The most memorable dish and the one I liked most during our trip was the Famous Wan San Pork Knuckle at Zhou Zhuang. Super tender and rich in flavor. We were all going wow wow.. yum yum... as we savour the juicy meat which melts in your mouth. It was the biggest pork knuckle I've ever ordered and the best I've tasted. For a bunch of us who are pretty health conscious we were attacking the fatty pork knuckle without a care. I was zooming in on the skin, minus the fat underneath and passing some to my wife as we were told by Western Doctors that the skin can be beneficial to the musculoskeletal joints and the skin elasticity. "The proof is in the eating" We ended up ordering another piece. I just couldn't believe it!
Shops selling take-away local Tim Sum (snacks) can be found in most neighborhood in Shanghai. Duck parts are local favourite - head, neck, webs, wings, heart, gizzard and liver.... and yes even tongues. Those crazy about tongues can consume a plateful of it in one sitting.
This local salad which I believe is made from garlic chive (known as ku chye in Singapore) and peanut is very popular among locals and is commonly served in restaurants. I did not particularly liked it, tasted rather bland.
Generally, we found the food there tend to be slightly more salty and oily than what we have in Singapore. The meat buns (we call it Pau in Singapore, they call it Mun Tuo) are thick skinned. It is very oily inside and have very little fillings. Our meat buns here in Singapore are the opposite.