Maya is a name synonymous with Mexican food in Shanghai, so it's fair to say their new head chef Jonathan Ysensé has a fairly meaty role on his hands. Luckily the Mexico native has been cooking pretty much all his life, and has brought with him some new recipes that will add his own signature to the Maya menu.
You could say there's something for everyone. There's your tuna tostadito with spicy chipotle sauce and avocado and olive oil 'cream' and shoelace onions (RMBRMB98) for those who love crunch and taco neck. 
Beef carpaccio with Mexican chilli dry rub with guajillo chilli vinaigrette and chipotle aioli (RMB68) for the person with a proclivity for protein.
Zucchini carpaccio with crunchy kale (RMB48) from Maya's new vegetarian 'Green menu' for the vegan buddy (not just chips and guac for you anymore, amigo!)
Seabass ceviche cured in leche de tigre (RMB68), a throwback to Chef Ynsensé's time spent Peru, for the diner who could use an aphrodisiac. They don't call it 'Peruvian viagra' for nothing.
And Mexican hongshao rou with rice and sautéed snowpeas (红烧肉, RMB148), a classic recipe with added Mexican beer, tequila, chillies and chipotle, for those who like to live life on the edge.
We can't say we've ever bitten into a juicy, gloriously fatty, sweet and sticky chunk of this Shanghainese classic and thought 'what this needs is some Mexican interjection,' but having eaten it, we can say that the marriage makes sense.
Chef Ynsensé tells us the dish came about from a playful desire to riff on a local favorite, but for anyone interested in nerding out for a hot sec, there is a phenomenon called 'latitudinal cuisine' – which may shed some light on the surprisingly easy synergy of Mexican-style hongshao rou. 
Latitudinal cuisine theorizes that countries with shared latitudes can often share characteristics thanks to similar indigenous ingredients, which can in turn lead to shared cooking styles and tastes. Korean-American chef Ed Lee went into it in fascinating detail on the PBS TV show Mind of a Chef , where he explained the culinary intersection of Korea and Kentucky.
As it goes, China and Mexico share such a latitude, the 28th parallel north to be exact. Is it evidence that latitudinal cuisine exists? Perhaps, but we'd be willing to guess this dish would be a hit with both Mexicans and Chinese people.
Long live Mexican-Chinese relations, long live fatty pork belly, and long live Jonathan Ynsensé's tenure at Maya.
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