A Yue Bao (阿月煲) is a Chinese restaurant in Pudong that is famous for red braised whole pork hock or Hongshao Tipang.
It’s lip smacking, gelatinous, sticky sweet goodness in a far-flung neighborhood that’s well worth the pilgrimage.
The Location
The restaurant is located in the Sanlindi area of Pudong, and getting there is as simple as plugging in the address on Didi. There’s nothing much nearby save for other Chinese restaurants that also cater to the neighborhood. A Yue Bao opened in 2003, and it’s been hailed by multiple Chinese media outlets as being the “number 1 Tipang store” in Shanghai.
The dining room is simple, functional, and well-ventilated with some powerful AC units. Most tables seat four, large round tables for six to 10. Service is friendly enough, direct but not curt, and speedy. Speaking of speed, the food zips out of the kitchen at an alarming rate, all piping hot.
Hongshao Tipang
A Yue Bao serves Benbang and Jiangzhe cuisine, therefore, their Tipang is the red braised (红烧蹄膀煲) variety. The hunk of meat is blanched in boiling water then braised for hours in a mixture of soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, and spices until its tender and jiggles like Jell-O.
A whole serving of Tipang is only ¥80, and dear lord, is it exactly what I was craving.
It was so tender I could cut it with its own bone. The skin is gummy and sticks to your teeth, and under that is a buttery layer of fat and incredibly tender meat. It arrives sizzling in a claypot with its treacly sweet-savory red braise sauce.
There is only one way to truly enjoy this dish, and it is with a bowl of rice.
My dining partners and I witnessed an elderly lady nearly polish off a whole Tipang by herself, an impressive feat. I don’t suggest following suit, instead I recommend sharing one Tipang with at least two other people. The food coma is inevitable.
In addition, there are a ton of other dishes that are worth ordering, a lot of them in the form of “煲” or casseroles.
Average check is around ¥80.
A Yue Bao 阿月煲
Click here for the listing.
