Ice Cream in Winter: Peppermint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Busy busy busy! Sister is home and family and friends are visiting, half of the family is sick with the flu and cough (first it was my mom and me during Thanksgiving, now it’s my Dad and my sister’s turn), so between the coughs and the visits I’ve hardly had time to cook or bake. I have been browsing all the fabulous holiday creations my fellow bloggers have been putting out and I want to try to make them all!

Cooking at Home: Peppermint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

However, I did manage to have enough time to put this delicious ice cream together. I had bought a pack of MimicCreme vegan cream substitute and was itching to try it out and figured an ice cream was the best way to put it to the test. I was so happy after the freezing process that my ice cream was scoopable and creamy straight from the freezer (though putting in 3 tablespoons of vodka couldn’t hurt, I guess). For me, that is vegan ice cream success. This recipe is a Philadelphia-style ice cream (which means it doesn’t use egg yolks), so it doesn’t require cooking and comes together really quickly if you have all your ingredients chilled at the time you’re ready to make the base. If you’re not lactose intolerant or vegan, feel free to substitute heavy cream for the MimicCreme in this recipe and for more lusciousness, you can convert it to a custard-based ice cream (you probably can omit the vodka if you do this), but keep in mind that would require you to cook the ice cream base first.

Cooking at Home: Peppermint Cookies and Cream Ice Cream

Peppermint Cookies and Ice Cream
Makes approximately 1 quart
What you’ll need:

  • 2 cups unsweetened plain MimicCreme vegan cream substitute (or, 1 16oz. aseptic package)
  • 50g sugar (or more, to taste. I prefer my ice creams on the less-sweet side)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons vodka
  • 3 tablespoons corn syrup
  • 6 peppermint oreo cookies (I used Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe-Joes, which are delicious by themselves), crushed
The procedure:

Using a blender, blend the MimicCreme, sugar, vanilla, extract, salt and vodka until smooth. Chill the base thoroughly, at least 4 hours or overnight, preferably.

Churn the ice cream base according to your ice cream maker manufacturer’s directions. During the last minute of churning, add the crushed peppermint oreo cookies.

Pour into container and freeze thoroughly. Scoop and enjoy.

Whatever you celebrate, I hope you have a relaxing holiday season and a happy new year!

fromDessert, Frozen Desserts, Recipe, Vegan
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Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

Baking at Home: Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

It’s been too long since I’ve posted a recipe! Autumn is already in full swing and winter’s on it’s way and I have yet to write about something I’ve made. One thing I love most about autumn is all the great winter squash that arrives in the markets. I’ve had great fun just trying all the different varieties (this year, I’ve had delicata, red kuri, spaghetti, and buttercup in addition to my favorite, kabocha). What better way to enjoy autumnal squash than making some sweetened squash bao? These buns are made with half whole wheat flour, giving the bread a sweet, nutty flavor that pairs nicely with the sweet squash puree inside. Enjoy these for breakfast or for an afternoon tea snack!

Baking at Home: Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

For the filling:

  • 1/2 red kuri squash (or your winter squash of choice), ~500g after seeded *see notes about post-steaming yield
  • 100g raw sugar
  • 1/4t salt

For the dough

  • 60g whole wheat flour
  • 65g all-purpose or bread flour
  • 3g instant yeast
  • 1/4t kosher salt
  • 2t agave nectar (or honey or maple syrup or your liquid sweetener of choice)
  • 2t vegetable oil
  • 60g water
Making the filling:

Steam kuri squash until flesh yields easily when poked with a fork. Let cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh and roughly mash (no need to make it very smooth, you’ll be working the flesh during the sweetening phase).

In a medium saucepan, combine the kuri squash flesh, raw sugar and salt, and over medium heat, stir until sugar is dissolved. Keep cooking the sweetened squash puree (this process helps to dry out the paste, you don’t want soupy squash as a filling for the buns) until it stops looking shiny and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Turn off the heat and let cool completely.

For the bao dough:

Whisk together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, yeast, and salt. Add the agave nectar and vegetable oil and water, stir to combine until you get a rough dough.

Turn dough out onto counter and knead until you have a smooth, supple dough. I didn’t use my stand mixer as the amount of dough was small (and sometimes you just want to experience the pleasure of working with bread dough!). Knead until it passes the windowpane test, with a 5 minute rest halfway to allow the dough hydrate and the gluten to relax slightly.

Place in a medium, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and proof until doubled in size. In my cold house, it took about 1.5 hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto the counter and give it a few kneading strokes, and let it rest for 5 minutes for the gluten to relax. Divide the dough into 5 pieces.

Divide the filling into 5 mounds in preparation for stuffing the bao.

Flatten each piece, and using a small rolling pin, roll out into a 5″ diameter circle, taking care to make the edges thinner than the center (so that when you gather the dough around the filling you don’t end up with a super thick bottom and a super thin top). Place 1 mound of sweetened squash filling in the center and draw up the edges of the dough around the filling; pinching the dough at the top to seal.

Place seam side down on baking sheet, and cover with a kitchen towel while you complete the rest of the bao. After filling all 5 bao, let proof for 20 minutes.

I mixed together a simple slurry of almond milk, cornstarch and a pinch of sugar for a matte-style wash. If you desire a shiny-type of wash, simply beat one egg with some water. Brush the tops of the proofed bao with your wash of choice and sprinkle with some sesame seeds for garnish.

Bake bao for 25 minutes (if they start to brown too fast, you can tent with a piece of foil to avoid overbrowning).

Baking at Home: Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

Let cool completely on racks for at least 8 hours (this allows the dough to finish cooking completely, if you were to eat them right away, you might find the dough directly underneath the filling to be slightly raw. After 8 hours, the dough will have finished cooking and the flavor will be better. This is generally true of most breads.)

Enjoy! My favorite way to eat these is to reheat them for 20 seconds in the microwave, then pop into the toaster for a little bit to get them slightly toasty on the outside. The outside becomes slightly crispy and the inside bread stays light and fluffy. Delicious!

Baking at Home: Autumnal Sweet Squash Bao

Cooking Notes:

  • I know that squash comes in various shapes and sizes, and my kuri squash, after halving and deseeded, was about 500g. After steaming and making it into sweetened puree, the yield was about 250g. Basically, you’re aiming for about 50g of sweetened filling per bao. If your squash is abnormally large or small, you can scale up/down the dough component. Or you can just eat the extra filling as is, it’s delicious that way too!
  • Any type of squash, pumpkin, sweet potato/yam or even beans can be sweetened in this way; it’s really a universal technique that you can apply to many vegetables/legumes to make sweetened paste for bun/bao fillings, dumplings, etc.
  • This dough is pretty versatile, besides using it as a baked bao dough, this dough makes steamed bao quite nicely too. Give it a try!
fromBread, Buns/Bao, Chinese, Cuisines, Recipe, Taiwanese, Vegan, Vegetables, Yeasted Breads
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Oh Happy Day

Sorry no review or recipe today, but I just had to post this: I met Chef Thomas Keller!

316/365: I met Chef Thomas Keller!

Read all about it here.

fromJust Words

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

fromCuisines, Photo Post, Reviews, Taiwan, Taiwanese

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

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

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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)

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)
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!).

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fromCuisines, Photo Post, Reviews, Taiwan, Taiwanese

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Pinjing Eats Fast Food: Mister Donut

Fast Food: [台中市] Mister Donut (一中街 location, Taichung, Taiwan)
Sigh. Let’s talk, Mister Donut. I want to like you, I really do, but every time I’ve tried one of your cutesy bubbly donuts, I am inevitably disappointed. There are two camps of donut lovers, those who like the fluffy raised donuts and those who like cake donuts. You see, I’m a cake donut girl, through and through; I don’t like my donuts to be light and fluffy. Donuts should be sugary, have a tight and moist crumb, be heavy and hit my stomach like a greasy brick. Give me an old fashioned buttermilk over a Krispy Kreme glazed anyday. If I wanted diet food, I would have ordered a salad.

But Mister Donut, your donuts are neither my beloved cake donuts nor are they the fluffy, yeasted donuts that others like. They’re a chewy, bread-like “QQ” alien hybrid that was tailored to suit the Taiwanese palate. If there is food texture that I dislike more than anything, it’s that “QQ”-ness that my fellow Taiwanese love so much (I’m such an anomaly; someone must have forgotten the “must love anything ‘QQ’ gene when they were putting me together . . .).

Fast Food: [台中市] Mister Donut (一中街 location, Taichung, Taiwan)
But somehow, I keep buying your donuts. Why? Is it because they’re so damn cute? Note to self: stop buying things because they’re cute. Because usually it’s all a deception.

Fast Food: [台中市] Mister Donut (一中街 location, Taichung, Taiwan)
Let me recount a recent trip to Mister Donut (my fourth). See this box of mini donuts? Cute, right? Straight out of the box, they are perfectly round and the frosting is evenly applied; they’re so perfect they look fake!

Fast Food: [台中市] Mister Donut (一中街 location, Taichung, Taiwan)
I hate to disappoint but these weren’t great; too chewy and the frosting’s flavor was quite artificial and waxy. If I wanted bread, I would have bought bread. But I’m not saying they’re bad per se, they just don’t suit my personal taste. If you just happen to like things like mochi, gummies, and anything with that “QQ” texture, then you might like Mr. Donut. But not me.

Mister Donut
Purchased at 一中街 location
台中市北區三民路三段110之1號
04-2225-4883
Locations all over Asia (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines, China, Thailand).

Edit: Apparently they do have “cake” donuts, according to their website. Should I go back and try them? Argh! Why do I keep wanting to go back despite being disappointed every single time?

fromChains, Dessert, Reviews

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

Eating Out: [台中市] 何記東勢李炒手 (Taichung, Taiwan)
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.

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fromPhoto Post, Reviews, Taiwan

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Yearning For Autumn: A Simple Apple Galette

Baking At Home: A Simple Apple Galette
Oh, autumn, how I love thee. Despite having the time of my life and eating wonderfully here in Taiwan, I totally missed that glorious transition from summer into fall. Apparently in Taiwan, it’s a hot, humid summer all year round (ok, I have been informed by my relatives that it does get cold sometimes during December . . . maybe). Maybe it’s a sign that I’ve spent enough time here, but my heart is aching for that chilly, smoky breeze that signals the changing of the seasons back home. My sister and I used to always say that we could “smell” autumn coming for this very reason . . .

So, as of late, I’ve had conflicting emotions; I love it here in Taiwan and would love to spend another month here (there’s still so many things I want to do) but something in my heart keeps telling me to rush back home, to stand on more familiar ground, to be reunited with my dad and my sister, to cook in my own kitchen again and to eagerly anticipate what are easily my three favorite holidays of the entire year: Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Readers, please humor me as I live autumn vicariously through this simple apple tart that I baked two autumns ago; to me, this galette is the epitome of everything autumn: delicately spiced apples, comforting buttery pastry, and a return to baking.

Baking At Home: A Simple Apple Galette

Simple Apple Galette
What you’ll need:

For the dough:
  • 1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons (3 oz., or 84 g) unsalted butter, frozen, cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

For the filling:

  • 2 pounds apples (I used one Fuji, one Braeburn), peeled, cored and sliced (save the peels and cores)
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

For the glaze:

  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
The procedure:
Make the dough first: sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the frozen butter cubes with your preferred method of choice; I used a pastry blender, then my fingertips (though a food processor or two knives would work just as well). Make sure that you do this rather quickly, you want to keep the butter as cold as possible to insure a light, flaky pastry dough. No need to blitz the heck out of the butter; just cut it in until the biggest pieces are about the size of large peas.

Add the chilled water one tablespoon at a time, stirring with your other hand, just until the dough just holds together (you might not need all the water, depending on your flour and the humidity of your kitchen). Dump the dough out on a mat and pat into a circle about 1.5″ inches thick. Double-wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days).

After the chilling period, take the dough out and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes; this allows the dough to soften slightly so that when you roll it out, it doesn’t break into a million pieces on you (trust me this has happened to me and it’s not fun nor pretty). Roll out the dough on a lightly floured mat into a 14″ circle, about 1/8″ thick. Using a pastry brush, dust off the excess flour. Carefully transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C).

To fill the tart, overlap the sliced apples on top of the dough in a ring 2 inches from the edge and continue towards the center. To complete the tart, fold over the edges of the dough. It doesn’t have to look perfect, the beauty of a galette lies in its rusticity.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the dough edge and 2 tablespoons of sugar over the apples. Use more or less sugar to your preference.

Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake the galette for 45 minutes, or until the apples are soft and have slightly browned edges. Try to rotate the tart every 15 minutes to ensure even browning of the crust.

While the tart is baking, you can work on the glaze; place the reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan with the sugar. Pour enough water into the saucepan just so it barely covers the peels and sugar and simmer for 25 minutes. Strain the apple-infused syrup through cheesecloth and set aside. Your kitchen will smell amazing at this point.

When the tart is done baking, remove from the oven and slide it (parchment and all) off the baking sheet and onto a cooling rack. Let it cool for at least 20 minutes before brushing glaze over the tart.

Slice and serve immediately, alone or alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you’re feeling decadent.

Baking At Home: A Simple Apple Galette
Not only is this fall-inspired tart delicious, it’s super easy to make; make it for your next party or gathering and everyone will be in awe of your baking prowess.

fromDessert, Fruit, Pastry, Recipe, Sweet Pastry
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Street Food: [台中市] 幸福潤餅 (Happiness Run Bing, Taichung, Taiwan)

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

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

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

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

fromCuisines, Photo Post, Reviews, Taiwan, Taiwanese

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