Feasting: Prize Winning Noodles!

There is nothing like a steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, the slightly spicy, flavorful, and rich broth, the tender chunks of meat, the hearty noodles.  The competition for the title of best beef noodle soup in Taiwan is intense, and the winner of the official 2006 island-wide competition for beef noodle soup was Lao Zhang.  It is well deserved.

The trophy is up for display outside of the restaurant, No. 19, Lane 19, Jin Shan Road, Taipei.

But noodles aren't all they do well at Lao Zhang.  This is their sticky steamed rice with lots of goodies embedded in its glorious golden-brown depths.  Chinese fatty sausage, soft stewed beef, and tripe.  Oh the goodness!

There are also many wonderfully prepared sides to choose from - here, from left to right, pickled turnip, crisp baby cucumbers in sweet rice vinegar, and (my favorite) roasted and fried eggplant.

I've yet to have a bowl of beef noodle soup this perfect in the States - maybe I'm not looking hard enough.  But, if you find yourself in Taiwan, this is the place to go.

Wandering: Taiwan, Jade and Flower Markets

"Ping Pong" flowers at the flower market.

We spent one Saturday morning in Taipei at the Jade and Flower Markets, located on Jianguo South Road.  I was in heaven: the flower market offered the fragrant, the unusual, the edible, and the beautiful.  If only I lived near a market like this!  In a metropolitan Taipei, residents create virtual jungles and gardens on their high-rise balconies.  And with this market, any garden is possible.

Grow your own pine bonsai.

Enormous dahlias, miniature lemon (?) trees.

Ceramic flower frogs and bowls for flower arranging.

Potted bushes and artful trees - some of them enormous!

The jade market adjoins the flower market so that you can walk from a lush garden into a tinkling cave of gems and crystals.  Not only can you buy jade at the market, but also jewels and pearls, strings of beads and antique carvings.  It is a fabulous place.

Carved pendants, bowls, even whole tea sets of jade
- hey, I spot jade mooncakes on the plate by the teapot on the tray!

A beautiful and delicate antique jade bowl.

Crystals pendants and bobbles.

Turquoise bracelets and beads, polished to a high shine.

A curious antique jade carving.

Feasting: Taiwan Street Food

I know I've blogged an awful lot about food in Taiwan before (here, here, here, and here!), but I really think enough good things cannot be said it!  And really, who doesn't enjoy some tasty street food?

What could be better than a place that serves up fresh cooked noodles to your specification?  Do you want pickled vegetables?  Tea boiled eggs?  Tender beef?  More hot sauce?  Hoisin sauce?  Bean sprouts?  Or do you want that with rice instead of noodles?  This was in Taichung, on the west coast of the island.  Mmmmm mmm.

Food-on-a-stick is always popular.  Convenient, mess free, and fun.  Here you can get boiled or fried mushrooms, squid, fish ball, and chicken, I believe, all on a stick.  This is in Tainan, also on the west coast.

Or maybe you just want to start your day right, with a typical Taiwanese breakfast o' champions.  This is it.  Hot soy milk, fried pork dumplings, and fried dough sticks (yeo tiau - literally "oil stick," not a pretty name but oh so good).  Add a sesame pocket bread (zhi ma shao bing) with lean slices of spiced beef and you are more than set.  In fact, you probably won't need to eat anything else for the rest of the day!  My sister and I ate this on the side of a road one morning in Gaohsiung (southwestern end of the island).

Fresh cut fruit - in this case, crisp green guava - is always available.  Don't worry, Taiwan is very, very careful about cleanliness and the washing of fruits.  Obsessively so.  I've always said, Taiwan is the best of both worlds: Japanese attention to detail and order together with Chinese lust and appetite.

What in the . . . ?  Oh, it's mochi!  Sweet rice dumplings, filled with sweet red-bean paste or lotus or fruit or anything else sweet and delectable, about to be dusted with ground peanuts.  To the right are two more coating options: black sesame seeds or white.  This was a Sun Moon Lake, which I must tell you more about . . .  Happy weekend, happy feasting!

Wandering: Taiwan, Tea at Maokong

 

 It was on a rainy day this January that my sister and I wandered about in Maokong, a small town in the mountains south of Taipei.  Tea is grown on the slopes and, during the spring and summer, tea houses open up their balconies for visitors to gather and talk, sipping fragrant tea for long, long hours in the afternoon.

 Tea plants in the drizzle.  The tea variety here is probably Gaoshan Cha, 

"High Mountain Tea," a type of Taiwanese oolong that is grown at high elevation.

Tea leaves drying under the eaves of a shop.

Tea pots are at the ready on the terrace of a tea house, overlooking the valley.

I did mention it was January, right?  We were the only people at Maokong, looking to sit out and drink tea.  It was cold!  This is my sister, trying to keep her fingers and face warm with her tea cup.  The sieve-tray is used to catch all the hot water that is first poured over and into the tea pot to clean it.  Hot water is also  discarded into the tray from the first brewing of the tea, which is considered inferior and "dirty" compared to the second brewing, which is drunk.

Kettles all in a row.

Next time in Taiwan, if it's less chilly, I'll be sure to make another trip.  For those thinking of visiting (and you should!), the gondola is shut down at the moment, but bus 15 from the Taipei Zoo is quite direct (take the MRT to the Taipei Zoo station).

新年快樂! Happy Valentine's!

I wish I could celebrate the new year with my family, but I'll have to make do with eating at a Chinese restaurant here in Heidelberg!

It's the year of the tiger, my sister's zodiac animal.
This is from a frieze at Long Shan Temple in Taipei. He looks crafty, eh?

And here's some crafty lovin'. Crocheted hearts, tutorial to be found here.

To A Beautiful New Year

I'm back! It's been quite a month and a half - 5 flights, 3 continents, 2 exams, and lots and lots of beautiful things. Here's a little peek for now.

Sun Moon Lake, in central Taiwan. A serene place.

Zen tableaux at the Lalu, our hotel at the lake.

Eating My Way Through Taiwan Part 4: Finer Foods

So, I should be doing work, but it's much more fun to post food pictures. This will be the last Taiwan food post :( . Anyway, I've been writing about the 'down-and-dirty' yummy foods, by which I guess I mean food that is obviously and directly enjoyable. But subtler and more 'refined' foods are to be had in Taiwan as well.

One night we had the pleasure of eating at a hot pot restaurant specializing in organic foods and native herbs. Here's a selection on my plate of things about to go into the pot:


Tofu, fresh fish and paper-thin-cut beef and pork, what looks like spinach but is probably a native plant, and fish cake ("tien-bu-lah").


Here is herb tempura (like Italian fritto misto), a taro-coconut confection (I think), seaweed, fish ball, and inari (rice wrapped in deep-fried tofu skin). Here, only the fish ball and seaweed will go into the pot.

A great meal for a rainy day - look at the steam rising from the pot. And aren't they cute?

What do you bring back for relatives in the States when you go to Taiwan? Tea! Taiwan produces marvelous tea - better than China, by far. This was taken at a tea shop, where the shopkeeper poured us cup after tiny cup of the most aromatic teas.

The leaf - once dried but now unfurled from the hot water - shows the quality of the tea: it has been carefully hand (not machine) picked , and there are two whole leaves and one shoot on each stem (a standard of quality).

Finally, we can't talk about Taiwan food without mentioning mochi. It's actually a Japanese confection, but, of course, the Japanese had rule over Taiwan from 1895 (after the Sino-Japanese War) until 1945 (the end of WWII). The Taiwanese call mochi 'moah-ji' - it is a delicious chewy, soft rice cake, usually with a filling inside - anything from green tea to red bean to lotus seed. Here are some lined up in an amazing mochi shop:

Aren't they beautiful? They aren't usually this fancy - you can buy them like snacks at any 7-Eleven or grocery store. These, though, are special.


Here are two that we bought from that shop. The one of the right is green tea and the left is mango. Mmmmmmm.

Well, that's it for Taiwanese foods. What a life it would be if I could be a food travel writer! Someday, maybe.

Eating My Way Through Taiwan Part 3: Even Bad Food Is Good Food

Say you get the munchies walking around Taipei. You wouldn't stop by the McDonald's - right? Isn't it just full of stuff you could get in the States? No, no. It has the amazing rice burger!

The bun is made of rice, fried into a patty - the perfect complement to teriyaki chicken or fried shrimp burger!

Or, say you walk by one of a million 7-Eleven's (which, by the way, is a Japanese company, not American - I didn't know this til recently). Just terrible pre-packaged foods, right? No!

You can buy fresh steamed buns! At a 7-Eleven! What's more, you can choose from a plethora of drinks - it's all about drink variety, anywhere you go in Asia.

There's all the usual sodas we have in the States but add onto that juice drinks of every tropical fruit and dairy and yogurt drink you could imagine. And tea drinks - a million kinds.

Finally, there's a mini-street market behind the hotel in Taipei we stayed at ("The Leofoo" - like "The Peninsula," only not so glamorous) and there is a most amazing hole in the wall shop that serves pork knuckes like you've never had them. And tofu - stewed all day long in lovely meaty juices. It is to die for. And sooooo bad for you. There is pork fat in the rice! And the shop sells out of pork knuckles at 6:30pm so you've gotta get there early and stand in line!

I need to go eat something now.

To be continued...next time, esoteric foods. Kind of.

Eating My Way through Taiwan Part 2: The Garden of Eden

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...but just a word on Taiwan's fruit: it's the best. My favorite is the Shi-Jia Guo, or "custard apple." I can't explain it, you'll just have to try it. Anyway, this tropical island is bursting at the seams with good fruit - and everyone loves it, natives and visitors.

Star fruit, growing wildly. I can't really describe the taste - sort of zesty citron and a little remniscent of plum. Lots of fruit grows wildly - like bananas or coconuts. It's awesome.

A fruit aisle in a posh store at the 101 building. The green fruit is the custard apple. They have a new breed, the pineapple custard apple, which is heavenly. Taiwanese are so into their fruit that they're always finding ways to improve it or create new varieties.

Okay, it's not a fruit, but this woman is shaving (at the request of my mom) sugar cane for us so we can munch on it in the bus. You take a bite off a stalk and enjoy the yummy, sugary, cane-y juices, and then spit out the remaining pulp. You can kinda feel like an elephant. Munch, munch.

Fresh coconuts for sale! The lady at the stand chops off the top with one whack of her machete and then sticks a straw in for you so you can drink the coconut juice.

Ah, yes, at the night market in Sa-Lu. See how each fruit is placed in its own little sock with care.

Okay, I'm cheating. This is in Thailand. This is the world's tiniest banana. Actually, it's not properly a banana, but I don't remember the name. A little more fragrant - flower-y - tasting than the usual we have in the States.

Also in Thailand, but Taiwan has both these fruits also. This is the rambutan, half-peeled. It is basically like a lychee - but I don't think it has as much flavor.

To be continued. (I can't stop writing about food. Is that a problem?)

Eating My Way through Taiwan

There are some beautiful sites in Taiwan - there really are! Such as the gorges in Hua Lien, where the stones are white marble and the water looks like blue jadeite, or the east coast of the island. Catch a train and spend the hours looking out over the Pacific shore and glimpsing various islands. One of my favorite pictures from my trip is from a train window:

To me, this looks like its taken right out of a Miyazaki film.
But if you don't have family there, Taiwan is really not a destination spot EXCEPT for its AMAZING FOOD. Why am I writing in all caps like an over-expressive pre-teen? Because I cannot contain my excitement about the FOOD in TAIWAN: OH MY GOSH, YOU, LIKE, TOTALLY HAVE TO GO AND EAT EVERYTHING YOU SEE!!!!! And I didn't even go in summer, when all the pineapples and mangos, not to mention shaved ice, are at their peak!
I am sorely tempted to make this blog entirely about my eating travels.
First off: streetfood is where it's at. It's down and dirty yummy and what's absolutely fantastic is its cleanliness: you will not get sick eating it (unlike in Thailand...Thailand, shall we say, is still with us, even after a week of being back in the States).
This is our first meal in Taiwan - it's 7am. We're in a "restaurant" - but the picture captures about 3/4 the interior of the place. Yuck, you say. But that thing my sister is pointing her chopsticks at, that delicious scallion and egg and flatbread roll deep fried and bathed in sweet ,garlicky soy sauce, is probably the BEST breakfast thing I HAVE EVER EATEN. We ordered two - the finished plate is at her elbow. And, along with several other dishes, the total of our 4-person breakfast was about $4 US. Ah, Taiwan. Why don't I live in you?
This is at a Saturday streetmarket in Taipei. That man, he may look ordinary, but he is the Master Creator of Tiny Delectable Griddle Cakes. His skill is unsurpassable. And those pancakes are then sandwiched, in their hot, sweet, sponginess, with the delicious filling of your choice: chocolate mousse, custard, taro or red bean paste. A whole package of them, freshly made before your eyes, is about $1 US. And then you munch on them while you look at knock-off Louis Vuitton bags.
The picture on the right is the entrance to a night market. Hmmm, you say, how important are streetmarkets in Taiwan? Well, this one has an entryway worthy of the Forbidden City (maybe even stolen from there - I kid, of course, but just look at the National Musuem, full of treasures from China brought out by CKS before the Commies took over). But, anyway, in places like these you will find uncountable food treasures...
...such as fresh roasted corn, bathed in chilipepper-y butter - or the sauce of your choice!
The streetmarket is full of fresh...everything. Fish, meat, food, clothes, appliances, shoes.

But you MUST try the food at the markets. Especially things on a stick: roast corn, roast meats (try deep fried pork short ribs!), caramelized apples (helpfully quartered for you, they think of everything), fried shrimp, fried CRAB, steamed cakes (you can put anything on a stick, really), and, my personal favorite, candied strawberries. A coat of crunchy crystallized caramel-y sugar over big, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth, sweetest and most strawberry-y strawberries you've ever eaten.
To be continued.