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Last week, craving something a little different from our usual delivery, we hitched up our britches and made our way to the Huxi Mosque in northern Jing'an. One of the biggest mosques in Shanghai, it was first established by Moslem paupers in 1914. It was shut down during the war and the tumultuous years afterwards, but became the first mosque to reopen in Shanghai in 1979. In 1992, it moved from its original place on Xikang Lu to where it now resides, on Changde Lu near Aomen Lu.
Every Friday at around 11am, the faithful from around Shanghai and its neighboring counties gather right across from the Huxi Mosque the biggest Muslim bazaar in the city. There, they set up giant blocks of ice, huge woks filled with rice and spices, makeshift shops piled with fabrics and teas and DVDs... and, of course, lamb. Lots and lots of lamb.
We started off munching on some of the specialty braised beef dumplings from Gansu (2RMB a piece). Our wide-eyed wonder as we paid for a half dozen of these treats - kind of a cross between a beef pastry pie and a shenjianbao - probably tipped off the beggars, who surrounded us in droves asking for a kuai and if not that, maybe one of those dumplings instead?
For the main course we moved onto pulao, rice pilaf cooked with garlic, onions and carrots and topped off with a gargantuan chunk of that specific breed of fat-tailed sheep you find in Central Asia (15RMB). It was so flavorful and heavy that it only took a few bites before we were sated. We eyed some of the kebabs being roasted by a vendor next to us, but were already too full to go on. After picking up some almonds and apricots from one of the side vendors, we headed back for home.
Next time around, we would come a little hungrier. Maybe we'd be able to fit in a bowl of langman, cold noodles covered in chili pepper and radishes... and definitely a bowl of dogh, ice covered in homemade yoghurt and drizzled with Xinjiang honey. For desert, we'll have some more of the same - sugar-covered dough and baklava from the back of a bike vendor.
Where: 1328 Changde Lu, near Aomen Lu (常德路1328弄, 近澳门路)
When: Every Friday, from 11am onwards
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Now that sounds like a good place to be headed on a Friday, although I'd be careful of the meat during the hot summer months. Anybody know if they serve the famous Uyghur ice cream there? If so, you ought to try that out.
I highly recommend the pulao, rice pilaf dish. Amazing.
SH (RIP) did an article on this place last year - http://shmag.cn/feature/bazaar_shanghai
Can't have too much information about this kind of thing- I'd forgotten it existed, and still haven't been.
Guess it's too late to call in sick today.
The closest metro station is Line 3/4's Zhenping Rd, then cross the river and walk south for a few blocks. (On Google Maps)
Still have yet to visit! Thanks for reminding me.
The pictures aren't bad, but give the wrong impression. It's like a half-dozen stalls selling the same sort of Hui stuff that Huis sell all over town. With the recent construction, it's maybe a 15 minute walk from Zhenping Lu. Definitely not worth it, unless you happen to be in the area anyway, which is incredibly unlikely.
They're not Hui, they're Uighur. Maybe you went to the wrong market.
You're both a bit right, and a bit wrong.
The food is predominately from Xinjiang: pulao, lamb and lamb liver skewers, the lung-tripe-rice sausage dish called opka hesip, chipped ice with yoghurt and honey, pumpkin-stuffed dumplings. Sometimes there's an old Hui lady (from Shaanxi, I think), selling soy-braised chickens.
But the people are from all over. There are Hui at the market. There are also Uighurs. And Sala, from Qinghai. And Pakistanis. And Shanghainese Muslims. And traveling Malaysian businessmen. And, and, and... The relatively small community makes the crowd fairly diverse.
Super688 is right in that it's just a collection of streetside stalls. It's not Xian's Muslim Quarter. You *could* walk around the whole thing in two minutes, but you'd miss the point. With a plate of food as an excuse to linger and peoplewatch, it's a great, convenient reminder that there's more to China than the omnipresent Han.
And I don't know where else in the city you'd find tables of henna, knives, sweet dried tomatoes, Uighur-language DVDs, skullcaps, large dried chilies, etc., parked next to sheep strung up on metal frames.
You're both a bit right, and a bit wrong.
The food is predominately from Xinjiang: pulao, lamb and lamb liver skewers, the lung-tripe-rice sausage dish called opka hesip, chipped ice with yoghurt and honey, pumpkin-stuffed dumplings. Sometimes there's an old Hui lady (from Shaanxi, I think), selling soy-braised chickens.
But the people are from all over. There are Hui at the market. There are also Uighurs. And Sala, from Qinghai. And Pakistanis. And Shanghainese Muslims. And traveling Malaysian businessmen. And, and, and... The relatively small community makes the crowd fairly diverse.
Super688 is right in that it's just a collection of streetside stalls. It's not Xian's Muslim Quarter. You *could* walk around the whole thing in two minutes, but you'd miss the point. With a plate of food as an excuse to linger and peoplewatch, it's a great, convenient reminder that there's more to China than the omnipresent Han.
And I don't know where else in the city you'd find tables of henna, knives, sweet dried tomatoes, Uighur-language DVDs, skullcaps, large dried chilies, etc., parked next to sheep strung up on metal frames.
I've been to this a few times, pretty cool and a nice change of pace when you feel like Shanghai is just one big monotonous shopping mall with food court. The meat dumplings are good, ask for some spicy sauce. Also a nice variety of breads on offer there. I bought some almonds but they weren't that good - suggest you ask to try before you buy. The beggars are very annoying, preying on the muslim tradition of giving alms to the poor, they are just old Chinese ladies who've tied scarves on their heads.
Went last Friday. My experience most closely matched santochino's description: "You *could* walk around the whole thing in two minutes, but you'd miss the point." We were eating lunch on carpeted tables just as the afternoon prayer finished, and it was fun to watch men spill out of temple and fill the market, bringing it back to life. The almonds tucked into the dried apricots I bought were the first almonds I've ever eaten that actually tasted like amaretto. The icy-cold brown-sugar water was a great addition to our plate of opka hesip (glad I didn't know what it was as I ate it!). And the little Uighur kids running around, napping, or working at mom and dad's food stand were super-cute.
Two disclaimers, though. The yogurt and honey on ice dish was made with homemade yogurt, which has a kick to it compared to pre-sweetened grocery store yogurt. Also, the beggars described above can be pushy, and get in fights with the vendors; I found that being polite but firm ("please, auntie, we're eating lunch") worked well in smoothing things over.