Three of Shanghai's Best Onigiri

Onigiri is the perfect Japanese snack to grab on the run. Instead of heading to Family Mart, grab one of these three delicious versions found around town.
Kamon | Changning
Kamon is one of our favorite yakitori spots, and their yaki onigiri (RMB25 for two) are easily the best in town. While triangles of rice might sound boring, the short grains of rice soak up the savory soy-based yakitori sauce and the outside of the onigiri develop a crunchy, salty shell that breaks open to reveal the softer rice within. What makes these onigiri tops is their modest size; oversized onigiri are often bland. For a special treat, dip the insides in whatever sauce you have left at the table: leftover salad dressing, ume jam and drippings from grilled meat are all good choices.
Find it: 1/F, Mingdu Apartments, 83-1 Anshun Lu, Tel: 5230-0370
QQ Rice Cafe | People’s Square
Can you believe we found healthy food in a mall food court? We were a bit surprised ourselves, especially when we found such an economical and convenient takeaway option. This Hong Kong-based chain specializes in Taiwanese-style rice balls made of natural grain rice products. We love the Tokyo seaweed sprout rice roll (RMB10.9) combining purple and brown rice with stewed pork, seaweed, sprouts and dried pork floss. The purple and brown rice provide textural contrast and none of the components overpower the others. You can also build your own rice balls from a selection of rice, vegetables and meat.
Find it: Rm. 14, B1/F, 166 Xizang Bei Lu, Tel: 6093-8279
Sushi Abuse | Jing’an
The yaki onigiri at Sushi Abuse are massive, and while we do enjoy the sour richness of the pickled ume paste-stuffed option with its delicious bursts of briny salmon roe filling, we much prefer the salmon version (RMB18). It’s the only one that has the sauce and filling mixed throughout before it hits the grill, giving each bite equal bits of juicy flaked salmon and sweet soy sauce with a hint of mirin flavoring. There’s smokiness from the light char and a great balance of crunch and chew in every bite. Even though we tend to over-order here, we always find room to finish a salmon onigiri.

Survival mandarin lesson 2

Course Instroduction: You might be interested in learning Chinese, but we know you are extremely busy. There is a problem though: You don't have time for learning Chinese language, but you still have to go to China for travel or business trip. Welcome! My name is Xiao Qian, and this is Xiao Qian's Survival Mandarin. In each lesson, you will learn some Chinese expressions that you can actually use in real contexts which possibly happen when you visit China. Each class only takes 5 to 10 minutes, and it is based upon different contexts, so that you are able to be ready to deal with those situations in China, and it will be really useful, and plus, it will be a lot of fun. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY LEARNING CHINESE LANGUAGE with SURVIVAL MANDARIN! Curriculum LESSON 1. GREETING LESSON 2. QUESTION FORMS #1 LESSON 3. QUESTION FORMS #2 LESSON 4. AT MCDONALD'S LESSON 5. LET'S TAKE A TAXI! LESSON 6. TIME AND DAYS LESSON 7. LET'S GO SHOPPING #1 LESSON 8. LET'S GO SHOPPING #2 LESSON 9. AT A CHINESE RESTAURANT LESSON 10. DIRECTIONS AND THE WAYS LESSON 11. TRAIN TICKETS LESSON 12. AT A HOTEL

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