The last time I was in Taiwan, my mom and I attended a family reunion dinner at Tainan Danzi Mein (台南擔仔麵), located in downtown Taichung. This restaurant is quite famous; it seems as though there is always some kind of wedding party or company banquet held everytime we are there. The building is well equipped to handle these large parties, having three different floors, two of them housing private rooms, each equipped with karaoke equipment (a must in Taiwanese restaurants) and a small army of hosts, servers and busboys. We’ve been here before, so I was already mentally and gastronomically prepared for the onslaught of dishes that typically comprise a 13-14 course dinner meal.
When you first sit down, you can request a variety of freshly squeezed fruit juices; Taiwan is abundant in all kinds of fruit (which makes the produce in the US seem bland/boring by comparison), and the juices need little to no sweetener as the fruit is sweet enough as it is. This time, instead of coconut juice (too sweet and rich), I decided on a watermelon juice and a kiwi juice.
The courses (to the best of my memory):
Fresh sashimi platter.
Steamed prawns, served with a spicy mustard sauce; Ginseng Soup.
Salty Fish Roe, a traditional Taiwanese appetizer, usually eaten with thinly sliced garlic, spring onions and daikon.
This poached fish, served in a sweet soy-based sauce was really tender.
Beijing-style duck, served with lettuce cups:
By this point in the dinner (maybe 1.5 hours in?) I was desperately needing some vegetables to make me feel less guilty about what I had been eating.
Can someone help me identify this seafood? I tried it but somehow it didn’t seem very fresh; also, it was overcooked and had a rubbery texture. Probably my least favorite dish of the night.
Fried fish and squid balls:
Crab:
According to my relatives, this eel-in-broth is healing and good for the body.
Tainan Danzi Mein, the signature dish of the restaurant and a typical Tainan snack food; Pudding for dessert.
I forgot to take a picture of the fruit platter that typically accompanies the dessert, but at that point I was too full and could barely breathe, let alone take pictures.
3 Comments
The rubbery food you ate was Abalone. I think it’s an acquired texture/food. =)
@Casey: Ahh! I didn’t know that . . . I’ve had abalone before but it was always in the pre-sliced canned form (my grandmother would serve it with Kewpie mayo on the side), Good to know!
@Pinjing and Casey: Abalone in Chinese is 鮑魚, by the way. Just FYI
(Also, I had a vegetarian version once in Vietnam… strange, because I don’t think I’ve ever had the real deal before!)