generation is driving a growth in consumption [Music] this is where the real power is china [Music] if you live in manhattan like i do when you think you live in the center of the
Speaker A
China's younger generation is driving a growth in consumption. This is where the real power is. China.
Speaker A
of luxury a sheer volume of things and services unimagined by the greediest most bourgeois of capitalist imperialists the city is split by the wangpu river a tributary of the yangtze in the older section which features the bund and the newer built up section
Speaker A
If you live in Manhattan, like I do, when you think you live in the center of the world, this place, Shanghai, will confront you with a very different reality. Turn down a side street. It's an ancient culture, a centuries-old mix of culinary traditions, smells, flavors. A block away, this, an ultra-modern, ever-clanging cash register, levels of wealth, of luxury, a sheer volume of things and services unimagined by the greediest, most bourgeois of capitalist imperialists.
Speaker A
learning curve that impossibly steep the certain knowledge that even if i dedicated my life to learning about china i die mostly ignorant that's exciting it's too much and it's changing so fast china has a population of around 1.3
Speaker A
The city is split by the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze. In the older section, which features the Bund, and the newer, built-up section of Pudong.
Speaker A
drive the whole world and the current dean of the college of economics and management at shanghai zhaodong university [Music] like so many people you meet here he's chinese but was educated in american universities and is taught at yale duke and arizona state
Speaker A
The one thing I know for sure about China is I will never know China. It's too big, too old, too diverse, too deep. There's simply not enough time. That's, for me, the joy of China: facing a learning curve that is impossibly steep, the certain knowledge that even if I dedicated my life to learning about China, I'd die mostly ignorant. That's exciting. It's too much, and it's changing so fast.
Speaker A
of peace no serious enemy no no major wars right so the manufacturing industry really took off internally it's a reform and open door policy every country willing to trade with china there's certainly no doubt that at this point we
Speaker A
China has a population of around 1.3 billion people, and the number of them who are joining an explosive middle class, demanding their share of all that good stuff: infrastructure, the clothes, the cars, the gas to fuel them. It's the engine that might well drive the whole world.
Speaker A
literally small steaming basket buns but i translate them in my head to pillows of happiness that will scald your tongue and throat [Music] if you don't know what you're doing look there are a lot of reasons to come
Speaker A
The current dean of the College of Economics and Management at Shanghai Zhaodong University. Like so many people you meet here, he's Chinese but was educated in American universities, and has taught at Yale, Duke, and Arizona State.
Speaker A
fat renders into a soup of the gods which then if you're not careful causes unforgettable maxillofacial damage as it changes your life forever oh so good in the china of the future places like this fushan zhao long will
Speaker A
So, you'll forgive me. Um, economics are not my area of expertise. I wallow in ignorance. But China looks different every time I come. It's changing so, so, so quickly. How did that happen?
Speaker A
chop jaju pay served with la jango the local take on worcestershire sauce it's irresistible uh so i really believe that uh the world is converging and china will again will be privatizing more and more right but the difficulty nowadays
Speaker A
China enjoyed, you know, this long period of peace. No serious enemy, no major wars, right? So the manufacturing industry really took off. Internally, it's a reform and open door policy. Every country willing to trade with China. There's certainly no doubt that at this point, our destinies are inextricably bound up. We are hopelessly, our economies are hopelessly intermingled. If one fails, the effect would be disastrous. Global impact, we are, to say the least.
Speaker A
right so the question is that what should human beings do you know how can you let them not doing anything and then still living a good life right i don't know it's going to be a big issue at face
Speaker A
It's certainly beautiful. This is what I was waiting for. Literally small steaming basket buns, but I translate them in my head to pillows of happiness that will scald your tongue and throat.
Speaker A
who will drive the car that takes us to wherever we are going they will be young whoever they are and not unlike yao minji a 30-year-old shanghai native educated in the usa at wellesley currently a features reporter for the shanghai daily she may be the
Speaker A
If you don't know what you're doing, look. There are a lot of reasons to come to China, and to Shanghai in particular, but these babies, done right, these things alone are worth the trip. Ground pork and shrimp, folded exactly, and always twenty times, inside freshly made, individually rolled-out dough. As they're steamed, a delicious, delicious fat renders into a soup of the gods, which then, if you're not careful, causes unforgettable maxillofacial damage as it changes your life forever. Oh, so good.
Speaker A
list and you only get a seat if she likes you oh i ordered too much sorry it's fantastic now very happy we're joined by minji's friends liu jing an artist and matthew lay a restaurateur this looks fantastic how do you eat these whole i eat them
Speaker A
In the China of the future, places like this, Fushan Zhao Long, will be even more packed, by Chinese, by expats, by visitors looking for the deeply satisfying rush of screamingly hot goodness: the chewy, deeply savory, fragrant, perfectly shaped and folded, ballistically designed delivery vehicles for pure pleasure. And the allure of Shanghai-style pork chop, Jiaju pai, served with La Jiang, the local take on Worcestershire sauce. It's irresistible.
Speaker A
ginger salt and soy what is classic shanghainese food what's distinctive about it well this for instance it's often black or dark and heavily inflected with oil soy and sugar shanghai is it has been for some time a city of immigrants and the food
Speaker A
So I really believe that the world is converging, and China will again be privatizing more and more, right? But the difficulty nowadays is, the technology is so advanced, we don't really need that many people to do things that many people used to. Let me get, and it was the population, seven billion people. The world probably doesn't need that many people working anymore, right? So the question is, what should human beings do? How can you let them not do anything and still live a good life? I don't know. It's going to be a big issue, a face for the whole world.
Speaker A
both worlds great sauces great ingredients there's hung chao roll braised pork belly in a deep red glaze of dark and light soy sauce cinnamon sugar and anise hungsha chongyu a small fish poached first in rice wine salt and light soy
Speaker A
What is the future? I don't know, but to a very great extent it is surely being determined here. Is there a plan? Probably not. Only appetites, and increasingly the means to fulfill those appetites, those dreams and aspirations. Who will drive the car that takes us to wherever we are going? They will be young, whoever they are, and not unlike Yao Minji, a thirty-year-old Shanghai native educated in the USA at Wellesley, currently a features reporter for the Shanghai Daily. She may be the picture of modern China, but this is Minji's favorite restaurant.
Speaker A
with dark soy salt and sugar and this to round things out yondu shin a clay pot soup of bean curd based stock with salted pork belly tofu ribbons and bamboo shoots a little bit flavor this is a socialist country supposedly
Speaker A
China, and Shanghai in particular, might be transforming fast, but this place stays resolutely the same. Mrs. runs the place, serving classic home-style Shanghainese. There's no menu, no waiting list, and you only get a seat if she likes you. Oh, I ordered too much. Sorry. It's fantastic. Now very happy.
Speaker A
thinking china is a posh version of north korea or or the party can choose everything but they come here they're surprised it's actually not that much they do seem to be promoting the free market even more with the free trade
Speaker A
We're joined by Minji's friends, Liu Jing, an artist, and Matthew Lay, a restaurateur. This looks fantastic. How do you eat these whole?
Speaker A
what will the chinese think is that exciting it's exciting that we finally have a influence that we wouldn't like china is sort of in the spotlight in the center of the stage no that we wouldn't have dreamed of like
Speaker A
I eat them whole because I really like this. Oh, that works. Yeah, oh, they're good. I think they cook in a few seconds. That's the secret. Our tiny little shrimp, deep-fried first, and then quickly tossed in the wok with garlic, ginger, salt, and soy.
Speaker A
because you'd bury us [Music] i love few things more than quoting that impeccable communist deng xiaoping to be rich is glorious all isms are wasms dig deep and it's always about the money meet tim say resident of communist china
Speaker A
What is classic Shanghainese food? What's distinctive about it?
Speaker A
trump's garish tiki taki empire look like the back of paulie d's van where are these from they're great different fans fantastic wow they're in good shape great choice why we keep them happy every single one is flying from jet with little seat belts
Speaker A
Well, this, for instance, is often black or dark and heavily inflected with oil, soy, and sugar. Shanghai is, and has been for some time, a city of immigrants, and the food reflects that genealogy: a combination of people from neighboring Zhejiang province, known for their liberal use of sugar, soy, and vinegar, and from Jiangsu province, known for fresh ingredients and attention to preserving the aliveness of its dishes. It's the best of both worlds. Great sauces, great ingredients.
Speaker A
created by the roosevelt family maybe you've heard of them this is his clubhouse really the house of roosevelt on the bund right in the middle of it all wine is big here now the french chateaus more and more they look to china
Speaker A
There's Hong Shao Rou, braised pork belly in a deep red glaze of dark and light soy sauce, cinnamon, sugar, and anise. Hong Shao Yu, a small fish poached first in rice wine, salt, and light soy, then fried in ginger-garlic oil, more soy and sugar, until the liquids reduce to a gorgeous, sticky sauce.
Speaker A
for red wine in the world it's pretty amazing here wow i designed this place in five minutes i looked at this plate for like six months daytime night time and and finally one morning i said i'm going to be the wine cellar out of this
Speaker A
Duck that's been marinated, blanched, then reheated, smothered in a sauce made from the reduced drippings left in the wok with dark soy, salt, and sugar. And this, to round things out: Yuba Shen, a clay pot soup of bean curd based stock with salted pork belly, tofu ribbons, and bamboo shoots.
Speaker A
coco shoe a party planner so you eat like this all the time nice wine cellar tries at night today we're surrounded by southern french wine and nothing italian mine and if you like here you can eat in different districts of wine
Speaker A
A little bit of flavor. This is a socialist country, supposedly.
Speaker A
that the realm of the possible here is very big absolutely it's a big stage i mean in new york city or in other places in the world you can see that you might be a massive project but that's probably the only one in the
Speaker A
Yeah, it was a communist country, supposedly. It is, in fact, from all evidence that I've ever seen, the most dynamic capitalist country on earth. What do you think about that?
Speaker A
on earth to make peace it's the food it's the train we have better peace on earth and you're probably the united nations ambassador [Music] in time and this little shrooms are from south pole and only new zealand has the right to
Speaker A
I think a lot of my Western friends come here thinking China is a posh version of North Korea, or the party can choose everything. But they come here and they're surprised. It's actually not that much. They do seem to be promoting the free market even more, with the free trade zone just established in Shanghai. So it's amazing. From what I see everywhere I go, the world is becoming more Chinese, Chinese-influenced, Chinese food. If you build a casino in Vegas or a hotel in Singapore, you have to consider what the Chinese will think. Is that exciting?
Speaker A
yorker i mean if you didn't know how to use chopsticks as a new yorker you were a terrible new yorker no we don't ask one thing do you know how to speak like a brooklyn prison it's a tough accent
Speaker A
It's exciting that we finally have an influence that we wouldn't like. China is sort of in the spotlight, in the center of the stage. Not that we wouldn't have dreamed of, like, say, only a decade ago. For me, I think, you know, the communist menace that we used to always talk about in America. I think the most terrifying scenario is that China becomes a completely free market, non-socialist. The men come into society, because you'd bury us.
Speaker A
not for nothing what not for nothing that that's broken not for nothing but nothing laughing not for nothing but uh you know i can really use a little more wine yeah not for nothing nothing nothing not for nothing nothing
Speaker A
I love few things more than quoting that impeccable communist, Deng Xiaoping: to be rich is glorious. All isms are wasms. Dig deep, and it's always about the money. Meet Tim Say, resident of communist China,
Speaker A
afford it what is it so we have tomato and potato and that's it i lost a tomahawk australian wagyu beef a massive perfectly cooked tomahawk chop coming in the door at up to 150 a pound that includes bones and fat
Speaker A
this is about a thousand dollars worth of steak even if tim wanted to serve good old usa beef still the finest on earth in my opinion he can't china has banned imports of u.s beef over concerns about mad cow disease while they carve
Speaker A
a quick trip behind the bookshelf and now i want you to show your special place wow so you name your label the village of wines i think most of the chance we have it and uh so this size is all our
Speaker A
interesting one that they can keep aging themselves this is the the house collection that's correct and i want to show you the membership area the newest members anthony and it's all about roosevelt collection of wines please open it
Speaker A
cool it's good being me thank you it's good having you thank you so much [Laughter] close that up man wait a minute close it [Laughter] up [Music] here's the thing even with the modern china rising out of the ground all
Speaker A
around you even with all the things the same things you see for sale everywhere where people have money these days even with all that there's still this china shoning road just south of people's square it's still happening the good old stuff
Speaker A
the china you first fell in love with walk down the street and look in any direction and there's something to eat i may not know what it is immediately but chances are it's good [Music] we talk about foodies and what the hell
Speaker A
does that mean by current definition best i can understand it that makes just about every chinese person i ever laid eyes on the foodie which is to say a perfectly reasonable person who enjoys and pays attention to where
Speaker A
the good stuff is [Music] look at this one street and look stuffed oysters grilled over charcoal snake treats why yes and yes it does taste kind of like chicken there used to be a lot of streets like this full of daipai dong where you could
Speaker A
look shop around and eat all out in the open a happy riotous delicious torrent of food but the government as governments do are tightening the screws old is bad new is good [Music] not everybody thinks this is a good idea
Speaker A
though bill wang was born in shanghai and studied here at tongji university he began teaching english before he was out of college he suggested we meet at uruguantan there may be wonton stalls all over shanghai but bill says this one this one is the
Speaker A
one you're an english teacher yes yes most of the people i meet of chinese background who speak english have their teachers were british sometimes australian or new zealand and they have those expressions and that accent maybe more and more these days i guess
Speaker A
younger generation there's more and more of that sort of tv accent is that good or bad uh i think it's good you know uh tv series especially american tv series are so popular in in china one of the most
Speaker A
popular american shows in right now uh house of cards house of cards yeah so popular house of cards yes that's really interesting why what do you think the appeal is here you know in the show you know americans can talk
Speaker A
about president right in china there's no way you can talk about those sensitive topics ah so many people love that show it's really really good wow that's really a surprise to me wow these things are huge yes wonkton okay it's okay
Speaker A
[Music] mince pork bok choy some ginger moistened with rice wine soy it all gets mixed up nicely and folded into the dough boiled till just right and sauced with a powerful mix of soy sauce vinegar chili sauce sesame oil
Speaker A
and peanut butter so you got a kind of sweet savory acidy salty spicy umami thing going on with every bite you want this believe me you want this bad in fact you need it what do your students want
Speaker A
to do when they enter the professional field what's the dream i think this generation they are a lot of them are lost they don't know what to do if you ask like a university what is their dream right my dream is to buy an apartment
Speaker A
in shanghai by car you know that kinds of things are there enough jobs for everybody it's becoming more and more competitive right everybody wants the best job but it's only a very few of them out there but i think there's like a huge gap
Speaker A
between company and new graduates right company wants to experience the workers right the new graduates also want a good job now yeah now they are not ready for it right so they don't want to do some you know
Speaker A
hard work stuff from scratch right so that's the problem i guess it looks to me china in general shanghai in particular is changing very very fast every time i come it's different and in your recent memory i mean in the
Speaker A
last 10 years what's the most noticeable change to you food like this is becoming more and more difficult to find if this is handmade and i think it's a real food it's not very expensive and it tastes great but a lot of food are
Speaker A
you know processed food right now and also of course it's internet it has pros and cons of course the good part is that you can get information easily right the bad part is that people don't talk to each other
Speaker A
even like two people go to a restaurant you know like a couple they take pictures and use their cell phones and talk to each other they're communicating with everybody else in the world but who's at the table they don't enjoy
Speaker A
their life but what's the point right so it didn't happen until you tweeted as we say oh my god what's clear very quickly here is the way china claims things are the way things are supposed to be as far as
Speaker A
permissible social media and access to information and the way they actually are two different things [Music] meet thomas yao hacker turned entrepreneur he recently received significant startup money to build what he calls an open source project sharing platform
Speaker A
to connect chinese college students with the world when you say hacking what is so what is what do you do when you act what what's the what's the intent actually it's it's it starts from mit if you go to the computer science and
Speaker A
artificial intelligence building emit it will it will show you the definition of hack it's actually a very positive word but it became the very negative one right so the word hacker is to describe the people who are really
Speaker A
uh they really like programming and they say they love to share information just like cooking you love to share recipes to other friends who like who love cooking legally there might be something wrong with it but morally do you think there's
Speaker A
anything wrong with like you're essentially breaking into uh an information base i'm not doing any damage i'm gonna go in i'm gonna look around i'm gonna see how things work and i'll leave without disturbing anything would most hackers
Speaker A
say that that's okay yes yes it's in the service of knowledge that's okay for most hackers in our communities i was lucky i got into a very big big hacker community here in shanghai and met a lot of great mentors started
Speaker A
in business of 21. exactly great accomplishment i didn't go to the college you didn't go to college i didn't go to the college why not most the professors are way behind the development speed of the communities why you're the country is so advanced in so
Speaker A
many other ways why in this area the network problem here in china uh we have gfw the great firewall and it blocked a lot of important information websites inside china and a lot of people they can't get the cutting edge
Speaker A
technologies which we don't teach in college at all and so the human resource program and manpower problem is more and more getting more and more serious here in china because everyone's going to the silicon valley uh you see all for better
Speaker A
obviously everything all here these are the famous ribs yes maybe the number one thing that the seriously food crazed traveler coming back from shanghai will tell you to eat other than the soup dumplings of course ziran pai gu
Speaker A
or simply cumin ribs [Music] it takes two cooks working at once to make this dish one deep fries the ribs and hot oil until just right another toasts the ginger cumin and other spices in a wok and then in go the ribs
Speaker A
and if you're a devotee of what's called wok hay you sit as close to the kitchen as possible to capture that elusive fast dissipating breath flavor of the wok itself toss them around coating those bones with all that good stuff
Speaker A
then serve and because we like it to burn thomas orders some lazaji ding a spicy chicken dish hay means energy life force or breath and that's what you're looking for the vestigial flavor the essence of a very old carefully seasoned cooking
Speaker A
[Music] vessel oddly enough thomas tells me there's no mandarin or at least shanghainese word for wok it's simply called a cooking pot to which i say i really do know nothing about this country oh fantastic wow it's actually salsa
Speaker A
yeah it's actually salsa no you're not loving that not nothing not too good but it's not bad to me and i've eaten a lot of food look this is spicy fresh bright vibrant i will take you guys to
Speaker A
i will take you somewhere better so are you a foodie you yeah i eat a lot were you born here you're from shanghai yeah i was born and raised in shanghai at least in modern times it's hard to
Speaker A
imagine that any place has changed as profoundly and is changing as quickly as it is changing here we really feel proud really feel proud our qualities of life is improving really really fast in a poll 85 of uh chinese who are asked
Speaker A
the question do you feel that your life will be better next year 85 said yes it will be better next year this is an extraordinary number number i i don't know a lot of other countries that would say that
Speaker A
uh yeah well that looks great oh the famous chickens it's so good not bad you know i'm finding this food really really delicious and you you're saying it's just it's okay wow [Music] shanghai is one of the biggest cities in
Speaker A
the world right now a global financial center and transportation hub and the world's busiest port you can smell the money but maybe the real story is the newly emerging participants in global capitalism the middle class the working class who
Speaker A
also want flat screen tvs and cars and vacations and the promise of better for their kids take this couple typical working-class chinese from the workers paradise mein ning a bus driver and dong yun-yang his bride-to-be today is their wedding day and custom
Speaker A
must be observed when it comes to weddings the chinese have always gone big and these days bigger still lots of food lots of booze lots of people getting crazy which is why thomas and i have become wedding crashers
Speaker A
the constellation bar for a pre-wedding drink the classic chinese cocktail the moscow mule okay maybe not chinese these are good yeah this is the reason i love this place you married no no not yet i'm not i'm not a big fan
Speaker A
of marriage you've been to weddings yes yes have you ever crashed a wedding before no it's gonna be a little weird i mean we don't know anybody there well i hope the food's good at this you thing have a lot of drinks
Speaker A
it could be uh really crazy oh really yeah yeah oh they drink a lot really [Music] so ready to crash a wedding yeah let's do it all right yes [Music] when you go across the road here yup the chinese wedding is not cheap you
Speaker A
need a banquet room in this case the family's rented out this place at the historic park hotel shanghai chinese weddings generally speaking mean the presence of a number of formalities [Music] first meet the bride and groom upon entering
Speaker A
red envelope also known as the hung bao like in goodfellas it's a little something for the bride and groom help them get started in their new life [Music] thank you awesome okay table set often with some must-haves present
Speaker A
booze whiskey smokes for the guests [Music] so this is kind of like a traditional chinese wedding they will rent a hotel and oh i know i do this every week i go from hotel to hotel and i crash weddings okay
Speaker A
roast duck that i will have of course and some ban you do or beef ripe in garlic sauce kona crab shelled and then sauteed and garlic and ginger before being stuffed back into the shell [Music] steamed turbo with scallions
Speaker A
in china they will have this kind of meal for a whole two days whole weekend so i'm telling you we should do this every week i'll come back i'm going to move i'm going to move to shanghai and you and me twice a week we'll just
Speaker A
go go to weddings here [Applause] you make yourself right [Music] [Music] uh and there is of course drinking much drinking she wants you someone to share with you come back [Music] begins when i first came to china was for
Speaker A
business and one one after the other everyone at the table came up and said ah mr bourdain uh i would like to do a drink with you and then all of it i didn't know how to politely say no
Speaker A
i can't i can't i just kept doing it and doing it i got super pumped up i ended up going like to karaoke i ended up singing a billy idol song i think i sang white wedding [Music] [Applause]
Speaker A
you're making it a personal nation to get him seriously drunk i'm just wondering how you got out of that when i sat down and i looked around the table and i tried to figure out okay who at this
Speaker A
table is gonna try really hard to get me drunk i wouldn't have guessed it was gonna be her to drink this white wine all day long i can drink a lot but i just don't like the taste of it
Speaker A
look uh we have to get this straight that is not wine yeah that's like grain alcohol that's what we call now this is a small wedding by most standards about 100 guests but just booking the room took two years
Speaker A
a toast followed by many more toasts to the bride to the groom to happiness to prosperity [Music] there is a place there is always a place where something delicious in a ball is waiting just for you down a street
Speaker A
down an alley there's a place like this one where locals will tell you the good stuff lives [Music] they call this stuff long leg noodles because they say the woman who runs it is tall noodles for me are a solitary
Speaker A
pleasure between me and my bowl finley and husband chief wang understand this i think now this is a deceptively good business what used to be a typical low-cost working-class stall of the daipai dong street variety has in fact blown up along with the rest
Speaker A
of the economy rich kids and tv guys like me want to eat here and they do how do you make a bowl of perfect happiness cook noodles in boiling water liberally flavored with chilies and lard immerse your cooked noodles in
Speaker A
a soy inflected bath of deeply sinister deeply pleasurable pork stock little bit of baby bok choy heat for a few seconds simmering simmering then garnish with a bit of slowly cooked heavily reduced almost candied pork then suck those noodles loudly
Speaker A
and enjoy [Music] where are we going who will drive us there [Music] what will it be like when we get there i think it will look like this [Music] [Music] [Music] you
Topics:Anthony BourdainParts UnknownShanghaiChina economyShanghainese foodxiaolongbaoglobalizationautomation and jobsurbanizationtravel documentary
