Too Much Food » Taiwan

Eating Out: Light Lunch at 85度C, Taichung, Taiwan

Pinjing — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 06:03:35 +0000

My last post at my other blog got me thinking about the time I spent in Taiwan last year . . . and the lovely snacks I ate while I was there. Here was a light lunch I had at a bakery chain named 85度C:

Now, this sandwich (4 layers of white bread, with alternating layers of ultra thin omelet and ham with mayo) doesn’t look like much, but ask any Taiwanese and they’ll tell you this is the ultimate comfort food. I remember growing up eating these as a kid; when my classmates’ moms packed them tuna salad sandwiches, I brought these. The bread’s always super soft and fluffy, and paired with a cold cup of green tea or soymilk, this meal makes this girl very happy.

85度C
Locations throughout Taiwan

and :
85C Bakery Cafe‎
2700 Alton Parkway, Irvine, CA‎
(949) 553-8585‎

Hours:
Mon – Thu: 7 am – 10 pm
Fri – Sat: 7 am – 12 am
Sun: 8 am – 10 pm

View Larger Map

I haven’t tried much of the breads at the one in Irvine, so I can’t really vouch for their quality. However, there’s always a huge line out the door whenever I’m in the plaza, so there must be something about it.

Eating Out: [台中市] 春天素食下午茶 (Spring Natural Vegetarian Restaurant, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:14:14 +0000

Spring Natural Vegetarian Restaurant was highly recommended to us by many of my mom’s vegetarian friends. With branches in Taipei and Taichung, Spring Natural offers buffet-style vegetarian lunch, afternoon tea and dinner in a clean, airy and elegant setting. As the afternoon tea (served between 2:30pm and 4:30pm) offerings are comparable to that of lunch but at a discounted price, my mom and I decided to head over to the Taichung branch to try it out.

Spring Natural’s buffet setup consists of several different stations: cold salads, diy salad station, steamed dishes, dim sum, stir-fried vegetable dishes, vegetarian sashimi (What? How? I will get to this later . . .) and sushi, stews and soups, traditional Taiwanese dishes, as well as an extensive sweet dessert soup, pastry and ice cream station. Soda, juices, and teas were also included as well and upon arrival, a special brew of herbal tea is sent to your table straightaway. Touted as having beneficial properties, the light but flavorful tea was a good appetite opener.

I wasn’t able to get photos of the buffet stations (I felt uncomfortable taking photos of it while the waitstaff were milling about), but here are some photos of the plates that my mom and I put together:

My first plate: pan-fried savory turnip cake, sauteed bittermelon, glazed shishito peppers, cold lotus root salad in passionfruit dressing. Everything on this plate was extremely fresh and well prepared; I especially loved the turnip cake (the chef had just finished frying it up when I swung by the dim sum station) as well as the shishito peppers, which were sauteed and tossed in a soy-sesame glaze.

Mom’s first plate: fried cruller, hot and sour soup, sauteed greens, cold seaweed salad, mushroom “steak.” I didn’t try any of the food here; my mom said the “steak” was so-so while the seaweed salad was good.

I also got the vegetarian version of the infamous Taiwanese “stinky tofu.” I’m not sure what makes normal stinky tofu non-vegetarian, but this version was delicious; the soup was a flavorful umami broth; sour, spicy and savory; the tofu didn’t seem to harbor an overly stinky smell. For those who have never tried stinky tofu and are a bit intimidated by it, Spring Natural’s version would probably be a good, gentle introduction to the dish.

My second plate: a random salad I threw together with various sprouts and a ginger-soy vinaigrette, more shishito peppers (I liked it enough to go back for seconds; normally at buffets I try not to get seconds of anything in order to try as many dishes as possible), braised figs.

I also got this at the sushi/sashimi station: two pieces of sweet “sushi”, actually a mochi-type confection that was made so that it resembles a maki roll. I didn’t really detect much of any one flavor in this . . . it was a bit strange to me. It’s no secret that I dislike anything mochi-textured, and this didn’t impress me either. I believe the center of the maki was steamed sweet potato, the middle layer was sweetened azuki bean paste, followed by the mochi outer layer.

At the bottom of the plate you can see the one slice of vegetarian sashimi that I got for kicks, though I have lean towards a vegetarian diet, I’m a die-hard sushi fan (probably the only thing preventing me from becoming a complete vegetarian). I don’t think anything could replace the taste and mouthfeel of real raw fish flesh; and this was no exception. I have to give credit to Spring Natural for being able to replicate the “look” of sashimi, from its color to somewhat slippery texture, but it didn’t taste nor feel like sashimi at all. I’m not really into the idea of creating vegetarian versions of meat as well . . . I couldn’t get into this.

Mom’s second plate: more stinky tofu, seaweed salad, sauteed greens, egg roll, sweetened red bean pastry.

Despite sampling all that food, we still had room to try some dessert:

Sweetened taro paste cake, chocolate covered peanut clusters, vegan custard (made with agar-agar instead of gelatin). Nothing too special here; I usually find dessert bars at any buffet to be so-so to disappointing, due to the fact that desserts like cake and cookies tend to dry out due to being put outside for long periods of time (but maybe I just have really high expectations of dessert).

Red bean pastry innards, peanut-powder covered hakka-style mochi (hidden underneath the vegetarian maki roll).

Spring Natural’s offerings for their afternoon tea are generous; though I’d stick to their savory dishes such as the soups, dim sum, salads and sauteed items. For those who are vegetarian, Spring Natural goes beyond basic tofu and sauteed vegetable dishes; offering a diverse and enticing menu. For those aren’t, it’s a great place to try some tasty Taiwanese-style meat-free cuisine.

春天素食
台中市西屯區大墩十七街88號2樓
(04) 2328-0956
午餐：11:45 ~ 14:00, 每人500、兒童 300
下午茶：14:30 ~ 16:30, 每人350、兒童 250
晚餐：17:45 ~ 21:00, 每人600、兒童 350

Spring Natural Vegetarian Restaurant
No. 88 (2nd floor), Dadun 17th Street, Xitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan
(04) 2328-0956
Lunch：11:45 ~ 14:00, Adults NT500、Children NT300
Afternoon Tea：14:30 ~ 16:30, Adults NT350、Children NT250
Dinner：17:45 ~ 21:00, Adults NT600、Children NT350

Eating Out: [台中市] 櫻屋 (Sakura, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:54:05 +0000

One of the best restaurants that I tried this time while staying in Taichung was Sakura, a small Japanese restaurant specializing in both sushi and cooked foods. Located in a nondescript alleyway in the Xitun district, Sakura is a bit difficult to find but well worth the search.

The storefront:

Once you are seated, you’re presented with a small tray of pickled daikon, one of the specialties Sakura offers. Served chilled, the daikon is pleasantly crisp; it’s marinated in soy sauce and vinegar yet still manages to preserve the natural sweetness of the vegetable. Each time I visited Sakura, I couldn’t help but eat the entire plate.

Getting sashimi in Taiwan is hit or miss; the raw fish here is always extremely fresh.

I ordered a Wafu Salad; a refreshing blend of lettuce, sprouts, corn, thinly sliced apples, raisins, cucumber and tomatoes in a light vinegar-based dressing.

Next came something that my grandmother was dying for me to try: these are deep-fried spring rolls, hefty with the addition of both fresh durian and taro root. In addition to the durian and taro, these were stuffed with real crab meat and asparagus. As you might have guessed, these were pretty darn rich but delicious. It was actually my first time eating durian (I have heard stories about its stink before but never got a chance to try it); and while there was a hint of stinkiness, there was none in the taste. Durian is delicious; its texture is creamy and if you can get past its smell, you’ll discover it’s actually very sweet. All in all, this spring roll was a good first introduction to this much maligned fruit.

My grandpa ordered the grilled sanma (秋刀魚, or saury), served with grated daikon and ginger. This was perfectly done; broiled so that the skin was crisp yet the flesh was still juicy and moist. The sanma was not gutted; some people choose not to eat the intestines as they’re pretty bitter, but my grandpa and I find that this is often the most delicious part.

A beef dish; this was also exceptional, tender and served with an addictive garlic sauce. I’m not a meat eater by habit but I’ll admit this was very good.

Fresh greens, stir-fried and topped with deep-fried shallots and a light soy broth; this was on-the-house and was a good break from the protein-heavy dishes.

The last dish to come was the special futomaki and inari. In Taiwan, non-raw futomaki (fat maki rolls) are very popular, with fillings that usually include tamago (a sweetened egg omelet), cucumber and pork floss. However, the sushi chef at Sakura is quite innovative with his version, choosing to fill them with unagi (broiled eel), crabmeat, deep-fried shrimp tempura and asparagus tempura, pickled vegetables, pork floss, and deep-fried yam. Additionally, some of these futomaki were rolled up in a very thin layer of taro root (how he managed to cook the taro root so that it was pliable and creamy without being mushy I’ll never know), which offered an additional level of richness to these “upscale” futomaki. It seems like a crazy amount of food to stuff into a roll, but all the tastes and textures were there: sweet, savory, sour, crunchy, tender, and chewy. They were huge so I could only eat one but if I could, I would have polished off the entire platter.

Omgz deliciousness.

At the end of the meal, freshly cut oranges and sweetened, chilled azuki bean soup were served for dessert. A nice ending to a wonderful meal.

I ended up coming to Sakura four times in the course of two months. There are several reasons why I believe Sakura is an exceptional restaurant:

Many Japanese restaurants may have exceptional sushi but horrible cooked offerings or vice versa. Sakura does their sushi/sashimi and their cooked dishes equally well.
Their cooked dishes are different and innovative; it’s not your standard run-of-the-mill bentos, teriyaki and donburi. Additionally, you can tell that the food here is artfully crafted and carefully prepared; not only is it delicious, it’s presented in a beautiful way.
Exceptional service, the waitstaff is attentive and polite, which is not standard in Taiwan.
Good value; one can dine very well without having to spend much cash here.

There you have it; I’ve basically written an online love-letter to this restaurant; if you’re ever in the area, please do go and try it, you won’t be disappointed. I will try to post photos of my later visits if you need more convincing . . .

櫻屋日本料理
台中市西屯區大墩十九街193號
04-2327-2625

Sakura
No. 193, Dadun 19th St., Xitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan
04-2327-2625

Street Food: [台中市] 一中街小吃: 打餅舖, 哇哉海苔飯捲 (Yizhong Street Food: Hit Cookie Home and Wow! Seafood Rice Rolls, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:52:31 +0000

Getting to Yizhong Street; the main road parallel to Yizhong Street.

One of my favorite places to go in Taichung is Yizhong Street (一中街). Located near National Taichung First Senior High School (considered by Taichung residents to be the top high school in the city), Yizhong Street is a young person’s shopping and food paradise. Within a small space of one to two blocks, Yizhong Street is tightly packed with street vendors of delicious street food and the latest fashions (all for super cheap!). Scattered amongst the street vendors are various restaurants (apparently the (in)famous Modern Toilet Restaurant has a branch here), arcades, internet cafes, beauty salons, as well as a great 24-hour stationary and bookstore. At any time of the day, Yizhong Street is packed with people; since it’s mainly a pedestrian thoroughfare (though you will encounter some scooters here), it’s pretty easy to navigate (as opposed to other markets, where you have to dodge both pedestrians, scooters and cars). I could easily spend a whole day here just sampling the food and buying things for cheap (the trick is to bargain with the vendors!).

On a recent trip to Yizhong Street, my mom and I sampled a few snacks that were recommended on various Taiwanese food blogs. The first thing we bought was a 打餅, from Hit Cookie Home (打餅舖). “打餅” literally translates to “hit cookie”, though it’s more akin to a Chinese scallion pancake or an Indian paratha.

Why is it called a “hit cookie”? After the pancake is cooked on the flat griddle, it’s literally beaten up, breaking it apart slightly so that even more flaky layers are produced. You can actually see a video of it here via Travelpod (not my video).

You could always opt for the original, or try some of the different fillings they offer (ham, bacon, fried egg, cheese). They even have sweet versions, with fillings of butter and condensed milk. My mom and I opted for a savory 打餅 (NT30), filled with dried seaweed flakes and a fried egg.

This 打餅 was pretty good; it was a bit thick (we’re used to regular scallion pancakes that are usually a bit thinner); though when eaten fresh off the flat top, the 打餅 is crispy, flaky and delicious. I would advise eating this right away; after it cools down, it tends to taste more doughy, floury and dense. If you do end up buying one to go I recommend sticking it in the toaster oven to refresh it a bit before digging in.

I also got a 海苔飯捲 (Seaweed Rice Roll) from a nearby vendor at 哇哉海苔飯捲. I am a little reluctant to translate the name of this store as “哇哉” is slang in Taiwanese, meaning something akin to “wow!” or “amazing!”; therefore you get something like Wow! Seafood Rice Roll. But I digress . . .

Costing only NT35 (around $1 USD) and filled with black pepper pork, corn, and pickled vegetables, this was similar to a non-raw version of a sushi hand roll. What’s nice is that when they prepare your order, they insert a piece of plastic between the rice and the seaweed (which you pull out right before you eat) so that your seaweed stays crispy. The black pepper pork was nicely seasoned, with a nice punch from the liberal amount of black pepper. It’s quite a bit of food (the roll itself was as long as my forearm) and all that rice and meat is pretty filling; even eating just half of this, I was stuffed.

They have many other versions (pork, chicken and beef, kimchi as well as vegetarian and vegan versions available too), so there is something for everyone here.

打餅舖
台中市北區一中街83號
04-22251135
Hit Cookie Home
No. 83, Yizhong Street, North District, Taichung City, Taiwan
04-22251135

哇哉海苔飯捲
台中市北區育才街29號
Wow! Seafood Rice Roll
No. 29, Yingcai Road, North District, Taichung City, Taiwan

Eating Out: [台中市] 何記東勢李炒手 (He Ji Hakka Style Cuisine, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:20:17 +0000

Some close family friends insisted on taking us to He Ji, one of their favorite Hakka-style cuisine restaurants on the outskirts of Taichung City. Hakka cuisine is hard to come by in the U.S., they wanted give me the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

Hakka cuisine is usually characterized by the use of bold, strong flavors (you’ll find a lot of ginger, pickled vegetables, garlic, peppers, and sour, savory and umami-ish flavors going on), with more of an emphasis on the heartiness of the food and less an emphasis on the aesthetic quality of presentation. For this reason, my family members, believing that my “delicate American constitution” would be offended by the supposedly crude presentation of the food, assuring me again and again that the food that I was about to experience was going to be delicious. Little did they know that I don’t really place too much importance on presentation; I believe all food, when prepared with love and care, is beautiful . . . Besides, there’s nothing I hate more than tucking into beautifully plated dish and discovering that it’s actually bad tasting! I hate to think that all the time and effort put into plating a dish like that could have been put towards actually making the food taste good . . . but that’s a story for another day.

When we arrived, a bowl of freshly pan-fried peanuts arrived on our table. Still hot, and liberally dusted with salt, garlic and fried peppers, this fragrant dish served to open our appetite.

Boiled chicken: cuts of moist dark meat served with two different dipping sauces (a sweeter, hoisin type sauce and a punchy garlic sauce). Taiwanese prefer to eat dark meat when it comes to poultry, finding its moistness superior to that of leaner white meat. When asked what part of the chicken I usually eat in the US and hearing I eat chicken breast, most of my relatives will twist up their noses and say “Isn’t that so dry and tasteless?”

My favorite dish: Sauteed pig intestines with bittermelon. You either hate or love this one for obvious reasons. I love anything offal/stinky so this dish was right up my alley. The sauce was delicious; pleasantly sour from the use of pickled vegetables and white vinegar, bitter from the melon and spicy from the use of ginger to cut down on the pig intestine’s “stinky” aroma. I probably ate half of this dish all by myself.

More sauteed bittermelon: This time, sauteed with peppers and garlic. Delicious if you like bittermelon, offensive if you don’t.

Pork with a topping of fried shallots and garlic: Very thinly sliced pork, some with just the meat, some with just the skin. Topped with a sauce of made with soy sauce, garlic and shallots, this dish had a million different textures going on at the same time: chewiness from the pork skin, crispness of the fried topping, tenderness from the pork meat. You’d think that with the sauce this dish would have the potential to be oversalted and heavy, but it wasn’t. This dish showed that the chef here was truly talented.

Sauteed eggplant with basil, garlic and peppers: Most people would recognize this from Panda Express and similar fast-food Chinese or Thai eateries in the states. Always greasy and delicious; I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one . . .

Steamed fish in a soy-sauce based broth: The fish was extremely fresh; many of my family members marvelled at how “sweet” it tasted. The sauce is delicious on its own as well; had I a bowl of rice, I would have just mixed the sauce into it and eaten it just is.

Sauteed leeks with tofu, 木耳 (Wood Ear mushrooms), pork skin, and peppers: Again, a lot of textural contrast, chewy, crunchy and tender. The sauce here was also soy-sauce and garlic-based and very savory.

I believe that there was also a couple of other dishes that I missed:

drunken chicken
miso soup with wakame seaweed and fish
beef stomach and intestines in a ginger-basil broth
sizzling stone plate of butter-sauteed beef with green peppers and caramelized onions

But by this time I was so full I couldn’t eat anymore; let alone take pictures! I think I was food-comaing by this point already.

何記東勢李炒手
台中市福林路45號
04-2461-2312
04-2461-7217

He Ji Hakka Style Cuisine
No. 45, Fulin Road, Taichung City, Taiwan
04-2461-2312
04-2461-7217

Street Food: [台中市] 幸福潤餅 (Happiness Run Bing, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:49:32 +0000

One of my favorite 小吃* to get whenever I come back is 潤餅, or “run bing.” You can order these in the U.S. as “spring rolls”, but the use of “spring rolls” is a bit troublesome . . . Spring rolls in the States refer to so many things, from the Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls to Chinese fried egg rolls to Thai-style wraps with glass noodles. Taiwanese 潤餅 are more akin to moo-shu wraps than egg rolls or spring rolls in that the wrapper is wheat-flour based, but not fried; moreover, 潤餅 are much larger as well (think burrito-sized).

*(translated literally: small eats; I use this as a blanket term for all the great street foods, small bites that you can find at outdoor wet markets and roadside stalls all over Taiwan)

The wrapper for a 潤餅 a paper thin, wheat-flour based crepe wrapper; it’s not that easy to make these, (see this video here to see a street hawker making the wrappers), so when we do make 潤餅 at home, we opt to just buy premade wrappers in the supermarket. Besides vegetables (typically cabbage, bean sprouts, shittake mushrooms, celery, fresh coriander), your 潤餅 will be filled with some chopped meat (usually a marinated pork mixture), fried shallots for the wonderful aroma and flavor, dried tofu for texture and some sugar and some peanut powder for a little bit of sweetness. The combination of sweet and savory flavors make for some truly delicious eating.

When we buy 潤餅, we get them from 幸福潤餅 (if you were to translate it I think it would be called “Happiness Run Bing”?), a place known amongst the locals as one of the best places to get 潤餅 here in Taichung (apparently, the husband and wife team of 幸福潤餅 sell about 500 潤餅 a day!) What’s great about 幸福潤餅 is that your 潤餅 are made to order; you can specify exactly what you want inside, whether you want sugar or peanut powder, more vegetables or less. Vegan or vegetarian? No problem! They’ll make a animal-product free version for you, no questions asked. You like spice? They’ll throw in some spicy sauce as well. Watching your calories? Ask for lean meat only.

One tip: Since the cabbage used in the filling is boiled, their moisture content causes the paper-thin wrap to get soggy fast. If you’re not going to eat these right then and there; as them to “wring out” the veggies more and tell them to pack it to go; that way you don’t end up with a soggy, falling-apart 潤餅 when you do get a chance to eat it.

One roll will set you back 40NT (about $1.25 USD), or 4 rolls for 150NT (about $4.60 USD). At that price, it’s basically an entire meal for cheap; this is why I love Taiwan; you can eat very well on very little here!

幸福潤餅 is located in the venerable Second Market (第二市場), located near the intersection of Zhongzheng Road (中正路) and Sanmin Road (三民路) in the Central District. If you ever get a chance, go to the Second Market and browse around; there’s multiple stalls that are famous for their small eats (such beef noodle soup, Taiwanese “meatballs” (a sort of glutinous rice flour wrapped meat ball with a sweet and spicy sauce), rice “sausages”, fried turnip cakes, steamed meat buns and the like); you can definitely get an amazing meal for cheap here.

幸福潤餅
營業時間: 09：00 ～ 19：30（每月第二、四個星期日店休）
台中市中區興中街4號
04-22293022

Happiness Run Bing
Hours: 9:00 am ~ 7:30 pm daily (closed every 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month)
No. 4, Xing Zhong St., Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan
04-22293022

Mid-Autumn Festival: Taiwanese Mooncake Survey

Pinjing — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 01:28:16 +0000

We’re in the midst of Mid-Autumn Festival (otherwise known as 中秋節 or Autumn Moon Festival) here in Taiwan; besides Lunar New Year (which occurs between the end of February and the beginning of March of every year), Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the biggest and most important holidays here in Taiwan. It’s a time where families have reunions, celebrate the harvest by eating mooncakes and gazing at the moon, and make offerings of food, fruit and flowers to deceased ancestors. There’s many different stories about the origin of the holiday, but I’ll leave that to others to explain.

Mid-Autumn Festival occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar (October 3rd this year, unusually late). I am fortunate enough to be here in Taiwan this year to celebrate it with my extended family, something that I’ve never gotten to do before. Moreover, I’m all the more excited because I get to witness firsthand how the Taiwanese celebrate the holiday; growing up in the US, opportunities to experience elements of my culture are few and far between. So my dear readers, you can imagine how important this Mid-Autumn Festival is to me this year. My only regret is that my dad and my little sister won’t be here to celebrate it with us as my dad wasn’t able to take time off from work and my sister has started her last year at university. So, Dad and 妹, if you’re reading this, 中秋節快樂 and I miss you!

People here usually celebrate by holding family get-togethers, having barbeques outdoors (while basking in the moonlight) and gifting mooncakes to family and friends. In the weeks leading up to Mid-Autumn Festival, all bakeries in Taiwan push out and market their mooncakes aggressively; the trend in the past few years has been to move away from tradition and towards more innovative mooncakes, such as savory mooncakes (I’ve seen pesto and walnut mooncakes), ice-cream mooncakes (Haagen-Daz sells a package of six) to ones that include more Western flavors (chocolate, earl grey tea, rosewater flavored mooncakes). While I appreciate innovation and change, I find that I still enjoy the traditional mooncakes the best.

An example of a typical Taiwanese mooncake that incorporates both sweet and savory fillings (mung-bean paste with pork and mushrooms)

An inescapable consequence of all the mooncaking is that you will inevitably be gifted with numerous boxes of mooncakes by family and friends; it seems as though every time we meet up with someone, we leave with yet another box of cakes (I think at one time we had 6 boxes of mooncakes sitting in our fridge, keep in mind each box contains at least 6 mooncakes, making that at least 36 cakes for 4 people in our household . . . and typically mooncakes do not contain any preservatives; these are time-sensitive materials, people!). So as of late, mooncakes comprise a large portion of my diet. Keep in mind that these are calorie-dense foods (a 100g portion contains approximately 400-500 calories. I guess you could take it along with you on a run as a Taiwanese-style energy bar . . .)

Not that I’m complaining of course; mooncakes aren’t despised and passed around like fruitcakes during Christmas are; people scarf them without nary a thought to diet and coronary health. But I’m getting side-tracked; let’s talk about mooncakes, yeah?

I’ve decided to do a little survey of all the mooncakes I’ve sampled here; I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos, most of these were taken in the middle of the night in my bedroom (I tend to sneak these as a midnight snack . . .)

First up is a 蛋黃酥 (salted egg yolk mooncake with sweetened red bean paste). Like a cross between the heavier, square Cantonese mooncakes and the lighter Taiwanese mooncakes, this example features a flaky egg-washed crust that characterizes many Taiwanese pastries, but a filling of super-smooth sweetened red bean (azuki) paste.

The sweetness of the red bean paste is tempered by the salty cured egg yolk. As a kid, I hated any pastry with egg yolk, but now I love them. The interplay between the salty and sweet flavors is what makes these mooncakes so delicious.

My uncle (who is a devout Buddhist vegan) sent us these vegan mooncakes; these are made with a shortbread-like cookie crust, with a filling of sweetened bean paste, assorted nuts and sesame seeds, as well as a bit of curried chopped mushrooms.

It seems strange to mix both savory and sweet flavors together in a pastry, but this is commonplace in Taiwan (you’ll find that many of the foods here incorporate both elements of sweet and savory together, it’s a “traditional” quality that is prized by the Taiwanese).

Here’s an example of a super-traditional 綠豆椪 mooncake; these were purchased at Yu Jan Shun (裕珍馨), a famous bakery located in 大甲 (Dajia). These feature a tender, flaky pastry skin that is only achieved by making a croissant-like laminated dough. However, while croissants use butter as a fat source, the fat used in this pastry skin is typically made from lard (if not vegetarian) or shortening (if vegetarian). The ones made with lard are more fragrant as it imparts a nice “porky” essence to the cake. This one didn’t contain any meat, but these mooncakes traditionally include a bit of chopped pork and mushrooms in addition to the sweetened mung-bean paste filling (again, here we see the inclusion of both sweet and savory). You’ll see an example of this later . . .

I especially enjoyed this as the mung-bean filling was super smooth, moist but not oily, having a “sandy” but not gritty texture, giving it a wondrous, silky mouthfeel. It’s hard to describe the qualities that made this mooncake so delicious but I assure you I literally was smiling the entire time I was eating this . . . These were exceptionally made, to say the least.

This mooncake (白豆沙小月餅) was from yet another well-known pastry house, 老雪花齋 (how to translate this? Anyone?), this time located in nearby 豐原 (Fengyuan). This one is similar to the one above except that it features a sweet white-bean filling. Again, beautifully made and smiles all around.

Finally, here’s an example of the traditional savory-sweet mooncake; this one comes from yet another famous pastry shop located locally here in Taichung. Apparently this old pastry shop’s cakes are so popular that people need to queue up at the store to purchase them . . . However, these were quite disappointing; the pastry shell, while flaky, was poorly made. It was a bit too dry (maybe they were skimping on the lard?), therefore making it devoid of that “tenderness” that allows well-made pastry skins to envelop their fillings. Moreover, the bean-paste filling was too sweet and oily, the pork filling was char-siu-like (sweetened meat with sweet-mung bean filling?) All of this added up to a mooncake that didn’t properly balance the savory and sweet. My mom and I took a few bites of this purportedly “famous” mooncake and decided we couldn’t finish it, it was just too disappointing.

I don’t like to leave on a bad note; however, we will inevitably sample more mooncakes in the next few days, so I will try to post some reviews on those as well! I hope you enjoyed learning about Taiwanese-style mooncakes and I wish you a very happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Eating Out: [台中市] 大東屋活鰻料理專門店 (Daito Live Eel Restaurant, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:16:28 +0000

The day after we visited Big Juicy Goose, we decided to visit the restaurant next door: 大東屋活鰻料理專門店 (Daito Live Eel Restaurant). This restaurant, like Big Juicy Goose, specializes in one particular dish. In Daito’s case, it’s signature dish is an 鰻丼 (unagi donburi), a bento of Japanese-style roasted eel (うなぎ), basted in a sticky-sweet soy sauce and placed over a bed of chewy, short grain rice. One reason this restaurant is so popular is that the owner boasts that his eel is fresh; it has never been frozen, unlike the eel you find in most other Chinese or Japanese restaurants. In fact, the eel live in tanks near the back of the restaurant, and are cooked only after you place your order. The owner insists that this the proper and best way to enjoy the freshest unagi donburi. For that reason, one has to plan their arrival at this restaurant; it’s so popular that if you happen to come by around lunch or dinnertime, you’ll probably end up with a waiting time upwards of one hour or more . . .

Luckily, the day we went, we had been at the doctor’s office all morning and arrived way past the lunch rush; within 5 minutes, we were seated and had placed our orders . . .

We ordered some side dishes to accompany our donburis; the first to arrive was young asparagus topped with mayo:

There was an insane amount of mayo! Taiwanese people seem to enjoy their Kewpie-style mayo as much as the Japanese do. The sweet taste of the mayo does pair nicely with the blanched, chilled asparagus but I do admit it was a bit excessive.

I ordered one of my favorite summer dishes, cold silken tofu topped with thick soy sauce and shaved bonito flakes.

Perfect for a hot summer’s day!

We also ordered two skewers of grilled shittake mushrooms:

These were grilled and basted with the same sauce they use on the unagi donburis; we weren’t expecting much, but these mushrooms were fresh, plump and juicy. Too many restaurants try to substitute reconstituted dried shittake mushrooms in lieu of fresh ones (I guess in their defense, it is difficult to find a good source of fresh shittakes; I have yet to find one back home in the states) and many times, the refreshed dried shittakes end up making the dish taste stale.

My grandfather ordered one of his favorite fish: grilled 鮎 (あゆ, ayu). This dish was also exceptional since the ayu was also very fresh and seasoned simply with a dash of salt, allowing for the fish’s natural sweetness to shine through.

The main event: Our donburis! We ordered 3 small-sized donburis (they come in either small or large sizes).

To be honest, when I opened my box I was slightly disappointed as the portion seemed quite small; the eel barely covered half of the rice; furthermore, the bed of rice was probably only 1 centimeter thick. I realize I did order a “small”, but the portion seemed pretty lacking; perhaps I am used to my American super-sized portions?

However, I later realized that the portion was just fine; the eel is so rich that you get full pretty easily. I actually ended up not finishing mine . . .

As for the taste? As expected, the eel was delicious; grilled just to the point where you get those great crispy charbroiled edges, yet the interior was still moist. The sauce was only slightly sweet (I’ve had some unagi donburis were the sauce was so sweet I felt like I was eating dessert), which was perfect. The rice was also fluffy and chewy at the same time, preserving that “QQ” quality that Taiwanese prize so much. (For a good explanation of what “Q” or “QQ” means, see this post at Feast Meets West).

Does the eel live up to the hype? Yes, to some extent. If you’re a hearty eater you might be disappointed with the portions, but that’s easily solvable, just order multiple portions!

大東屋活鰻料理專門店
台中市朝富236號
04-22513447
營業時間: 10：00 ~ 22：00
公休日: 無

Daito Live Eel Restaurant
No. 236, Chao-Fu Road.
Taichung, Taiwan
Tel: 04-22513447
Hours: 10:00 am ~ 10:00 pm
Open 7 days a week

Eating Out: [台中市] 阿秋大肥鵝 (Big Juicy Goose, Taichung, Taiwan)

Pinjing — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:44:24 +0000

If you’re confused by my last two posts (the earlier one saying I was already back in Taiwan, the later one saying that it wasn’t worth $2000 to fly back to Taiwan to buy 杏仁餅); I definitely apologize . . . I am still in Taiwan, the post on black sesame polvoron was actually written prior to my coming back to Taiwan (saved as a draft).

I’m definitely enjoying my long stay here; my grandparents have been so gracious and have taken me to a bunch of restaurants here in Taichung. I’ve taken pains to capture every single meal that I’ve eaten out; my entire extended family is so used to me pulling out my camera that they actually rotate the lazy susan towards me with every new dish served so that I can take a photo first!

As I won’t be cooking much here, there won’t be much in the way of recipe posts; rather, I’ll be posting about all the great food I’ve been eating so far here in Taiwan.

The first week I was back, my grandparents took me to a restaurant near our home called 阿秋大肥鵝, literally “Big Juicy Goose”, a restaurant specializing in Taiwanese 小吃 (literally, “small eats”, can be likened to tapas, or small dishes) and what else, goose:

小吃 always pairs well with a cold glass of beer; they have specials on Taiwan’s ubiquitous Taiwan beer here and upon ordering a bottle (or 4 in my grandpa’s case) you’ll promptly be served by a Taiwan beer girl . . .

The menu here is quite cute; you take a crayon and just check off what dishes you’d like to order and hand it to your server.

First up: the house specialty, “fat goose”, slices of fatty dark goose meat, in a light soy broth, accompanied by pickled daikon and carrots. I don’t really like eating poultry, but I must admit this dish was tasty; the goose was moist, the broth was light and not greasy. If you’re a fan of eating the chicken/duck/goose skin with that thick layer of fat underneath, this dish is for you.

Next up: 南瓜炒米粉 (Pumpkin Stir-fried rice noodles), a typical preparation of rice noodles here in Taiwan. Not bad, but not great either.

Marinated and grilled eel. I always thought of eel as a “winter” type of food as it’s so warming, but apparently it’s also considered a “summer” food here as eel is supposed to have “strengthening” properties which help you get through the insane summer heat here. I liked this dish, the marinade was pleasantly sweet and savory and the eel was nicely grilled (crispy on the edges with a moist interior). I couldn’t eat too much of this though, as it’s quite rich.

Next: Stir-fried bean sprouts topped with deep fried shallots. Light and a good palate cleanser after all the meat. This dish was on the house; most Taiwanese restaurants serve a free vegetable dish if you order enough.

Those who know me well know I have a weird thing about not wanting to eat meat (i.e., the muscular part of the animal) but loving eating all sorts of offal (I’m the best and worst vegan ever). This dish was ordered for me specially; pig intestines with sour pickled vegetables. There’s an inordinate amount of ginger in this dish, but it serves the purpose of taking away any “smelliness” that the pig intestines impart. Personally, I love any kind of “stinky” or “fermented” foods (Taiwanese “stinky tofu” (臭豆腐) and 臭臭鍋 (stinky hot pot, a bubbling pot of sticky rice and pork blood cakes, pig intestine and pickled vegetables) are some of my favorites). Have I grossed anyone out yet?

阿秋大肥鵝
台中市朝富路258路(與龍門路交叉路口)
04-22512966
午餐: 11：00 ~ 14：00
晚餐: 16：30 ~ 01：30
365天全年無休

Big Juicy Goose
At the corner of Chaofu Rd. and Longmen 3rd St.
04-22512966
Lunch: 11：00 ~ 14：00
Dinner: 16：30 ~ 01：30
Open 365 days of the year.