Giang Nan Monterey Park 91754 | 87 FoodDigger Rating

EatTravelEat | Blogger Favorite Cuisine: Chinese,skip 24 Reviews

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8/10/2010 Giang Nan's specialty? House Special De-Greased and Braised Pork Knuckle. It's #1 listed on their menu, and it was the exact reason why we went there to try it. Read more from their blog

kevinEats Favorite Cuisine: Japanese,French 86 Reviews

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Giang Nan (Montery Park, CA) 3/7/2009 At FoodDigger's last event at Shibucho, I got to experience the seemingly unholy pairing of old red Bordeaux and sushi. Though not every wine was a hit, some of the pairings really did work wonders. The goal this time was only slightly less challenging: to pair Shanghainese cuisine with Spanish wines. The location was to be Giang Nan (it means land south of the lower Yangtze river--Jiangnan, which is not the Chinese name of the place), one restaurant of the myriad of Chinese eateries in the San Gabriel Valley, but one that specializes in Shanghainese food. Sugar is actually a relatively common ingredient in Shanghainese cuisine; when combined with soy, the overall effect is a sweet/savory interplay--a calling card of the region's food. It'd be interesting to see how this would stand up to the wine.

Smoked Fish
Before this dish came out, Brian mentioned that the fish was supposed to taste like it'd been smoked, even though it really wasn't. The taste was sort of an interplay between smoky and sweet, with lots of anise-like flavor backing it up. One of my dining companions even said that it had hints of unagi (Japanese freshwater eel). My enjoyment of this was really hampered by the large amount of bones, as well as the general sogginess of the flesh.

Marinated Jelly Pork Zhen Jiang Style [$4.95]
I was afraid that this was going to be overly fatty, but it actually had a great separation of fat and lean, with a pleasant, firm, texture. Quite good with the included vinegar-ginger sauce, which gave the dish a tartness that really worked with the Lustau.

Jade Celery [$3.95]
I'm usually not a fan of celery, but even I must admit that this wasn't half bad. The celery's crisp texture was very pleasing, with a refreshing snap and subtly sweet and sour flavor to boot. Great, vibrant color as well.

Bean Curd Sheet and Vegetables
I liked the soybeans here, but the flavor was dominated by the tofu. According to Brian, the dish wasn't meant to be eaten alone, but was supposed to serve as a foil to the Seaweed Fried Yellow Fish below.

Seaweed Fried Yellow Fish
This was probably my favorite dish of the night. Much more than a mere fish 'n' chips, the fish was coated with a light layer of batter, and was cooked to a perfect, pliant, yet firm consistency. The fish had a light saltiness to it that was further accentuated by the small bits of seaweed impregnated into the coating, giving it a slightly briny, vegetal flavor. The included salt and pepper mixture further heightened the dish.

Stir Fried vegetable with Bamboo Shoots
This was advertised as a "special vegetable." I know I've had it before, but I can't put my finger on the name. In any case, it was a simple preparation, good enough, but really nothing special. We were supposed to try this with the Gravonia, though I didn't think that the pairing was anything particularly appealing.

Tea Smoked shrimp [$9.95]
Though advertised as "tea smoked," the tea flavor in this dish was subtle, too subtle. This would've been fine, had the shrimp possessed flavor of their own. Unfortunately, they didn't, and the end result was a very bland presentation of shrimp. The white Rioja did work pretty well here though.

West Lake Fish with Vinegar Sauce [$9.95]
West Lake Fish is a popular dish named after a famous body of water in Hangzhou, a city 112 miles southwest of Shanghai. The fish is poached with a sweet vinegar sauce, giving it a mild sweetness to counteract the tartness of the vinegar. Not bad, though the fish was a bit too soft for my tastes.

Meatball with Duck Egg Yolk [$3.50 each]
I believe this was a variation on the famous "lion's head" meatball. They were formed of a soft, fatty pork, topped with egg yolk (which we initially mistook for mustard), and garnished with spinach. The meatballs weren't particularly flavorful on their own, so the egg was instrumental in adding a sharp saltiness and even a bit of spice to the dish. My favorite part of the dish, though, was the spinach, which was cooked just about perfectly. The two preceding Riojas worked pretty well here.

Squash with Crab
The "squash" here was actually luffa, yes the same "loofah" used for sponges. The fruit of the luffa vine can be eaten young, as was the case here, or can be left to mature, in order to make sponges. I really wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised, as the luffa was tender, slightly sweet, and a good foil to the crab.

Shanghai Style Spare Ribs
Though this wasn't bad, I was expecting more. The ribs had a sweet, succulent tang, which was rather blunt, but still tasty. The texture was a bit chewy, and I could've used a higher meat-to-bone ratio as well. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this with the Santurnia.

House Special De-Greased and Braised Pork Knuckle [$15.95]
Finally, this was supposed to be the house specialty, the pièce de résistance of the night. I believe it was prepared in a hong shao ("red stewing") style, braised with a soy- and sugar-based sauce. I really enjoyed the inside portions of the pork. The super-rich, super-tender pieces of meat reminded me a bit of the pork confit at Ford's Filling Station's suckling pig dinner. The layer near the skin, however, was far too fatty for me. As was the case with the meatballs, the spinach here was superb.

Shanghai Stir Fry of Shredded Pork, Celery and Squid
I really didn't taste much pork or squid here, but it was nice to have a light, refreshing dish like this as a follow up to the utter decadence of the pork.

Shanghai White Rice Cake with Shredded Pork and Vegetable
Rice cake, or nian gao, is a staple of Shanghainese cuisine. The cakes were cooked to a chewy consistency, not hard, but with a bit of bite. Flavor-wise, there wasn't much there; rather, the dish was dominated by the slight tang of the veggies. Pretty good.

Meatball with Duck Egg Yolk [$3.50 each]
My dining companions liked the meatballs, so we ended up ordering another round.

Xiaolongbao
Xiao longbao are one of the most ubiquitous culinary exports from Shanghai. Basically, they're flour buns filled with a mixture of meat and soup, and steamed. In terms of taste, I liked the flavorful, but not overwhelming nature of the pork, but the buns were a bit lacking in terms of the heady juice, and the skins were a bit tough. They were served here with a vinegar/ginger sauce, which complemented the buns nicely.

Sesame Mochi Balls in Soup
I believe these were basically tangyuan, or glutinous rice flour balls filled with black sesame. I'm used to eating them alone, but here they were accompanied by rice, egg, and Chinese dates. The overall effect was a sweet, floral background for the tangyuan. Better that I thought it'd be.

This was literally the first time I've tried to pair Chinese food with wine, and I must say that the results were encouraging, getting me to think about pairing wine with other "ethnic" cuisines. The food itself wasn't anything to write home about, but the addition of some great wine and great company made the meal special in its own right.

Full review with photos:
http://www.kevineats.com/ 2009/02/giang-nan-monterey- park-ca.htm

bigwilly Favorite Cuisine: Japanese,Chinese 129 Reviews

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9/18/2008 Wine pairings with Shanghainese food...bring your S.O.(significant other). Don't miss it...trust us. That was the email I got. Interesting, I thought. Should I not go? I hate the couples thing when I know I'll be by myself. But it was my wine guru friends Marshall and Brian who were throwing this dinner. Don't miss it? Ok. I had to go. Physically drained from my participation in the Dragon Boat races, and mentally drained from the 15 rounds I had at home...I was not in the best of moods. In fact, I was quite downcast and not sure I could enjoy anything. I was early, so I went in and saw one large table to the left, and the rest of the restaurant was to the right. It looked huge, but then I realized the walls were covered with mirrors, and there were only about 12-15 tables in the cramped space. As soon as everyone arrived, we were seated at the table to the left of the entrance. Brian and Marshall ordered, and then they broke out the wines. For our pre-meal palate cleanser, they broke out a '93 dom. I sipped it, and I swear, my eyes welled up. Next thing I know, we're being bombarded with 12 dishes, all in quick succession. We had shrimp, their specialty pork knuckle(amazing), fried yellow fish strips, veggies, you name it, we ordered it. We were pairing the different foods with the different wines. We had bottles like a 2005 Amon-Ra, an '04 Sea Smoke, a 2000 Imperial Cune Rioja, a Goga, and a few others.

With the amazing company, wine and food, I forgot I was alone. It was such an experience mixing and matching these wines. I thought the food was amazing. The dumplings were right up there with Din Tai Fung, the braised pork knuckle was reminiscent of a dish I had in Hong Kong 24 years ago. The fried duck went so well with the Amon-Ra that we started calling the wine Quack-Ra. We ordered these pork meatballs that were so tender and delicious. The flavor was intense, and only the Rioja, I believe, could stand up to it. I almost want to give this place a better rating, but I'll have to eat there again before I do. No corkage fee was definitely a plus, as were the reasonable prices.

RawPepper Favorite Cuisine: Korean,Japanese 230 Reviews

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User Restaurant Rating 93

Authentic Shanghainese in Monterey Park 3/18/2008 The pork pump paired with a nice Rioja red wine such as a Cune is one of my favorite combinations in the world. It is simply one ecstatic bite after the other.

This restaurant is nicer than most of the Shanghai restaurants in this part of LA.

It has a tendency to closes early (around 930pm) so call ahead to verify hours before you go. Recommended Dishes Pork pump