Taste Taiwan
by prudence on 11-Mar-2013
We loved the food here, and despite language barriers, were able to explore pretty well. I will have to categorize, or this post will be all over the place.
Rice-based stuff:
1. Absolute pride of place in this category must go to Wang Ji Sticky Rice Dumplings. We ate our way through their entire menu during our sojourn in Taipei, and it was all good, good, good. They major in sticky rice dumplings (those delectable leaf-wrapped pyramids filled with pork, peanut, or red bean). But they also do a very nice bowl rice cake (a smooth rice concoction cooked in a bowl -- obviously -- with pork, shrimp, and an unidentified nutty thing). And if you don't want rice, you can have Taiwanese thin noodles, or a really excellent fishball and radish soup.
2. It was great to find that Taiwan, too, does sticky rice in bamboo, one of my favourite things.
3. Just when you think you've encountered every noodle there is, you find ding-bian-cuo. These are flaky rice noodles (which are made by pouring ground rice paste along the rim of a hot pot containing boiling water -- who would even think of doing that?). We had them in a soup, accompanied by lily flowers, leaves of some description, chunks of fish, and oysters. (The place where we found this dish also did wonderful crispy shrimp rolls, and soda pop with stoppers, which we later saw again for sale in Anping, so it seems to be another local speciality).
Bread-based stuff:
4. This was often come by serendipitously. On one walk in Taipei, for example, we found ciabatta-like flat bread rolls with green onion, and sweet, flaky pastry-like cakes with sesame. The outlet supplying these is obviously famous, as some Taiwanese Americans were buying up heaps to fly home.
5. Round the corner from the B&B in Hualien was a guy who makes bread on a hot plate. One offering was a cross between a roti and a pancake, but it must be put together like the early things you make in pottery class, because when it's cooked it kind of falls apart into strips, which are then bundled into a bag. Delicious -- crispy and salty on the outside, melting on the inside. We also tried the one that had the shape and look of an English muffin, which concealed a pork mixture within its crispy exterior.
6. I don't normally opt for Western food while in Asia. But it was cold in Tainan (at least for those fresh from the tropics) and warm and cosy in the Chef Fresh Cafe, at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Tainan. And they do a really, really nice smoked chicken sandwich.
Veges:
7. Taiwan is big on veges. A lot of meals come as "sets", so along with your main, you often get a salad, a soup, and at least one vege dish.
8. Or veges can come on sticks. One night in Taipei we had streetside kebabs. You choose your skewers, which offer a mixture of fish, meat, and/or veges, and then they baste them with some spicy concoction, and grill them up. Absolutely delicious.
Chewiness:
9. The Taiwanese like things "QQ" or chewy. In fact, they invented bubble tea, with those eminently chewable tapioca pearls. We had quite a bit of that while in Taiwan, primarily from Come Buy, which offers a great choice.
10. But I also need to mention a superb desserterie in Hualien, called Sister Wei. A friendly Mormon missionary from Utah guided us round the menu. Based on her suggestions, we picked soft tofu with ginger, and soft tofu with soya milk. Both came with large purple versions of pearls (very QQ) and black rice, but the latter also harboured peanuts and beans in its delicious depths.
8. Hualien is also famous for its muachi or mochi. Mochi are soft, chewy little mouthfuls made out of glutinous rice flour. If they come coated in flour, they're just mochi. If they're surrounded by biscuit, they're mochi cakes.
The sweet potato and other roots:
9. The Taiwanese have a particular yen for sweet potatoes, as they're shaped like Taiwan. We had them in three guises: a. whole and baked; b. coarsely grated, then fried in a cake like rosti, and served just slightly salted; and c. cut into chunks, fried in a light batter, and dusted with a powder of your choice -- curry, mustard, or black pepper, for example.
10. Taro also makes excellent comfort food, whether savoury in the form of taro cake, or sweet in the form of fried little balls with a crispy coating and a filling of sweetened egg.
Tea:
11. Tea is big in Taiwan, and there's a fabulous variety. I loved the black milk tea at the Hanlin teahouse, Tainan. Very tea-tasting, not particularly sweet, very smooth.
12. I also had delectable jade tea, ruby tea, and rose black tea. All aromatic and delicate.
13. One of our most civilized tea-drinking experiences was at the Sanxitang Teahouse in the National Palace Museum. Our pouchong came in an earthenware pot, from which you poured it into an earthenware jug (so that you can add fresh water to the leaves), and then into tiny, tiny cups. Drunk with excellent dim sum in an elegant space with fine views over misty forested mountains, it made for a lovely experience.
14. Then, of course, there was the largest tea ever...
Miscellaneous:
15. Pineapple cakes -- pineapple jam enclosed in shortbread; the Always brand of chocolate (70% cocoa); salty coffee (yes, I know, sounds weird -- just try it); chilled peanut soup (sold in cans at convenience stores and from drinks dispensers in parks, it's basically soft peanuts floating in a sweet liquid, which comes in milky and non-milky forms -- I loved it).
And as always, we barely scratched the surface. There's lots to go back for...
Rice-based stuff:
1. Absolute pride of place in this category must go to Wang Ji Sticky Rice Dumplings. We ate our way through their entire menu during our sojourn in Taipei, and it was all good, good, good. They major in sticky rice dumplings (those delectable leaf-wrapped pyramids filled with pork, peanut, or red bean). But they also do a very nice bowl rice cake (a smooth rice concoction cooked in a bowl -- obviously -- with pork, shrimp, and an unidentified nutty thing). And if you don't want rice, you can have Taiwanese thin noodles, or a really excellent fishball and radish soup.
2. It was great to find that Taiwan, too, does sticky rice in bamboo, one of my favourite things.
3. Just when you think you've encountered every noodle there is, you find ding-bian-cuo. These are flaky rice noodles (which are made by pouring ground rice paste along the rim of a hot pot containing boiling water -- who would even think of doing that?). We had them in a soup, accompanied by lily flowers, leaves of some description, chunks of fish, and oysters. (The place where we found this dish also did wonderful crispy shrimp rolls, and soda pop with stoppers, which we later saw again for sale in Anping, so it seems to be another local speciality).
Bread-based stuff:
4. This was often come by serendipitously. On one walk in Taipei, for example, we found ciabatta-like flat bread rolls with green onion, and sweet, flaky pastry-like cakes with sesame. The outlet supplying these is obviously famous, as some Taiwanese Americans were buying up heaps to fly home.
5. Round the corner from the B&B in Hualien was a guy who makes bread on a hot plate. One offering was a cross between a roti and a pancake, but it must be put together like the early things you make in pottery class, because when it's cooked it kind of falls apart into strips, which are then bundled into a bag. Delicious -- crispy and salty on the outside, melting on the inside. We also tried the one that had the shape and look of an English muffin, which concealed a pork mixture within its crispy exterior.
6. I don't normally opt for Western food while in Asia. But it was cold in Tainan (at least for those fresh from the tropics) and warm and cosy in the Chef Fresh Cafe, at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Tainan. And they do a really, really nice smoked chicken sandwich.
Veges:
7. Taiwan is big on veges. A lot of meals come as "sets", so along with your main, you often get a salad, a soup, and at least one vege dish.
8. Or veges can come on sticks. One night in Taipei we had streetside kebabs. You choose your skewers, which offer a mixture of fish, meat, and/or veges, and then they baste them with some spicy concoction, and grill them up. Absolutely delicious.
Chewiness:
9. The Taiwanese like things "QQ" or chewy. In fact, they invented bubble tea, with those eminently chewable tapioca pearls. We had quite a bit of that while in Taiwan, primarily from Come Buy, which offers a great choice.
10. But I also need to mention a superb desserterie in Hualien, called Sister Wei. A friendly Mormon missionary from Utah guided us round the menu. Based on her suggestions, we picked soft tofu with ginger, and soft tofu with soya milk. Both came with large purple versions of pearls (very QQ) and black rice, but the latter also harboured peanuts and beans in its delicious depths.
8. Hualien is also famous for its muachi or mochi. Mochi are soft, chewy little mouthfuls made out of glutinous rice flour. If they come coated in flour, they're just mochi. If they're surrounded by biscuit, they're mochi cakes.
The sweet potato and other roots:
9. The Taiwanese have a particular yen for sweet potatoes, as they're shaped like Taiwan. We had them in three guises: a. whole and baked; b. coarsely grated, then fried in a cake like rosti, and served just slightly salted; and c. cut into chunks, fried in a light batter, and dusted with a powder of your choice -- curry, mustard, or black pepper, for example.
10. Taro also makes excellent comfort food, whether savoury in the form of taro cake, or sweet in the form of fried little balls with a crispy coating and a filling of sweetened egg.
Tea:
11. Tea is big in Taiwan, and there's a fabulous variety. I loved the black milk tea at the Hanlin teahouse, Tainan. Very tea-tasting, not particularly sweet, very smooth.
12. I also had delectable jade tea, ruby tea, and rose black tea. All aromatic and delicate.
13. One of our most civilized tea-drinking experiences was at the Sanxitang Teahouse in the National Palace Museum. Our pouchong came in an earthenware pot, from which you poured it into an earthenware jug (so that you can add fresh water to the leaves), and then into tiny, tiny cups. Drunk with excellent dim sum in an elegant space with fine views over misty forested mountains, it made for a lovely experience.
14. Then, of course, there was the largest tea ever...
Miscellaneous:
15. Pineapple cakes -- pineapple jam enclosed in shortbread; the Always brand of chocolate (70% cocoa); salty coffee (yes, I know, sounds weird -- just try it); chilled peanut soup (sold in cans at convenience stores and from drinks dispensers in parks, it's basically soft peanuts floating in a sweet liquid, which comes in milky and non-milky forms -- I loved it).
And as always, we barely scratched the surface. There's lots to go back for...