Munching on pork buns - New Shanghai

Establishment: New Shanghai, Sydney CBD, Ashfield, Chatswood

Cuisine: modern Shanghai-style cuisine

Allergy information: a number of dishes are entirely dairy, egg, seafood and nut free

Suggestions: pan fried pork buns, pork and chive dumplings, spinach with garlic – all those together make for a pretty great meal (and for a pretty decent price)!

When you’re allergic to seafood and fish sauce, eating at a lot of Asian places can often be quite difficult.

Growing up, it was always safest for me to have a plain bowl of rice because there was either fish sauce or oyster sauce in just about everything and they could never guarantee my dish would be safely free of any seafood.

Thankfully, growing up Filo, I like my rice so with the promise of a trip to Maccas once the family or the friends were done with Yum Cha, I would happily dip through my bowl, improve on my chopstick skills and enjoy the company. What this meant though, was that for the majority of my life, I was one of those Asians who barely really ate Asian.

It's only really been in the last few years that I’ve found myself being able to eat out at many more Asian places than ever and more recently, one of my favourite places to go is New Shanghai.

New Shanghai is a place I’ve really only gotten to know over the last year or so, after a good friend suggested we give the place a try. On my first trip there, I played it safe and ate some crispy skin chicken and some rice. I also got a bit adventurous with the Rainbow Beef, which turned out to be pretty tasty and this encouraged me enough to return because any place with tested food was absolutely going on the list.

It was a few trips in when another friend suggested I ask them what was in the Pan-fried Pork Buns. I was skeptical at first, even a little dismissive of the idea, but then we called the waiter over and asked. When they cleared it of any milk, egg or fishy sauce, I thought, why not?

I regret nothing.

Ok, how good are pan fried pork buns? These were the first ones I'd ever had and I loved them. That broth encased within the bun is beautiful (though do watch out when you bite into it - the steam and broth will be very hot!) and those little pops of pork are delightful. I clumsily made my way through my share of buns, trying to ensure I caught all the broth in my spoon and failing miserably, but it was still a brilliant new culinary experience and soon enough, those buns were gone.

The number of people I've brought back is fairly indicative of how much I've now come to love this place and I've enjoyed introducing New Shanghai to friends who hadn't yet tried their food and who have also become fans. On my parents' Wedding Anniversary last year, we took them there for lunch and Ma and Pa joined the club.

The Rainbow Beef - a great dish to share.

Now I've often found that when I eat at some Chinese restaurants, despite the ingredients themselves being safe, I still get some discomfort in my throat, most likely due to cross contamination. Happily, I've not once had this when eating at New Shanghai and that's also why I am so happy to keep returning. It also helps that the food isn't too pricey. 

For anyone out there whose allergies have kept them away from this lovely cuisine, perhaps New Shanghai may present a new option for you. However, I would be sure to first check with staff regarding any soy or sesame allergies considering the prevalance of both in Asian cooking as they do advise of the risk of possible traces in their dishes, particularly if your allergy can be severely triggered by traces.

If you do pay them a visit, be sure to check out the buns!