Taiwan Day 11: Undeniably Taiwanese Snacks / 一眼看出就是台灣小吃 (Taipei: Wanhua District / 台北市: 萬華區)

One of the best things about Taiwanese cuisine is that there is a vast variety of little snacks or small eats (小吃 / Mandarin: xiǎo chi).  The Taiwanese thrive on these small eats primarily because they are convenient and affordable.  Not only do they get served up quickly, they come in individual servings most of the time.  It is easy to grab and eat in a hurry.  Even if you are in a large group, each person can still eat what they want without having to collectively decide on what to order.  Oh, and these xiaochi can be found on just about every street corner and alleyway.  Art and I were at Ximending (西門町) when a pang of hunger overcame us, so we stopped to have some of our favorite Taiwanese snacks.

The first thing that comes to mind when I need to satisfy my hunger quickly is braised pork rice (滷肉飯 / Mandarin: lǔ ròu fàn / Taiwanese: loh bah bng), also known as stewed pork rice or minced pork rice depending on how it is prepared.  Ground pork, usually stewed with shiitake mushroom and crispy fried shallots, covers a bowl of steamed white rice and gets garnished with a florescent pickled radish.  It is simple bowl of savory satisfaction that cannot be beat.

Arguably the most famous of Taiwanese street foods is the oyster omelette (蚵仔煎 / Taiwanese: ô-ah jian), more commonly known as oyster pancake in English.  It really is an omelette since it is made predominantly of scrambled eggs and because there is no bread like portion to make it a pancake.  Fresh oysters and green veggies are scattered throughout the crisp egg round, and sweet potato starch holds it all together while providing a very glutinous and chewy 'Q' texture.  Sweet chili sauce, a typical condiment used in Taiwanese cooking, is spread across the top.  There is no name for this in Mandarin because this is a truly local item that has been made since the days of Formosa.  The chef can whip this petite and protein packed pancake for you in no time.  I love it.

Neither fried chicken nor food on a stick is Taiwanese in nature, but it is something that is crazy popular on the streets of Taipei.  Whether it is little bite sized pieces of salt and pepper seasoned popcorn chicken or the giant, pounded, deep fried chicken filet from Shilin Night Market, fried chicken must be eaten.  It is just so crispy.  No matter what time of day your hunger pangs develop, the deep fried chicken makes it seem like happy hour.  All that is missing is beer.

These traditional Taiwanese snacks were delicious and held us over until dinner.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Ximending Pedestrian Area (西門町)
台北市萬華區漢中街
Hanzhong Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City
MRT: Ximen Station, exit no. 6 / 捷運西門站, 6號出口

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173. Taiwan Day 6: Fast Food from Formosa Chang / 快吃鬍鬚張快餐 (New Taipei: Yonghe District / 新北市: 永和區)

If you need a quick bite during lunch, Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張) is the place to go.  When I was a study abroad student in Taiwan, I frequently dropped into one of the many locations in Taipei for a speedy and affordable meal before heading to class.  A bowl of stewed pork rice, a side of vegetables, and an order of soup set me back about 145 NTD (less than 5 USD).  And I was always able to sit, order, eat, and pay in under half an hour... with time left to grab an ice cream bar from the 7-Eleven down the street.  On the sixth day of my trip to Taiwan, Diana and I dropped by Formosa Chang for some a fast lunch.  We were on the way to teach her class how to play some American party games (think Uno and Big Booty), and Diana planned to bring them ice cream from 7-Eleven for being hard working students.  It looks like we have a recurring theme here...

Our meal centered around the stewed pork rice (滷肉飯), a sweet and savory saucy mess of fatty minced pork poured over steamed white rice and served with pickled ginger.  Two small bowls, petite enough to hold in the palm of your hand... one for me, one for Diana.  The bowls also come to medium and large sizes for the famished.

Eating with Diana means that ordering a plate of vegetables is inevitable.  Luckily for me, I have no problem with veggies.  Today we ordered both the bamboo and a local Taiwanese vegetable known as A-tsai, which has a texture that is a hybrid of spinach and lettuce.  Although it has been blanched, it still retains a crunchiness and an inherent greenness that makes it seem like sort of a salad rather than a completely cooked dish... aside from the savory minced meat sauce that accompanies it, of course.

We also ordered soup too, but oh, would you look at that! Time flies when you're eating good food.  We needed to run, almost literally, to buy ice cream bars for two dozen already overly energetic Taiwanese elementary school children.  Gotta run! Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張)
新北市永和區永和路一段108之1號
No. 108-1, Yonghe Rd., Section 1, Yonghe District, New Taipei City
multiple locations in Greater Taipei and northern Taiwan

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Post 103: Year in Review - 2012

2012 was a year full of memories, discoveries, adventures, lessons learned, and experiences that will be carried on with me for forever.  It was a tremendous year for food and travel.  I returned to the Big Apple twice and the Windy City twice.  There were also countless trips to San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas.

It was the first time in ten years that I did not do any international travel.  Not Taiwan, not Canada, not even Mexico.  But I did visit some great American cities for the first time... Niagara Falls and Downtown Buffalo (NY), Washington (DC), and Portland (OR), all of which have awesome food and require more visits in the near future.

Thank you to all those that traveled with me in 2012.  Since I did not get to visit Taiwan this year, a special thank you goes out to all those that brought my favorite pineapple cakes from Sunny Hills and Chia Te back from Taiwan for me.  Bonus brownie points for you.

2012 was the year that saw the demise of foie gras in California.  I never thought the ban would go through, but alas, all good things must come to an end.  I will admit I did panic just a little bit, which resulted in an eight course gorge on the fatty goose liver.  Never. doing. that. again. ever.

It was the same year that I had uncontrollable cravings for fried chicken, pork belly, bacon.  It did not matter how it was prepared, which restaurant made it, or whether I made it at home... I just could not get enough of those three things.  Some of the most satisfying fried chicken came in a brown paper box from Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken in Culver City.

It was also the year that I found myself searching for contemporary American fare... restaurants that used farm-to-table, local, sustainable ingredients... and celebrity chef dining.  Yes, Anthony Bourdain, David Chang, Gordon Ramsay, Rick Bayless, Stefan Richter, and Thomas Keller... gentlemen, you did well.  Sir, did you drop that? Let me help you pick up all those names you dropped just now.  Ha.  I also found myself returning to my favorite Michelin starred restaurants on the two coasts: Providence in LA and Jean-Georges in NY.  The most unforgettable was most definitely Dave Chang's $200 succulent pork shoulder at Momofuku Ssam Bar.  What a beast.  My friends and family absolutely annihilated Miss Piggy.  No kidding.

For me, 2012 was all about carpaccio, ceviche, crudo, and charcuterie.  Quartino in Chicago served up an awesome duck proscuitto, and Olympic Provisions in Portland had the best quality and selection overall.  But the charcuterie from Bow & Truss in North Hollywood was tops.  It was fun and whimsical and brought delight throughout the entire meal.  These meals confirmed for me that the age old tradition of curing and salting a quality, fresh cut of meat is the way to go.

There were so many food and travel adventures in 2012 that I did not have enough time to blog about all of them.  Some of the year's best culinary discoveries and most memorable meals were simply unblogged.  For example, at the beginning of the year my eyes were opened to khanom bueang, also known as Thai tacos, on a Six Taste food tour of Thai Town in Hollywood.  They were found in the back corner of Silom Supermarket. The crisp, little crepe-like wafers of skin curl around a layer of coconut cream.  They are then topped with salted coconut or sweet shavings of egg yolk.  Thanks to Lalita and Wanda for taking us on tour.  These little things were irresistible.

Later in the year I was introduced to Vietnamese bun bo hue, a homey beef noodle soup that comes from Central Vietnam.  Instead of rice noodles (pho), bun bo hue uses actual noodle noodles (if that makes any sense), and it is drowned in a beef broth with thicker cuts of beef, beef tendon, pigs feet, and pork blood.  Right before diving into the bowl of noodles, cabbage, banana peel, soy bean sprouts, mint, and a fermented chili paste are added.  Whether I had it for the first time at Bun Bo Hue An Nam in San Jose or at Nha Trang in San Gabriel (twice also), my face dripped with sweat.  Thanks Vickee and Connie for taking me.  Every time was exhilarating.  Really.  If you sweat like me, Nha Trang is probably a more comfortable space for you to indulge in this big bowl of noodle soup.

Some of the best meals, such as the multi-course one I shared with Ken and Tiffany from The Royce at The Langham in Pasadena, were not mentioned a single time on S.O.F.A.T. Blog.  Too much food, too little time to write.

With all these delicious meals and adventures during 2012, I reconfirmed three things that I may have already known.

No. 1.  Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day.  Huckleberry in Santa Monica has some great breakfast selections.  I love that they can make healthy breakfast dishes without sacrificing taste.  The poached eggs with fresh vegetables and pesto are a personal favorite.

No. 2.  I love Taiwanese food, and Taiwanese people make some damned good Taiwanese food.  Was that enough Taiwanese in one sentence for ya? A bowl of braised pork over rice from Why Thirsty (滷肉飯 or lu rou fan in Mandarin) is Taiwanese simplicity at its best.

No. 3.  Nothing can beat home cooking.  Whether it's mom's beef noodle soup, dad's stir-fried udon or my own pasta dishes, the food that comes from a familiar kitchen is the best.  Familial comforts, parental love, and childhood nostalgia are ingredients that no restaurant has in its pantry.

That is it for this 2012 post.  There are still some food and travel posts that will just have to wait to be blogged.  I just realized I have never posted about any of the delicious food I had in Portland or any of the food in the last five trips to New York.  Insane.  But until the next post, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML

Post 66: Taipei - Braised Pork Rice

Braised pork rice (Taiwanese: loh bbah bun, Mandarin: lu rou fan / 滷肉飯 or 魯肉飯), also known as stewed pork rice, is a truly marvelous Taiwanese dish.  There's nothing like it.  Chicken and rice may come close, but fatty pork over rice simply can't be beat.  Beef may have some beautiful marbling, but only pork has that half protein, half fat, yin and yang balance that is the perfect complement for a bed of fluffy white rice.  In this sense, pork is quite unique because its fat carries such heavy importance.  And it's this sultry fattiness on the outskirts of the pork belly that makes a wonderful bowl of braised pork rice.  Just think about a tender cut of pork that's stewed in its own rendered, juicy lipidity along with seasonings such as soy sauce, garlic and brown sugar.  One bite of this beautifully braised pork over a bed of steamed rice tastes absolutely sinful.

Any trip to Taiwan requires multiple outings for braised pork rice.  Whether it's from a street vendor, a chain store like Formosa Chang, or a traditional Taiwanese restaurant like Sit Fun, the outings must be made.  And since I went on a trip to Taiwan, it meant that I went out for braised pork rice... multiple times.  I embarked on a trifecta of trips to obtain different versions of this precious braised pork rice... and I found a tantalizing bowl with shreds of bamboo shoots interlaced with pork from a sidewalk stall in Jioufen (九份), another bowl served with pickled ginger from Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張), and a final heart-stopping bowl with extra pork gravy from Sit Fun (喫飯食堂).  Mmm....

Although it's called braised pork rice, the pork is really stewed.  The braising portion of searing the meat and simmering in merely its own juices occurs never really happens.  There are actually three main ingredients which get tossed into the simmering stew... swine, soy, and sugar.  If you ever uncap the pot of swine, soy, and sugar while the pork is cooking, you'd see that the fat still hugs the pork and has barely melted away.  You might even wonder if the fat is soluble at all.  In actuality, little bits of fat from the rims of the pork have dissipated into the sweet soy sauce, and they get reunited with the meat when it gets soaked up within the sinews of protein.  Circle of life, much?

It is rare to find a bowl of braised pork rice in the States with the same essence as one from the motherland.  I recently had a bowl that seemed to come close, but perhaps it was because hunger took over me, or perhaps it was because the waitstaff suggested the loh bbah bun to me in the native Taiwanese tongue.  Whatever the reason, the braised pork rice that I held in my hands was tops at the time.  No bowl of chicken or beef donburi could knock the pig from its place at the top of the throne.  Until I find one that beats it, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

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Post 65.2: Taipei - Traditional Taiwanese, Part 2 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

Like black white slice restaurants, the restaurants that serve the most traditional local fare in Taiwan typically don't have menus.  The freshest ingredients are laid out by the front entrance in a refrigerator case or over ice, so when the customers arrive they are able to view the meat and seafood selection for the day.  Ordering is done by selecting what looks the freshest and then letting the chef know how it should be cooked... deep fried, stir fried, blanched, boiled, steamed, or made into soup are popular choices.  After ordering, customers walk in and sit down.

One of my first meals in Taipei was at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant called Sit Fun (喫飯食堂).  Now... there's something to be said here about a restaurant called Sit Fun in Taiwan.  What doesn't make sense is that "sit fun" sounds like a translation for eating (食飯) in Cantonese, which is not typically spoken in Taiwan.  What does make sense, though, is that to sit down and to have fun is what eating is all about! Am I right, or am I right? 

Here are some Taiwanese dishes from Sit Fun that we had.  They are cooked in the simple style of traditional Taiwanese cuisine.

Braised pork rice (魯肉飯)
Cubes of fatty pork are braised and rendered down until the juicy fat almost melts in your mouth.  Topped over steamed white rice, this bowl of pork and rice is as simple and as tasty as it gets.  Although it's one of the best rice items at Sit Fun, what this restaurant specializes in isn't braised pork over rice but actually just pork oil over rice (豬油拌飯).  Lard, you say? Let's just call it pork-infused oil.  Two words... disgustingly delicious.

Appetizer platter (拼盤)
Usually the first dish to arrive, the Taiwanese appetizer platter almost always includes the following items: fresh sashimi, tender bamboo shoots, and crisp asparagus.  The sashimi for on this plate consisted of salmon, yellowtail, and whitefish... but why sashimi? Doesn't that seem more Japanese than Taiwanese or Chinese? Actually Taiwan was colonized under Japanese imperial rule for over 60 years, so it can be said that the sashimi at the start of the meal represents the large Japanese influence in Taiwanese cultural and culinary history.

Bamboo and asparagus are typical favorites for Taiwanese.  And as always, those two items have a light layer of Japanese style mayonnaise for a sweet contrast.  Also served on the platter are freshly cut pumpkin as well as baby octopus, both of which are the fresh picks of the day.

To truly make this a pu pu platter experience, the appetizer dish is served with toothpicks.  It's the closest to finger food that we're going to get without going barbaric.

Salt water chicken (鹽水雞)
No, the chicken was not raised in salt water with the fish of the ocean.  Rather, it was poached in salt water and served with a side of garlic soy.  Salty much? Not so.  The majority of the salt doesn't get far past the skin, but the portion that does bypass the skin serves to tenderize the chicken while it's cooking.  The method of cooking is so effortless that it seems almost primitive, but the true sign of tradition and authenticity.

Tempura shrimp (炸蝦球)
Who doesn't love fried shrimp? Silence.  Okay, who doesn't love spicy mayo? Continued silence.  Now... who doesn't love fried shrimp with spicy mayo drizzled all over the top? Cheers.  I think you get the picture.

Barbecue pork (台式叉燒肉)

What we typically know as Cantonese style BBQ pork is chasiu pork, that crimson colored sweet pork perhaps akin to the Mexican al pastor.  Well, here lands the Taiwanese version... a less red, less sweet, more moist and more thinly sliced version that is served with both pickled ginger and honey vinegar.  It's tastes like a moist jerky made from honey ham, and it's moist enough to be the most tender sweet and savory meat you will find this side of the Strait.

All of the dishes above have common characteristic of an easily identifiable main ingredient and an accompanying side sauce, both of which are features of traditional Taiwanese dishes.  After reading the previous post, you'll notice similar characteristics.  These simple dishes made from fresh ingredients is one of the ways to distinguish Taiwanese cuisine from others.  And it's this simplicity that makes the dishes so delicious.  Until the next simple and delicious meal, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Sit Fun (喫飯食堂)

台北市 大安區 / Taipei City, Da An District

永康街 8巷 5號 / Yong Kang Street, Lane 8, No. 5

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Post 32.1: Text Messages to Yoo

If your last name happens to be Yoo, Kim, or Choi, it's pretty often that you will get an unexpected text message (or perhaps it's expected by now) from me that may read something like this:

i was just thinkin bout haemul
pajeon and i swear there's a
drop of drool on my shirt..

or...

OMG im craving HAEMUL PA
JEON right now.. GAHHHHHH..
bring me some PAJEON!

or perhaps...

OMG OMG OMG HAEMUL
PAJEON!!!!! haemuuuull pa
jeeeeooonnn + kimchiiiii... i
need it NOW please, like 
NOWWW... dies.

Last night Mr. Yoo helped me realized how utterly ridiculous it is for me to start texting anyone who is Korean in my phonebook everytime I get a craving for anything remotely Korean.  It'd be like someone texting me about Taiwanese or Chinese food items just because that person was craving it at that specific moment.  Those potential text messages may read something like this:

i cant sleep at night thinking
about taiwanese oyster pan
cake.. im dying thinking about
uh ah jzen.. oyster pancake
oyster pancake OYSTER PAN
CAAAAKE.

or...

i want some XIAOLONGBAO
right now! ohhhHhhHhHHhhhh...
DTF dumplings how i luuuuvvv
uuuuu

or perhaps...

BRAISED PORK RICE CAN
WE PLZZZZ get some lu rou
fan RIGHT NOWWWWW!!!
nom nom nom nom

Yeah, extreme ridiculousness.  And if you're ever on the receiving end of those text messages (apologies to all surnamed Yoo, Kim, and Choi in my phonebook), that's pure randomness right there.

So thank you for that revelation, Mr. Yoo.  I may stop myself from sending those texts out when I can't sleep at night... dreaming about haemul pajeon... but in honor of the possible termination of random text messages, I will dedicate a post to (no, not haemul pajeon because I've done that already) my newfound love... kalbi jjim.

See next post.

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