Life Lesson with Einstein

Sounded so simple yet they eluded the majority.

Taipei Eat Eat Eat ... and Drink

The food trail started the moment I arrived at Shilin Night Market (off Jian Tan MTR station) starting with the traditional Smelly Beancurd or Chou Tou Fu (Left Pic: Top Right).  It was fried fermented beancurd served with cabbages with strips of carrot and some spice sauce with a strong pungent smell that was very recognizable from a distant. However, the smell disappeared the moment the tou fu was put into your mouth. It was crispy on the outside and soft and smooth on the inside and went excellently well with the cabbage and chilli sauce.

Next on the list, moving clockwise, would be the Hu Jiao Bing (literally translated as Pepper Biscuit) but is  known Pepper Bakemeat. Pepper Bakemeat has the shape of a pie and was crispy on the outside but juicy and rich on the inside with ingredients like chicken, potatoes,  green beans and a variety of  spices. It was also very affordable at only NT$40 (approximately S$1.70) each. 

It was difficult to miss the traditional Taiwan Oyster Fried Egg. There were a variety of versions and this one was a simple omelette with a spread of sweet sauce. It was a combination of Taiwanese-style omelette with oysters. It was simple but very tasty.

At the bottom right corner is peanut ice-cream. There were also many variety of ice-cream in Taiwan such as Fried ice-cream  and even pig-blood ice cream. Nevertheless, the peanut ice-cream had a layer of freshly grind peanuts on the skin-wrapper (like the Chinese popiah or springroll).

Next on the list may not be easily acceptable by foreigner but this is a delicacy and favourite among Chinese, namely the Taiwanese and Hong Kongers. Chinese, for years, had included pig, chicken and cow blood in many of their dishes and, in this case, the dish was "Ya Xue Dou Fu" or Smelly Tou Fu served in soup with duck blood and vegetable. The duck blood was crystallized into cube form. They were soft and had the texture of jelly. It didn't taste bad except that the soup was a little oily for my liking. However, some foreigners may not like it due to the sight of blood.

On the top right corner (right pic) had an interesting name called "Guan Cai Ban" (棺材板) or Coffin Board and also known as Coffin Shaped Bread. It was made up of bread approximately 1 inch in thickness where a fifth was used as the cover and the other 4/5 as a bowl to contain the fillings. The bread was first toasted. The filling was cooked separately and pour into the bread. There were many different kinds of fillings like chicken, pork, mutton, beef, prawn, cuttlefish and even combination of different flavour. They were served hot with some cream sauce and beans. The taste was very good and unique - creamy with good texture from the bread, beans and the slice meat.

I will start with Ah Liang Mian Xian (麵線) (Left Pic: bottom) also from Shilin Night Market. The typical tourist would definitely recommend Ah zhong Mian Xian (also at Shilin Night Market and they are also located at Zhong Xian Dong Lu and Ximending) but this one was less commercialized and nearer to the local traditional taste. Ah Liang Mian Xian was less starchy. It was also more general with the oysters and intestines.

Not included in the picture (as I ate them too quickly and forgot to snap) were the grilled chicken roll (鸡肉卷) located at the entrance to Shilin Night Market from along Wen Lin Lu. Each cost around NT$40. They came in different flavour such as Spicy, Black Pepper, Pepper & Salt, etc. It was quite difficult to miss the store as they always had a very long queue. It was really, really good and yummy!

Qing Wa Xia Dan (青蛙下蛋) or, literally Frog Lays Egg, was very common around Taipei. It was no more than ice jelly with pearls and a bit of lemon. Excellent dessert to quench thirst!

At the top was from a popular store near to Xi Men Ding MTR.  The shop was always packed. Ya Rou Bian (鴨肉扁土鵝專賣店), located at 台北市萬華區中華路一段98-2號 No.98-2 Yi Section, Zhonghua Road, sold braised goose meat noodle and braised goose meat. The shop name Ya Rou actually meant Duck Meat and can be quite misleading. Nevertheless, the full name indicated that their product was locally breed wild geese which were supposed to be more lean and tender than the normal goose.

The Ma La Guo (麻辣鍋) was from one of the best chain in Taiwan. 鼎王麻辣鍋 (Tripod King - http://www.tripodking.com.tw/html/about/index.aspx) has 7 branches in Taiwan with 2 in Taipei, 3 in Taizhong and 2 in Kaoshiung. The two shops in Taipei were located at 台北市光復北路89號 and 台北市中山區長安東路二段131-1、131-2號. We visited the latter. The decor was nice and warm and the staffs were friendly, patient and excellent in their service. Reservation had to be made at least a couple of weeks in advance and each table given only 90 minutes to complete their meals. Despite that, there were still people willing to queue outside the store to try their luck to get a table. The hot pot that we had was a Yuan-yang guo or a mixutre of spicy(麻辣鍋) and sour vegetable (東北酸菜鍋) soup base served with general portions of duck blood and sour vegetables. You can request for different level (less, medium and Very Spicy) of spiciness when ordering. The menu had a wide variety of ingredients that one can order and add depending on your preference. They include various types of poultry, intestines, fish and meat paste balls, seafood and dumplings. They also served an excellent sour plum juice (冰鎮酸梅汁).

Moutcha Cafe (沐茶閱讀咖啡館) was located at the 10th floor of 70, Xi Ning Nan Rd, Taipei. This cafe offered a soothing atmosphere with plenty of personal space to enjoy your food and beverages as well as the wide range of books, magazines and comic available for their customers. The cafe has a simple food menu with a variety of finger foods but a good lists of tea and coffee. This place is highly recommended to relax after a long day of shopping and walking. 

I went to Yang Ming Shan (陽明山) National Park, Zu Zi Hu (竹子湖) looking for a lake as 'hu' meant lake in Chinese only to realise that there was no lake. Many fellow tourists apparently also did not do their research and were looking for lake too. It was referring to sea of Casa Lilies or Hai Yu. However, Hai Yu was seasonal and only blossomed at around March - April and was not available when I was there. You can imagine the scene of a sea of white lilies during its blossom. It would be an amazing scene and I would love to return.

However, I had simple Taiwanese lunch at the local restaurant at Ding Hu. It was simple yet tasty. I had Sweet Potato Soup, Dragon Beard vegetable and Satay pork. They were very local and that was the first time I had Dragon Beard vegetable. It was a fulfilling lunch.

TamSui (淡水), located north of Taipei, had long history of being a commerce center and shipping hub since the early 1600s. Tamsui was used by the Dutch and later the British. There was the scenic Tamshui Fishermn's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) with the Lover's Bridge cutting across Tamsui River. Then, there was the historical Hongmao Castle (紅毛城) or Fort San Domingo which was first built by the Dutch in 1641 as Fort Antonio.  紅毛城 literally meant the Red Hair Castle.

The other prominent landmark of Tamsui had to be the famous Tamsui Old Street and Waterfront or Tamsui Lao Jie (淡水老街). The walking street had a variety of restaurants, handicraft stores and local food. The strip served wonderful fish ball, iron eggs (eggs stewed in a mix of herbs and spices until pickled) and, of course, one of the most iconic local specialities in TamSui (淡水) located at the famous  or Tamsui Old Street and waterfront, would be the famous Ah Gei. There were two Ah Gei Lao Dian in Tamshui. The original shop was at the end of the slope and the one in the picture was later opened so that more customers can enjoy in the comfort of air-conditioned environment. Ah Gei (left on the pic) was their famous specialty. It was crystal noodle stuffed in fried bean-curd and served in mild sweet and hot sauce.Ah Gei, also the name of the shop, was also popular with their plus-size fish ball and meat ball (right in the pic above).

It was worth for any tourist to dedicate a day to Tamshui to enjoy the scenic river views and wide spread of food.

cha FOR TEA and Movenpick cafe were few of the modern day restaurants that I visited during the trip. The other one was Sugar Cafe and Restaurant located at Ren Ai Road.

Sugar Cafe and Restaurant was a small cozy restaurant of capacity of around 50 - 60 guests and with the likes of sandwiches, pastas and one of the best Risotto I had for years. The ambiance was excellent for the lunch crowd. It was not too noisy but there were sufficient interaction among the customers. The staffs were friendly, warm and attentive.

cha FOR TEA (www.chafortea.com.tw) is a Tea House chain with dine-in and to-go stores all across Taipei. They served a variety of fruity tea, both cold and hot. Luo Sheng Hua with plum was one of the most popular drinks in Taiwan. They also had good set menu for afternoon tea.

I also went to Movenpick Cafe at Taipei Station near to Cheng Ping Bookshop on the last day. They served menu like pastas and cakes and, of course, coffee and tea. Presentation and quality of food and beverages were good and price affordable.

They were still many local specialties and popular restaurants that I did not have the time and opportunity to try. I will definitely try to visit the city again to do more eating.