Cheap Eats: Seductive Noodles That Will Blow Your Mind
Shanghai is known for killer street food but one of our personal favorites will forever be ma jiang ban mian (麻将拌面) or noodles with spicy peanut sauce. You may have familiarized yourself with the popular Sichuan dish dandan mian, but 30 years ago ma jiang ban mian was the ubiquitous staple on the street. With all the hustle and bustle of the city, it’s a bit harder to find these days…unless you treat yourself to a visit to Wei Xiang Zhai. It is like a time machine, transporting you alllll the way back.
In the 1930s, Yandang Lu was but a quiet and small road. Then, in 1935, the locals were blessed with a noodle house that served an addictive beef soup, fried pork chops, hot sauce toppings and other popular side dishes. Before and after the 1980s, the store changed its name to “Weixiangzhai” and had finally earned the reputation and fame it deserved.
After all these years, Weixiangzhai stands strong, guarding the small site that has and most likely will always be home with a "2018 Michelin" sticker proudly displayed on their window. This small shop has a total of ten tables and caters to the elders dancing in Fuxing Park in the morning and around lunch, blue and white-collar workers all congregate. With winter approaching soon, you can expect to be packed like sardines at this place. BUT don’t let that stop you because it’s so worth it.
The store on Huaihai Lu is pretty much what you should expect when it comes to a dated but popular local restaurant: tiny space, old and reusable chopsticks (a bit dodgy so maybe bring your own along with napkins?), and staff that have close relationships with locals who frequent the restaurant.
There’s almost always a line out the door, but in true Shanghai fashion, shoehorn your way in and settle down next to complete strangers while enjoying your delicious meal. The meal itself will put you in a state of nirvana as you forget the anxiety you might have felt minutes before.
So what exactly is ma jiang ban mian? It’s a simple dish of noodles served with a hearty amount of peanut sesame paste and a dash of chili sauce along with fresh scallions and other condiments. It’s served room temperature which is great for you because you’ll definitely want to wolf them down.
Peanut Sesame noodles RMB 12 and Spicy beef and tofu RMB 10
Photo credit: Shanghai WOW! reader Rewant Prakash
Here are a few tips: there’s a short, Chinese-only menu posted behind the surly woman at the front counter. Just say "Ma jiang ban mian," hold up a finger (or two) to indicate quantity, and you'll be fine; the menu is so limited and the place is so well-known for this dish that you'll be sure to get what you want even if your pronunciation is awful. After you order and pay, clip your receipt to the numbered clothespin at your seat, and hand it to one of the waitresses. In just a couple of minutes, she'll deliver a bowl of heaven.
The special secret of Weixiangzhai will always be their infamous peanut sauce. It’s also highly recommended to pair the ma jiang ban mian with a bowl of their beef soup. It is even said that the store sells a little over a thousand bowls a day, with fifty pounds of beef thrown into the cauldron and stewed for four or five hours with curry powder, onion, and ginger. Locals even say it can cure any cold or cough…But back to the sauce!
Beef Soup RMB 10; Photo credit: zhuanlan.zhihu.com
The sauce is wonderfully thick but there is an added sense of “graininess” from the ground up peanuts that fits so well with the smooth sesame. She wouldn’t disclose anymore but the waitress whispered to me that their secret is mixing the ingredients with a dash of hot oyster sauce. Anyone else drooling yet? Most places you go water down their peanut pastes but not Weixiangzhai. They serve up heaven for the masses and do not deprive you of ANYTHING.
Photo credit: zhuanlan.zhihu.com
The moment you see your food being prepared, I recommend watching as the waitress seductively pours a heaping spoonful of sauce like icing on a cake.
Photo credit: chuansong.me
Add a spoon of chili sauce and voila, let your taste buds explode! Oh and guess what? It only costs RMB 12.
Weixiangzhai 味香斋
Address: 14 Yandang Lu
Tel: 021-53839032
Price: RMB 10-20
Cover and guide photo credit: Dianping user leling_s
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