Yogurtsoda

Posted on April 17, 2018

The thing about Taiwan is that for such a small country, there is really so much to see. With only one week, it was hard to decide what day trips to take out of Taipei. My favorite was our trip to Shifen and Jiufen, famous for the lantern ceremony and for inspiring Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, respectively. To say it’s otherwordly does not do it justice.

We took a train about an hour outside of Taipei to Shifen, our first stop. Historically a mining town, today Shifen is famous for its lantern ceremonies and for its picturesque waterfall and trails. But first, we ate.

The small sausage in large sausage (which is a meat sausage wrapped inside a sticky rice “sausage”) was a dud, but the fried squid? These addictive, salty morsels kept us going all morning. Who says you can’t have deep-fried seafood doused in tasty powder of dubious origins for breakfast?

After sending our lantern into the sky, Nishan and I hiked past the Keelung River and to Shifen Waterfall. Sweet and sour lemon aiyu jelly quenched our thirst in the super humid heat. (If you know me, you know how much I love jelly and other QQ-esque things in my drinks.)

We eventually made our way back to town and caught a taxi to take us to Jiufen. Our driver was quite possibly the kindest driver in Taiwan (remember what I said about Taiwan being the friendliest country on earth?). He stopped in a small town along the way to pick us up a piping hot snack for the road and refused payment for it. He shared with us that this savory snack is a specialty of his hometown, and I wish I knew what they were called. It was sort of like a fried egg-and-cabbage batter on a stick and really satisfying.

Jiufen is a sight to behold. Nestled in the mountains, it’s easy to see how Miyazaki was inspired by this place. Even hordes of tourists couldn’t dampen the beauty and serenity of Jiufen’s alleyways and cobblestone streets. We snacked on spicy grilled mushrooms and fishball noodle soup as we made our way through town, stopping at the picturesque A Mei Tea House but stopping at a smaller, less crowded teahouse to enjoy a cup of oolong. But the real highlight for me was another Jiufen specialty: sweet taro balls. Served over shaved ice, this is a cacophony of QQ. For the initiated, QQ is a phrase in Taiwan that means “toothsome,” or “chewy.” Think boba in milk tea.

As afternoon turned to evening, Nishan and I headed back to Taipei for dinner at Shin Yeh. Shin Yeh serves banquet-style Taiwanese cuisine and there are a few in the city. We headed to the Zhongshan District location.

I was really excited for this meal but it fell short. I take partial responsibility as I may not have ordered the right dishes. The abalone wasn’t tender, the crab roe was, well, not very crabby, and the ma po tofu was ketchupy. I enjoyed the scallops with black bean sauce, though.

Still, my favorite restaurant in Taiwan continues to rhyme with Min Hai Tung.

Posted on April 13, 2018

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t go to Taiwan so I could eat at the original Din Tai Fung.

You see, I’ve eaten at the famed dim sum restaurant’s outposts in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California a handful of times, but I wanted to go to the source. I knew it was a touristy thing to do, but you know what? It was totally worth it. My meal at the original Din Tai Fung near Dongmen Station (not to be confused with the newer Din Tai Fung in Taipei 101) was one of the best meals of my life.

If you’re going to be a tourist, you may as well own it, right? I still dream of these dumplings. (Hey, Din Tai Fung, do me a solid and publish a cookbook already!)

The Din Tai Fung house special and spicy cucumber salad were both as good as I remember the San Gabriel Valley ones being, if not better.

The stir-fried cabbage was a revelation. How can something so humble and so simple taste so savory? And the noodles were doused in an addictively garlicy and peppery sauce. They were perfect.

But the highlight of the meal were the dumplings. So. Many. Dumplings. The house special spicy vegetable and meat wontons were paper-thin, succulent, and juicy. And the sauce? Oh my.

The crab roe and meat xiaolongbaos were perfectly briny and tasted faintly of the sea. I loved them. I could twenty of these.

And despite everything tasting so good, the real highlight of the meal were the truffle and meat xiaolongbaos. Imagine generous shavings of truffle permeating every brothy, meaty bite. These needed no dipping sauce on the side. They. Were. Perfect. It’s a shame you can’t find these stateside.

And this, my friends, are the faces of two more-than-satisfied customers.

After a meal like that, we blissfully made our way over to the Xinyi District to check out the observatory at Taipei 101. At 382 meters above ground, the observatory is in the tallest green building in the world.

We stopped for a quick snack of fried chicken before leaving Taipei 101 and you know what? Taiwan does not play when it comes to fried chicken. Even at the mall food court.

By now it was afternoon and it was pouring rain outside (Taipei is rainy, y’all) so we hopped on a bus (Taipei’s public transportation is excellent) and headed to Wistaria Tea House.

Taiwan is steeped in a complex and well-established tea culture. Nowhere is this more evident than at Wistaria Tea House, a historical teahouse built in the 1920s in Da’an District. The teahouse was a meeting place for political dissidents during the 1980s and today, it’s a favored hangout for literati, artists, and academics.

We sampled an array of traditionally-prepared teas, with a focus on Taiwan’s oolong varietals.

We spent the evening exploring Eslite, a well-loved and gigantic bookstore. There are a handful of these in the city and we checked out the Dunnan Store location, which is open 24 hours a day. That’s my kind of bookstore.

For dinner, enjoyed a Hong Kong-style meal of congee with beef and egg, gai lan, and har gow at the nearby 1976 Restaurant.

Posted on April 9, 2018

Taiwan is the friendliest country in the world.

No, really. Year after year, Taiwan ranks as the friendliest place on earth for visitors. And when Nishan and I traveled to Taiwan last year, we found that to be true day in and day out. Whether we were in bustling Taipei or in sleepy Jiufen, the people of Taiwan left such an impression on us that it became our favorite part of the trip. Which is no small feat, because there’s lots to enjoy about Taiwan. Starting with the food, of course. (I mean, come on. It’s me. I travel for food.)

After a stellar breakfast at our hotel (yup, an outstanding hotel breakfast exists and it’s in Taiwan), we met up with my colleague and friend Jill, who lives in Taipei, for lunch at Cha for Tea. The fish dumplings were juicy but it was the tempura fried tea leaves with matcha that were a revelation. So creative, so subtle, and so unique. Jill armed us with a list of must-eats for the famed Shilin Market, where we’d be stopping by later in the day.

But first: the National Palace Museum.

Taiwan’s National Palace Museum is the largest collection of ancient Chinese imperial artifacts and artworks in the world. I learned about the dramatic evacuation of these artworks from Beijing to Taiwan: In the 1940s, Chiang Kai-shek made the decision to evacuate the arts to Taiwan, which had been handed over to the ROC. When fighting worsened in 1948 between the Communist and Nationalist armies, the National Beiping Palace Museum and other five institutions made the decision to send some of the most prized items to Taiwan. Today, its sister museum holding the other half of the collection resides in Beijing.

It was pouring rain when we emerged from the museum hours later so we dipped into Oromo Cafe for a quick tea and coffee break before making our way to Shilin Night Market for a warming bowl of beef noodle soup and some stir-fried water spinach. (Water spinach, also known as morning glory, ong choy, kangkung, is one of my favorite vegetables. Shout out to my trip in Hanoi for putting me on.)

But the real highlight of the evening was the infamous Hot Star Fried Chicken. (Jill, if you’re reading this, you’re right. One piece easily fed two!) I’ve tried to cook this dish at home since visiting Taiwan but it’s just not the same. I’ve been craving this giant, juicy, crispy, perfectly-seasoned piece of chicken for months now. Hot Star Fried Chicken has expanded to North America in the last couple of years, but sadly, not to the Bay Area. Have you been to the Southern California or Toronto locations? How does it compare? Let me know in the comments.

We finished out our evening by snacking on local specialties at Shilin Night Market, like carbon barbecue and green onion pancakes.

Not bad for our first day in Taipei. Not bad at all.