mei eats

Top Ten Taipei Tucks…

Posted in Chinese on March 27th, 2007 by mei| | 14 Comments.

…on a shoestring budget.

“Small eats” or 小吃 are what Taiwan does best. Growing up in Bangkok where awesome Chinese restaurants abound, I tend to find big lazy-suzan type banquet restaurants in Taipei… blah. Lucky for us Taipei-rens, sampling the local specialties is truly quite affordable. This list is definitely not a comprehensive list of the foods I like but more of a local snacking guide. Taiwanese food that I pine for.

1. Xiao Long Bao 小龍包
There’s more to xiao long baos than Ding Tai Fengs (鼑泰豐). I am no iconoclast of this well established dumpling diner but I find that one could do better costwise elsewhere. My personal favorite place to go for xiao long baos would be Golden Chicken Garden (金雞園). As a friend once put it, it’s where you’d go for “the OG of xiao long baos” in Taipei. Werd.
The xiao long boas are a must but I almost always order the “crab roe dumplings” (蟹黃小包）. They are actually just xiao long baos with crab roe added to the meat stuffing. For a more interesting description of these crustacean egg dumplings check out a picture in my previous post.

There are two branches. One in Yongkang Street (walking distance from the flagship Ding Tai Feng hint hint!) and another in Gongguan.

Golden Chicken Garden 金雞園
No. 28-1, Yongkang Street
02 2341 6980
永康街28之1號

No. 3-1, Alley 8, Lane 316, Roosevelt Road, Section 3
02 2368 0698
羅斯福路三段316巷8弄3-1號

2. Shaved Ice　ㄘㄨㄚˋ冰
Move over Ice Monster　(冰館). My favorite shaved ice place is Xin Fa Ting （辛發亭）in the Shilin Night Market　（士林夜市）. Winter or summer, come rain or shine this place is always packed. What makes the ice here so special is that the store actually makes the ice out of condensed milk. Xin Fa Ting has be around for a long time. Thirty years, so says their business card. I even recall chancing upon this little gem when I was back in Taipei for the first time for the “Love Boat” program. Anyhow, let’s not digress…

Xin Fa Ting 辛發亭
No. 1, Anping Street, Shilin
(Alley next to the Yangming Cinemas in the Shilin Night Market)
12:00pm - 12:00am
士林區安平街1號 (陽明戲院旁小巷內)

3. Beef Noodle Soup　牛肉麵
I have to say I strongly disagree with the verdict of 2006’s Taipei Beef Noodle Competition. The Minsheng West Road franchise of Lau Dong （老董）was crowned the winner. I was so eager to try the famed noodles and broth and was bugging my friends to go but when I got there I found their package a complete let down. High expectations? I don’t know. What I do know is that I’ve had better.

Lin Dong Fang　（林東芳）, near where a good friend of mine lives, makes awwwweeeesome beef noodle soup. The noodles have that homemade feel to them, the broth divine, and the meat and tendons stewed to perfection. So easy to chew. I especially love to order the “half meat half tendon” noodle soup. At 210nt for a large bowl and 180nt for a small one, it’s still cheaper than those of the aforementioned beef noodle powerhouse. The chili paste that the store offers is also really good for those who like extra spice. What’s also really awesome about this place is that it opens from 11:00am all the way till 6:30am! Perfect for lunch, dinner and for your pre or post partying muchie moods.

Lin Dong Fang Beef Noodle Soup　林東芳牛肉麵
No. 274, Pateh Road, Section 2
(by the Central Newspaper Building. Walkable from the Breeze Center)
02 2752 2556
八德路二段274號（中央日報旁）

For all you vegetarians out there, allow me to recommend the veggie version at the Three Six Nine Vegetarian Snack Shop (三六九素食點心之家） out in Shipai　（石牌）. Yeah, it’s far but it’s soooo gooood. I love the wide homemade noodles. Very satisfying. The broth is very robust and flavorful, quite surprising coming from a vegetarian joint. No meat but the tofu chunks are chewy, substantial and well spiced. I have to say I didn’t care for much else on their menu though.

Three Six Nine Vegetarian Snacks　三六九素食點心之家
No. 16, Yumin Street (within walking distance from Shipai MRT)
02 2821 4864
裕民路16號（石牌捷運站附近）

4. Beef Flatbread Wraps 大餅牛肉捲
More meat. Wrapped in a chewy doughy savory pancake with plum sauce, scallions and garlic chives. I don’t think I’ve ever had one of these that I didn’t like but on the top of my head here are a few places I like to go…

The Noodle House (yes, their noodles are good as well)
No. 103, Xinyi Road, Secion 3 (by the intersection of Chien Guo, near the Daan Post Office)
信義路三段103號(建國南路口，大安郵局旁邊)
02　2704-9087
I actually went to their Neihu branch but if the Xinyi branch has the same menu and is consistent in quality I’d say the place won’t disappoint.

Zhu Chi 朱記餡餅粥店
No. 106, Renai Road, Section 3
02 2702 9411
仁愛路三段106號

5. Pan-fried Stuffed Pastries 餡餅
If you could read Chinese you might recognize the characters for stuffed pastries in the name of the last aforementioned restaurant. These are round, palm-sized pastries stuffed with “xian” (餡) which simply means “stuffing.” What kind of stuffings? Anything really. But the norm would be either beef, pork, chicken and shredded radish for savory ones and taro or red bean for the sweet variety. These pastries are fried on large pans till piping hot, served piping hot and should be eaten piping hot. The temperature really makes a difference IMHO. Just one caveat. Beware of squirting oil.

My favorite place to go for these stuffed pastries is at a store aptly called “Stuffed Pastry” 餡餅 (name in Chinese only) across from the Teachers College near by the intersection of Fushing South and Heping. There’s usually a long queue leading to the store so you can’t miss it. They usually start selling a bit before noon and sell out by around 6pm. I recommend the beef.

Stuffed Pastry Store 餡餅
No. 315, Heping East Road, Section 2
和平東路二段315號

6. Vegetarian Buffet 素食
I’m an omnivore. With a veggie penchant. Okay, “vegetarian buffet” does not quite fit in under the category of “small eats” here but these are the kind of joints one can dine in a wholesome manner cheaply. And contrary to what some people may think, the food can be quite tasty as well. I personally enjoy all sorts of veggies and yourstruly will usually tuck into a huge pile of dark leafy greens as well as brasied or fried tofu pieces, mushrooms, sweet potato, ad infinitum. Soup of the day (usually, miso or hot and sour) is usually free as is the sweet mung bean soup. I usually go for the unpolished multi-grain （五穀飯) instead of white rice although the latter is an option. Rice porridge with sweet potato is available at some joints as well. For dessert, if I bore of mung bean soup, I choose dreamy “snowcakes” (also called Malaiya cakes) (雪糕/馬來亞糕）. These are soft melt-in-your-mouth confections covered lightly in desicated coconut. Very highly recommended.

Most veggie buffet places are about the same but here’s one I usually frequent:

Minder Vegetarian 明德素食園
No. 47, Alley 63, Dunhua South Road, Section 2
02 2325 5695
敦化南路二段63巷47號

7. Shrimp Stew with Vermicelli 蝦仁羹米粉
This is increasingly hard to find these days in Taipei. Even harder to find places that makes it well. I don’t care for any of the other vermicelli soups or stews (say, squid or pork) that are ubiquitious in most night markets. The shrimps are de-shelled and are coated with a light fish-ball-type batter and are cooked in a garlicky julienned bamboo shoot stew. You can have the stew as is but I do prefer to have it with rice vermicelli to make it a complete meal. Corriander fiends should remember to tell the server to omit this latter accoutrement but personally I love it. Don’t forget to add a good splash of dark vinegar and a pinch of white pepper.

Locations. Ugh. There really aren’t many places left. I recall having an awesome shrimp vermicelli stew in the Gongguan night market. Unfortunately I don’t have the address on hand. There’s only one place there and I believe it’s the only item the store sells. There’s another place I stumbled upon in an alley across from the Brothers Hotel by the Nanking MRT. You’d recognize if from the shaved ice toppings that the store owners set out in front of the store. A bowl of the delicious stew and rice noodles costs 60nt.

The Tasteful Store 美味小舖 (Name in Chinese only)
No. 14, Lane 81, Fushing North Road
02 2731 4237
復興北路81巷14號

8. Knife-sliced noodles 刀削麵
Especially for those on a carb fest. Some of you might have seen a middle aged Taiwanese men taking orders at a noodle shop whilst slicing long wedge shaped noodles from a block of dough with a thin piece of metal into a large wok of boiling water - and all this without losing the ash from the end of his cigarette. The chunky noodles are either served in soup (say, beef noodle style) or stir-fried. I prefer the latter.
Supposedly, these are noodles from the mainland but I think that they do it pretty well here.

Niou Lau Da Knife-sliced Noodles 牛老大刀削麵
No. 42, Long Quan Street (in the Shida nightmarket)
02 23695591
龍泉街42號 (師大夜市內）

9. Traditional sweetened Tofu 傳統豆花
I like this stuff straight up. With brown sugar syrup (and or ginger syrup in winter) and that’s it. No peanuts or other nonsense. I don’t think I’ve had a traditional tofu I didn’t like but just be sure to not get its gelatinous imposter - the pudding tofu （布丁豆花）.

10. Red bean soup 紅豆湯
Yours truly has bad circulation. When winter rolls around I can’t help but crave a good bowl of red bean soup - “to feed the blood” so suggests my Chinese doc. I like to add taro and sweet potato nuggets （芋圓和地瓜圓）to this delicious dessert soup. I also like to add cooked pearl barley (小麥) to the mix. Don’t mistake pearl barley for its larger twin, job’s tears, although they do look alike.

Whoa. That’s it? Looks like I’ll have have to write a Top Twenty (or Thirty?) Taipei Tucks post soon. But until then I remain, yours truly.

Funny Foods

Posted in Foodie Fun on March 23rd, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

Mei used to be an English teacher. That’s right. I am a cunninglinguist. I love food and I love humor especially when it involves puns… but when you put the two together…

I can’t take credit for these but they are just way too funny to keep to myself. There are more where these came from. Check out www.engrish.com.

Coffee, Tea or Me?

Posted in Coffee and Tea on March 22nd, 2007 by mei| | 0 Comments.

Mei’s Tea Bar
No. 16, Lane 37, Yongkang Street
02 2394 2425
永康街37巷16號

Cocksauce

Posted in Condiments on March 21st, 2007 by mei| | 2 Comments.

It’s salty. It’s spicy. And it usually leaves a pleasant aftertaste in my mouth.

Get your head out of the gutter, you.

I’m talking about the Mighty Rooster Brand Sriracha Chili Sauce. This hot sauce should be no stranger to pho noodle aficionados Stateside, as is its milder partner Hoisin sauce. Strangely enough, I’ve heard that you can’t find it in Vietnam. Nor Taipei.

What adds to the intrigue is that Sriracha is actually a town in Thailand. Yours truly spent many of her younger years in this latter country and has never once seen this sauce sold domestically. Okay. There’s something similar but similar just does not equate to the same.

This is my favorite mass produced hot sauce, bar none. It’s essential for good pho. I’ve had it with fried rice, pot stickers, what have you. I’ve even been known to smuggle a bottle to the Golden Arches to have with my fries. It’s that good.

Until some savvy distributor decides to import the stuff to Taiwan, Mei suggests that local Taipei-rens go visit this small Vietnamese sundry goods store next to the Chishan MRT (芝山捷運站). You can’t get the brand I’m raving about but I see similar products.

Vietnamese Store 越南商店 - It’s a Lotto store out front
No. 132, Fuhwa Road, Shilin
02 2834 6268
士林福華路132號

You can actually order food there as well. The service is a bit slow but the food is decent. The proprieters there know how to make one mean ‘namese sammich. Have it with cocksauce, of course.

Now, that’s something I’d gladly swallow.

Before I forget, xie xies out to my friend Thao who kindly brought back this bottle of spicy lovin’. She makes awesome pho and spring rolls to boot.

Black Gold

Posted in Coffee and Tea on March 20th, 2007 by mei| | 3 Comments.

I like my coffee like how I like my man: rich and very black.

I also tend to like him pint sized and either bitter or very sweet. Yes, yes, Mei is an espresso shot kinda gal. I despise instant coffee with a vengence and I won’t go anywhere near the watered down americano joe.

Truth be told, I really can’t tell you where to go for good coffee in Taipei. What I can tell is where not to go. For example, I found the coffee at a certain bagel chain here horrid. It’s the kind that sets off wanking migraines for hours on end. At least I have to give the joint credit for sticking true to their New York diner style roots, as bad as it is. Yuk yuk.

What I do condone when it comes to savoring arabica’s finest is to brew your own. Anybody who has made the walk from the original Fushing Sogo to the Breeze center might recall passing a charming little coffee and tea periphernalia store where oft times there’d be store attendant handing out little paper cups of tea… and you guessed it, coffee.

Tea and Coffee Store
No. 85, Fushing South Road, Section 1
復興南路一段85號

For 125nt dollars I can buy my own 1/2 pound of Italian roast grounded to suit the moka pot friends brought back for me from Spain last summer. I keep the grounds in an air-tight glass container in the fridge and even if I made a pot a day I would have plenty to last me close to a month.

Coffee, unlike my man, should be very cheap.

Chinese Breakfast Redux

Posted in Breakfast, Chinese on March 20th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

“The World’s Soy Milk King” (世界豆漿大王） in Yonghe, Taipei County was where it all started. Despite warnings from my neighbor at the time that the foremost institution of traditional Chinese breakfast has been reduced to only a name, I decided to schelp over to the other side of the river to try it out.

I concur. I found even my most beloved rice balls underwhelming. The patrons at the Yonghe Soy Milk establishment seemed to be a mishmash of people living in the neighborhood, a handful of foreign toursits and curious Taipei-ren such as yours truly. Even for people watching purposes, the crowd is rather unspectacular.

Where to go for proper Chinese b-fast fare in Taipei then? Most neighborhood Yonghe Soy Milk lookalikes would do (don’t forget to bring your own pork floss!) but when I get foreign friends visiting I would take them to this one breakfast place on Fushing South Raod around the intersection of Ruian Street. I don’t believe there’s a name for the place but you can’t miss it. It’s the first store along the strip of Chinese breakfast (make that brunch and midnight snack) places and it’s the only one that sits pretty even in a dilapidated tenement with no a/c. I can’t even recall how many nights I’ve ended having breakfast there. Ah. Good times.

The breakfast place (along with the others on the strip 清粥街）are opened 24 hours 365 days a year. Supposedly. I’ve seen some places closed at times but this notwithstanding it makes for a great place to go for a chowfest anytime of the day and the downtown location makes it the place to check out the after hours crowds when Denny’s are far and few in between.

No-Name Chinese Breakfast Joint (not to be confused with another eatery in the vicinity actually called “No Name” but that’s another topic for another post)
Intersection of Fushing South Section 2
and Ruian Street
復興南路二段跟瑞安街

The Original World’s Soy Milk King
No. 284, Yonghe Road Section 2
Yonghe, Taipei County
02 89262233
世界豆將大王
台北縣永和市永和路二段284號

Chinese Breakfast

Posted in Breakfast, Chinese on March 20th, 2007 by mei| | 0 Comments.

I love love love traditional Chinese breastfast. In fact, few things in life can make me smile at 7am like having my favorite rice ball (oblong is a better description) delivered to my doorstep.

Rice oblongs aside, I do also really like the chinese flatbread stuffed with a half oil stick (燒餅油條半套）. Why half an oilstick? Easier to eat that’s why. I really don’t think anybody with the right mind - and mouth - could comfortably stuff a shaobing beignet combo down one’s gullet. Unless you’re Garfield. The real reason, however, is that I like to bring my b-fast home and add shredded pork floss （肉鬆/肉酥) to the sandwich.

Yes, that’s right. I adore pork floss. The sweet yet savory fluffy brown mass that the locals love to top their equally fluffy white breads with. It’s the bane of any Jew trying to keep kosher in Taipei since pork floss has not a smidgen of resemblance to pork. The quality of pork floss, however, is going down. It used to be de rigueur for traditioal chinese breakfast places to serve fantuan （飯糰）rice balls stuffed with premium grade pork floss but now most places don’t even carry the stuff. Sacrilege! So I have to buy my own. My favorite brand is Weichuan’s 味小寶純肉酥. It’s supposedly a hundred percent unadulterated porkfloss. As if I’d accept anything less.

When it comes to soy milk, I’m less picky. The thing is the locals do know how to make good soy milk. Even bad fresh soy milk is better than most stuff out of the tetra paks that I had to make do with in college. The only place that makes fresh soy milk that I despise is the 青島豆漿 in my neighborhood of Tunghua night market. I feel like the soy milk there has a “burnt” taste to it. Avoid at all costs! But they do make a nice egg pancake…

Honey, do my mental problems make me look fat?

Posted in Food Behavior on March 20th, 2007 by mei| | 1 Comments.

Diet? I think not. Neuroses burn the most calories.

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