It is amazing how the sensual experience of eating food comes to life after a period of not having much of it. This weekend was my first time to Taipei – a land known for its food and shopping – and I was ready to indulge. I had done some research on must-eats in Taiwan; the result was a Pinterest board of quail egg takoyaki and pork belly mantou. But, mainly, I was relying on Amber, a local whom I had met through my best university friend, Victoria, to show me around.
Day 1
As we emerged from the Tai Bei airport, the street scene of orderly roads, mall signs and overhead passes reminded me of Singapore, my place of birth. Amber and I chatted animatedly, as we crossed to the beeps of the flashing green man.
“I’m going to take you to Dong Qu – a slightly higher-class area known for its cafes and night life. We’ll grab a snack at a matcha tea house.”
Matcha (a Japanese green tea powder) happens to be my favorite flavor. The matcha house was tucked away in a quiet alley, lined with rows of Western-style cafes advertising crepes and ravioli.
We were immediately greeted with a hearty Japanese greeting and given a menu that had matcha desserts in the front and regular Japanese lunch food at the back. Thankfully, Amber and I were both up for snacking small throughout the day and so, we ordered an iced matcha bubble tea and a chocolate matcha parfait.
You could tell from one sip of the bubble tea that the matcha was authentic. Initially refreshing and mildly sweet, the aftertaste surprised you with an light undertone of bitter, as if to transport you to a Japanese tea field. The parfait was simply decadent. A layer of matcha jelly lined the bottom, followed by alternating layers of cream and cornflake, finally topped with a generous scoop of matcha ice cream, a dollop of a packed red bean paste and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Surrounding the ice cream were 3 brownie-cakes dusted with matcha powder and a crunchy chocolate-lined wafer-stick.
Taiwan is known for its emerging cafe scene, where Asian desserts are served in a clean, comfortable manner. If you are looking for a quiet place to escape the heat and catch up with friends, I would recommend matcha tea house and sharing a parfait or a cold drink.
It was about 2:30p.m. that we finally left and made our way to NET – a trendy clothing shop similar to Forever 21 but with reasonable prices. They were having a shorts sale and I picked up 2 for 600 Taiwanese kuai (~20 USD). It was pouring typhoon-like after the shorts-shopping, so Amber and I ducked into a subway station and made our way to the Tai Bei Train Station, a popular downtown hangout for the local Taiwanese.
It was a maze underground, and even getting to Breeze (the part of the station we were interested in), the rows of food courts interspersed with Japanese/Korean restaurants made it hard to navigate. But, Amber and I weren’t in a hurry – sampling toothpicks of red bean mochi or chocolate cheesecake as we moseyed along. We finally found a local Taiwanese restaurant that overlooked the main area of the station and called an order of “xiao long bao” (the famous soup buns Taiwan is famous for) and “cong you bing” (scallion pancakes).
The cong you bing was just how I like it – flaky on the outside but soft through its thickness. I dipped it in soy sauce and carefully balanced a few slivers of ginger on it before taking a bite. I was proud of my chopstick skills as I didn’t break a single xiao long bao skin lifting those babies out of the bamboo basket. With the proper procedure of first piercing the skin, then sucking the soup juice, and finally savoring the succulent meat and pearly dumpling skin, I devoured them one by one.
Finally, for dessert, we chanced upon a bakery and I spotted a platter of perfectly charred Portuguese egg tarts. I bought one and Amber and I shared a serving of “dou hua” (a soft tofu dessert with peanuts and sago). The egg tart did not disappoint with its full buttery layers of crust and rich, melted egg middle. If you have more time, I would definitely recommend exploring more of the TaiBei Bus station – there were many small shops with tempting displays of pastries, mochi, and mini cheesecakes!
Day 2.
We started the day off with lunch at Zhi Shan’s famous beef noodles. A cardboard cutout of a man with a CNN article toting the restaurant as the best beef noodle shop in Taiwan stood at the entrance of the shop.
We waited about 15 minutes for a seat; meanwhile, Amber and Rhee snagged bubble teas with 3 different kinds of pearls at a nearby shop. There were 3 options for soup: “ma la” (spicy), tomato soup and clear soup, as well as options for the different kinds of meat (regular beef meat, tendon, tripe) and noodles (ramen or green bean). I ordered a tomato soup with green bean thread noodles and beef tendon and meat. The tendon was not as chewy as expected, and in fact, a pleasant middle between the slippery cellophane noodles and the firm beef meat. I would explore alternating the various textures with an occasional spoonful of the warm flavored broth interspersed between.
Next, we spent some time at a local bookstore perusing books before heading to TaiBei Bus station to meet Victor Hsiao. The basement of the station houses 3 underground malls and so, being girls, we kill time by walking the length of the TaiBei underground mall. For anyone interested in picking up cheap yet cute clothes, gadgets, or getting massaged, you can do all that and more underground.
In the basement of Q-square (one portion of the bus station) lies a food court. We met up with Victor and caught up on his past few months in Taiwan. I shared “lu rou fan” (Taiwanese braised pork rice), a meatball soup and oyster omelette with Rhee.
Finally, the highlight of the trip: Raohe Night Market. Shilin is the more famous and tourist-populated night market, but Raohe is more known for its food, which is what we were really there for anyways.
The market was abuzz with night life: vendors frying up clouds of oily steam, crowds jostling as they hold tightly to their stick of meatballs, and blenders whirring up fresh fruit in plastic cups. It can be overwhelming so this a general guide to what I found was worth the stomach space:
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“Hu Jiao Bing” (black pepper pork buns)
Basically, it is a sauced chopped pork mix with pickled vegetables wrapped in a flaky pizza-like crust. One of my favorites.
2. Fried milk
Crisp on the outside, and milky soft on the inside. On the whole, it tasted like a cream puff on a stick.
3. “Gua bao” – pork belly with shaved peanut and cilantro wrapped in a mantou (chinese bun)
I had heard that this was a must-try of Taiwanese street food. I wasn’t a huge fan of the fatty meat, but the sauce paired with the pickled vegetables was definitely a hit. It is traditional Taiwanese though – so do try it.
4. “Da chang bao xiao chang” – directly translated as big intestine wraps small intestine
This is one of Victor’s favorites and we got it near the end of our tour even though we were all really full. It isn’t as scary as its name sounds. Basically, it’s a Taiwanese sausage wrapped in a sticky rice hotdog. Flavorful and comforting, I definitely enjoyed this (to Victor’s delight).
5. Imagawayaki – a Japanese pancake cooked in a cast-iron mould with different fillings
We were drawn in by the tempting photos and the interesting looking fillings. The pancake reminded me of Japanese cheese cake. For the fillings, we chose 2: chocolate and cheese, the other was custard and cheese. The consensus was that the chocolate was the better of the two (:
5. Stinky tofu
Of course, I had to try the stinky tofu – one of the defining factors of the Taiwanese night market. The smell is quite overwhelming and it overtakes you unexpectedly as you wander the stalls before you see the large pot of marinating soft blobs of white. There are two different kinds – one is fried triangles that have the sauce over top, the other is the soft kind that have been marinating in the “stinky sauce” for a long time. With it being my first time, I opted for the fried kind – and being a tofu-lover, I didn’t mind the tofu at all and it really wasn’t as stinky as I thought it would be. Perhaps I will try the soft kind the next time!
Rhee bought a cheese potato, while Victor had his favorite – 3 scoops of ice cream wrapped in a “dan bing” pancake with shaved peanut brittle. Needless to say, we were stuffed by the end of our night market adventure – and I ended mine by washing it down with cold papaya milk (a popular drink in Taiwan for women as it is supposed to help with girl issues).
Day 3
It is Sunday and I am now on the bus back to Shangjie, after spending the morning at ch with Rhee and Amber.
Taiwan was absolutely amazing – the perfect combination of fellowship, food and fun. I was so grateful for the chance to reconnect with old friends and so grateful for the hospitality of Amber – who taught me about China-Taiwan relations, and whom I had really stimulating intellectual conversations about the intersection of faith and science with, as well as for Rhee who generously shared food + cosmetic bags with me and informed me of the Taiwanese education system. And of course, Victor who graciously ate the portion of stinky tofu I couldn’t finish, waited patiently in a long line for the “hu jiao bing” and willingly accompanied us to Raohe even though it was on the opposite end of the subway line from his house.
I will be back – but until next time, Taiwan! (now back to my clean eating and workout plan lol)
dancing for an audience of One - 