Post 72.2: Taipei - Wrapping Up Two Weeks in Taiwan, Part Two

Wrapping up two weeks of eating in Taiwan is not an easy thing to do.  It seems like every time I have finished deciding on the highlights of the trip, I find more that simply can't be left out.  Here are some more places I frequented while in Taipei.

Big, fat, fluffy pork belly buns:

藍家割包 (Lan Family Guabao)

台北市 中正區 / Taipei City, Jhong Jheng District

羅斯福路 三段 / Roosevelt Road, Section 3

316巷 8弄 3號 / Lane 316, 8th Alley, No. 3

全家便利店隔壁 / Next door to Family Mart

Potstickers grilled to order:

永和佳佳香鍋貼/ Jia Jia Xiang

新北市 永和區  / New Taipei City, Yonghe District

 永和路 一段 114號 / Yonghe Road, Section 1, No. 114

臺灣銀行對面 / Across the street from Bank of Taiwan

AYCE spicy hot pot with unlimited Taiwan Beer:

馬辣頂級麻辣鴛鴦火鍋 (Mala Hot Pot)

台北市 中正區 / Taipei City, Jhong Jheng District

汀州路 三段 86號 / Tingzhou Road, Section 3, No. 86

捷運公館站 4號出口 / MRT: Gongguan Station, exit no. 4

Organic pineapple cakes:

幾分甜烘焙工坊/ How Sweet Bakery

台北市 松山區 / Taipei City, Songshan District

南京東路 五段 80號 / Nanjing East Road, Section 5, No. 80 

Buttery soft cranberry pineapple cakes:

佳德糕餅 / ChiaTe

台北市 松山區 / Taipei City, Songshan District

南京東路 五段 88號 / Nanjing East Road, Section 5, No. 88

Thanks to Christine, Diana, and Duke for suggesting and bringing me to these hot spots.  Thanks also to Anna, Anne, Christine, Diana, Jimmy, Kevin, Nicolas, Rina, Sophia, Tiffany, Yvonne and everyone else for romping around Taipei with me... fun times, indeed.  And extra big thank you to my aunt and my relatives... hope to see you all again soon! Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

ML - 201109XX

Post 63: Taipei - More Szechwan Flavors / 更多川味 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北: 大安區)

Although beef noodle soup is the supposed national dish of Taiwan, it is rumored to have origins in the Szechwan region of China.  Since its creation, beef noodle soup has been altered by the many generations of Taiwanese to what it is today.  However, other Szechwan-branded dishes such as mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐), hot and sour soup (酸辣湯), and dan dan noodles (擔擔麵) have generally remained constant throughout their culinary histories.  There may have been substitutions for different or better quality ingredients and perhaps slight tweaks in flavors to suit regional palates, but for the most part, these famous items are still considered Szechwan dishes.  Chili House Restaurant (四川吳抄手) in Taipei is a great place for a taste of these traditional spicy Szechwan flavors... but it's also a great place for discovering some non-spicy items too.



On my previous visits to the restaurant, I had ordered the usuals: red chili wontons (紅油抄手), super spicy mala noodles (麻辣麵) that numb your tongue, and hot and sour cabbage pork (酸白菜肉絲) wrapped in steamed shaobing pockets (燒餅).  This time, though, I had a sudden craving for fatty pork.  I doubt the Szechwan origins of this dish, especially because the only remotely spicy ingredient in it is minced garlic, but hey, a craving is a craving.  The English translation of this dish is cold white cut pork slices (蒜泥白肉), which doesn't sound appetizing in the least... so let's just use my translation: fatty pork in minced garlic and soy sauce.  Yum!

Hey, that's exactly what it is, anyway.  Lean slices of pork, which are blanched just quick enough to cook the meat, are bordered by thin, wrinkles of fat without a hint of grease.  Before anything else is done to the pork, it's chilled so that the meat becomes stretchy and tender, and the curls of fat on the pork taste almost al dente.  Soy sauce paste, a thickened and more pungent version of soy sauce that is widely used in Taiwanese cooking, is later drizzled over the top of the meat.  And the minced garlic? Already in the soy sauce paste.  No need for rice.  It's like chomping on bacon and not worrying about the eggs.

But I guess you can't really eat at a restaurant that serves Szechwan cuisine without ordering any spicy food at all right? Bring the red chili wontons, please.  In fact, these red chili wontons are exactly what anyone coming to this restaurant should order.  After all, the name of the wonton dish (紅油抄手) is in the name of the restaurant (四川吳抄手). 

The chili wontons come six in an order, and they come sitting in a puddle of soy and chili oil... unmixed.  You can relish in the tossing, mixing, and marinating of the flappy, Chinese ravioli before indulging in these bite-size poppers.  They're mouthfuls of savory, salty, and spicy bliss.  And what's even better is that you put effort into these one-bite wonders, and you know... it always tastes better if you've had a hand in the work.

After devouring half a dozen little fists of cloud-like wontons, I dug my chopsticks into the mound of hot and sour cold noodles (冰鎮酸辣麵).  The noodles were topped off with Chinese celery, chili and chili oil, green onions, sesame, and bean sprouts... a combination of of ingredients that provided notes of sour tang and chilled bursts of crunchy refreshment.  The celery, sesame, and sprouts opened the way to cooling off during the hot and humid Taipei summer afternoon.



A bowl of noodles usually sustains my hunger, but after discovering the refreshing delight from the Chinese celery and bean sprouts, I perused the menu for another vegetable dish.  Typical Szechwan vegetable dishes include dry fried green beans (乾煸四季豆) and fish fragrant garlic eggplant (魚香茄子), but somehow I landed on a tofu dish that contained more seafood than it did veggies.  The treasure chest of seafood (海至尊) came in a shallow dish filled to the brim with kryptonite green peas, cubes of diced sea cucumber, shrimp, clams, squid, and smoked ham submerged in a sauce made from salted egg yolk.

This was the most disturbing looking dish of the meal.  Perhaps the house specialty appetizer, bean sprouts wrapped in tofu skin (芝麻豆皮捲豆芽), was a better choice just based simply on appearance.  But this pool of sulfuric tofu was actually pretty tasty.  Each item of seafood was diced to the size of the tofu, which meant every bite had equal parts of tender tofu and springy seafood.  The salted egg yolk gave the dish a hearty and homemade taste while binding the plethora of ingredients together.  It looked ugly, but it tasted pretty damned good.  Hey, we aren't supposed to judge a book by its cover anyway, right?

One tofu dish led to another tofu dish... except the next tofu dish was a dessert, and it came compliments of the restaurant.  Almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) is typically a simple, homestyle dessert, but I understand why it's offered after a spicy meal.  The soft jello (it's not really tofu) has an almond fragrance with a sweet taste that soothes the tongue better than any other spice retardant... better than iced water or cold milk.  With or without spicy food, the springy, jiggly tofu in disguise was a great way to end any meal. 

Chili House has become a regular stop for me whenever I get a chance to visit Taipei.  Hopefully, everyone finds their own favorite spicy, Szechwan stop.  Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Chili House Restaurant (四川吳抄手)

台北市 大安區/ Taipei City, Da An District

忠孝東路 4段 250之3號 / Zhongxiao East Road, Section 4, No. 250-3

How I get there:

MRT: Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (捷運忠孝敦化站)

exit no. 4; walk east on Zhongxiao East Road

make a right on Lane 248 (248 巷); restaurant is on the left

ML - 20110915

Post 55: Dear Uncle Joe

Dear Uncle Joe,

I was very sad to hear that you passed on this week.  You were always a fighter, a tough guy with both your words, your spirit, and your eating habits... someone who I admired very much.  I did not get a chance to speak to you in your final days, but I just wanted to say thank you for all those times you picked me up from school when I got sick.  Thank you for instantly taking me and Emily to Knott's every time wanted to visit Snoopy.  The one thing I really want to thank you for is teaching me to live life with spontaneity and adventure... to live it up.

The best way that I can remember you is by dedicating this post to you and by sharing some of your favorite foods with everyone.  We all know that you loved spicy food, particularly mala spicy hot pot, so my mom and dad accompanied me to have some mala huoguo (麻辣火鍋) in your honor this past week.  I even upped the spiciness to mid-level spiciness (中辣) just to feel the exhilaration of chili-scented sweat dripping down my face.  We ordered thinly sliced beef and fatty pork, and we kept the vegetables to a minimum... just the way that you would have eaten it.

Today I also got a chance to walk through the world renowned company that produces a condiment that you seemed to have used more often than you drank water.  I'm not allowed to mention the specifics of where I visited, but I'm sure you know that there's only one spicy sauce in a squeeze bottle that absolutely cannot be substituted.  As we were driven on the golf cart past tens of thousands of drums of fire red vegetable, I just kept thinking that you would be amazed... and you'd probably start salivating.  The smell of chili and garlic in the air definitely penetrated the depths of my lungs.  It may even have popped a few avioli here and there.  It is absolutely incredible that I got to see what the founder literally built with his bare hands, from the piping to the walls of the warehouse.  Immediately afterward I passed by the supermarket complex that you designed and constructed, and I thought... you both built things from the ground up, and the two of you would have been good friends.

Oh, and last but not least, I'm going to stop by China Islamic Restaurant to have some Chinese Halal food.  I'm sure you remember 清真馬家館... we used to have family gatherings there all the time.  I could never figure out whether we frequented that restaurant because you liked the food there or because the restaurant and your family shared a common name (馬).  Regardless, I'm going to chomp down on their beef noodles and the giant sesame flatbread (芝麻大餅) for old time's sake.

Here's to you, Uncle Joe.  Thank you for everything that you've taught and instilled in me.  Thank you for spreading your love of spicy food to all of us.  Seeing someone overflowing chili sauce in their bowl of pho will definitely remind me of you.  And of course, I'll continue to live my life with spontaneity and adventure.

Your nephew,

Michael

ML - 20110702