176. Taiwan Day 7: Tokyo Style Italian at Bellini Pasta Pasta / 日式義大利餐在 Bellini (Taipei: Da An District / 台北市: 大安區)

One of my favorite things about eating in Asia is the availability of fusion food.  The abundance of fusion fare comes not because the culinary world actually works to blend different cuisines but because it is almost inherently in their nature to do so.  The Japanese and Taiwanese especially have an affinity for Western cooking but use local ingredients to mimic dishes from their own culture.  These such blends are apparent in the dishes at Bellini Pasta Pasta, one of my favorite Asian inspired European restaurants, and I make a visit each time I visit Taipei. 

From spaghetti with shrimp tempura to sauce using squid ink or yuzu and mentaiko, there is a plethora of choices when it comes to Japanese-Italian fusion pasta.  One of my favorites is the spaghetti with shrimps & mushrooms in basil pesto sauce (羅勒青醬鮮蝦蘑菇起司麵).  At first glance it does not quite seem Japanese or Asian at all, but it does not appear to be authentic Italian either.  The creaminess of the pesto sauce, the use of full basil leaves, and the length wise cuts of the mushrooms create the Asian essence that the pasta exudes.  I love that toasted pine nuts and red chili flakes have been tossed in with the noodles already, and the sauce has a lightness that distinguishes it from other heavy cream sauces.

Since Japan and Taiwan are island nations, there is a heavy use of seafood in their traditional dishes.  This is reflected even in the fusion cuisine that they produce.  The pizza that we ordered, a mentaiko with calamari & tuna (和風明太子鮪魚中卷比起司薩), is another favorite.  The thin crust is toasty and crisp, and the cheese is light and does not take over the pizza.  The best part, though, is that nori is tossed over the top of the pizza right before serving.  With the tuna and nori combined, all that is missing is a bit of rice to make a sushi roll.  Yum!

We also ordered the Caesar salad, a beef carpaccio, oven baked clams & mussels, soup and desserts.  It's tough to contain myself here because all the dishes are made so well.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Bellini Pasta Pasta
台北市大安區忠孝東路四段98號4樓
No. 98, Zhongxiao East Rd., Section 4, Da An District, Taipei City
Bistro 98 Building, 4th floor
MRT: Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, exit no. 3 / 捷運忠孝復興站, 3號出口

ML - 20130706

175. Taiwan Day 7: The Warmth of A Taiwanese Breakfast / 台式早餐的溫暖 (New Taipei: Yonghe District / 新北市: 永和區)

Despite late night drinking and embarrassing events that need not be mentioned, early morning breakfast in Taiwan cannot be missed.  Bacon, hash browns and coffee are not quite the staple here, but a Taiwanese breakfast still offers a blend of protein, carbohydrates and a soothing beverage that warms the soul and prepares anyone for the daily grind.  Diana and I stopped by World Soy Milk King (世界豆漿大王) to get our traditional soy milk breakfast before starting our day.

There are plenty of choices when it comes to Taiwanese breakfast, and many choose a rolled rice burrito called fantuan to much on for their morning meal.  Diana and I, however, like something a little less filling.  We prefer a folded flatbread topped with sesame called shaobing.  Some like to add the crispy Chinese cruller known as youtiao between the folds of the bread, but we decided to sandwich our sesame shaobing with a savory omelette style egg instead.  The toasty exterior tickles my toes... and the egg inside of it could become preferred substitute for the blaring alarm clock.

We also ordered a duo of steamed buns called baozi, a pork and vegetable one for me and a vegetarian version for Diana.

There's nothing quite like prying open a fluffy, pillowy, white round of steamed bread to find a packed ball of savory pork product in the middle.  Ahhh... this is the moment that really warms your soul.

I love to have eggs in the morning.  My American upbringing almost requires it.  In Taiwan, eggs are not often scrambled the way they are back home, they are somewhat folded, similar to how we would have eggs over easy... but not quite.  Rather than dousing scrambled eggs with ketchup or Tabasco, soy sauce is often drizzled over the top instead, and it often flows into the lava like goo of the runny golden yolk.  Oh, hell yeah.

A personal favorite, though, is still the grilled daikon cake.  If the small plates of food haven't quite filled you up yet, these floppy squares of pureed radish surely will.  They are not the most sightly of the Taiwanese breakfast options; in fact, a lot of traditional items are white or yellow colored... but the cakes remind me almost of hash browns with slightly crisp edges that I know everyone likes.

If you are skeptical about breakfast being the most important meal of the day, perhaps a stop by a traditional soy milk shop in the morning will change your perspective.  But if you can't yourself up as the sun rises in the east, no worries.  Many soy milk shops like this one are open 24 hours a day. 

Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

World Soy Milk King (世界豆漿大王)
新北市永和區永和路二段284號
No. 284, Yonghe Rd., Section 2, Yonghe District, New Taipei City

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174. Taiwan Day 6: Fourplay to Start off the Night / Fourplay 的飲料讓眼睛睜大 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北市: 大安區)

After a fun filled afternoon of teaching Taiwanese school children how to play American games like Big Booty, Diana and I needed to cap our day off with a few drinks.  It's so tough to deal with little kids, you know? We met up with a group of friends from home at Fourplay, a cocktail lounge that serves up the most inventive and innovative of liquored beverages in Taipei. 

Lo and behold, the... heroin, just one in the series of drug inspired drinks that the lounge conjures up.  Fourplay doesn't actually have any menus, so it's tough to remember some of the names of the craft cocktails here.  This is the one that Diana and I remember as "the crazy drink," you know, "the one that looks like an Adios at the bottom," you know, "the one with the dry ice?" Oh yes, that one... the "syringe drink."  You might as well call this the zài jiàn wáng ba dàn (Adios Motherfucker roughly translated into Mandarin) because you will definitely be saying bye bye after polishing off all three syringes and the supposed Absinthe-based Adios concoction on the bottom of the glass.  Oh, did I mention... this is a cocktail made for an individual? A four part drink for one... that's the kind of foreplay that foreshadows our night in Taipei.  Overkill? For sure.

The expression on Art's face as he takes what Christine and Diana dub as the "rite of passage" for all our American friends in Taipei is priceless.  Art is not a particularly dramatic guy, so just imagine my face when the "syringe drink" was placed in front of us.  And Jordan's face.  And Valerie's face.  Like, whoa.  Then imagine my reaction when it was explained that this cocktail was meant to be taken in a continuous sequence... one syringe after the next and chasing it all with the turquoise colored liquid at the bottom. Well, that's one way to start off the night, isn't it?

Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

For some more experiences with Fourplay, see the post by Taipei543 here and the post by Sugared & Spiced here.

Fourplay
台北市大安區東豐街67號
No. 67, Dongfeng St.  Da An District, Taipei City

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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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172. Taiwan Day 5: Lan Family's Pork Belly Guabao Is the Best / 籃家割包最好吃 (Taipei: Jhong Jheng District / 台北市: 中正區)

On my last trip to my parents' homeland way back in October of 2011, I brought my friend Rina, a first time visitor to Taiwan, to Lan Family Guabao (籃家割包) for a taste of a traditional treat that I knew she would enjoy.  After this first experience with their pork belly buns (割包 / Taiwanese: gua bao), Rina swore that it was the best thing she had ever eaten in Taiwan.  This time I went back for a visit with my friends Grace and Brian to share one of my favorite foods with them.  I can see Rina turning green with envy already.  (See the post from the last visit here.)

Located in the Gongguan area near several schools and universities, the family owned shop sees high foot traffic and is very popular with students.  One of the pork belly buns costs only 50 NTD (less than 2 USD) and is a tasty snack that will satisfy a hungry student until dinner time.  If dinner seems too far from now, then add a sticky rice tamale (肉粽 / Taiwanese: bah-tsang, Mandarin: ròu zòng) and a piping hot four gods soup (四神湯 / Mandarin: sì shén tang) to your guabao for a satisfying meal that costs just 160 NTD (a little more than 5 USD).

In front of the shop sits the street stall where the buns are steamed in bamboo baskets and the pork belly gets stewed in a large steel cauldron.  Any passing pedestrian can see the Lan sons hard at work, packing the bun's pockets with either lean shreds of pork or fatty chunks of belly, whatever your heart desires.  This display of divine deliciousness undoubtedly attracts the passers-by with the visuals of succulent pork and the aromas of stewed soy, sugar and swine.

These guabao are also known locally as ho ga di, which roughly translates to tiger bites the pig.  Why, you ask? Well, the Pacman shaped buns are similar to the curvature of a tiger's jaw, and it seems to almost swallow the pork into its cavernous pit.  The pork seems absolutely helpless while the tiger devours it entirely... all the tender fatty bits included.

Just writing about guabao makes my mouth water.  If I'm craving a mouthful of this monstrosity, I long for the one from Lan's in Taipei.  No other pork belly bun is quite the same.  Just look at this thing... chopped up, juicy, succulent fatty pork, nestled against pickled mustard greens with crackling, crushed peanuts and fresh, crisp, green cilantro... all of it, all of it enveloped by an ungodly soft, fluffy, steamed bun.  Drooling or otherwise? Please, grab the Kleenex.

I want to be the tiger that bites the pig.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Lan Family Guabao (籃家割包)

台北市中正區羅斯福路三段316巷8弄3號 

No. 3, 8th Alley, Lane 316, Roosevelt Road, Section 3, Jhong Jheng District, Taipei City

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

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171. Taiwan Day 5: Nostalgic for Oyster Vermicelli / 懷念麻辣蚵仔麵線 (Taipei: Zhongshan District / 台北市: 中山區)

Oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線 / Taiwanese: ô-ah mi sua) is one of those quintessentially local Taiwanese dishes that no part of China, other region of Asia, or nation in the world can claim as theirs.  In fact, this is one of those rare dishes that is still ordered by its traditional name in Taiwanese rather than Mandarin.  Mr. Liou took us to a corner shop aptly named Nostalgic (懷念麻辣蚵仔麵線) that serves the traditional oyster vermicelli of Taiwan's olden days as well as the modern spin on it with a mala numbing spiciness.

We all went with the original version, the most authentic variation of this dish.  Thin rice noodles swirl around in the thick chowder like soup.  Bits of soft, stewed intestine swim around amongst the weaves of noodle, and fresh, mini oysters are slid into the piping hot bowl at the final minute right before the forest of cilantro garnishes the top.  Additional condiments such as minced garlic in soy sauce and red chili paste are added as desired.  This bowl, by the way, is served with just a plastic soup spoon... no chopsticks included.  Needless to say, a lot of slurping ensued.

Slurp away, y'all.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Nostalgic Oyster Vermicelli (懷念麻辣蚵仔麵線)
台北市中山區中原街117號
No. 117, Zhongyuan St., Zhongshan District, Taipei City

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170. Taiwan Day 5: Headed to Chou's for Noodles and Small Plates / 到周記切仔麵吃米粉湯和小吃 (Taipei: Da An District / 台北市: 大安區)

After a night of much eating and drinking, I continued the next day with more of the same.  Grace's dad took us out to some of his favorite spots around Taipei, and we started off at Chou's Noodles (周記切仔麵), an unassuming local hole-in-the-wall that serves up delicately prepared small plates and comforting noodle soups.

The first dish absolutely blew my mind.  We ordered an absolutely crisp and tender pork chop (排骨酥 / Mandarin: paí gǔ su), sliced up into strips and doused with garlic chili sauce and served with tangy pickles.  The crust on the exterior of the chop was crunchier than any fried chicken batter I've ever had.  Absolute yum.

The chilled, marinated cucumbers (涼拌黃瓜 / Mandarin: liáng bàn huáng gua) were spot on as well.  Blended with raw garlic, peppercorns, and red chili, the sweet and sour pickles snapped with every bite.  By the way, it was blistering hot outside... I'm talking 90 degrees with near 90 percent humidity.  These cool cucumbers were a good choice.

Mr. Liou suggested that we order the rice noodle soup (米粉湯 / Taiwanese: bi hun thng, Mandarin: mí fěn tang) to go with our small plates.  It's a simple bowl of rice noodles and savory broth topped with crunchy green Chinese celery and lots of ground white pepper for some heat.  The smooth texture of the noodles were a perfect background for all of our other crispy and crunchy small bites.

One of the dishes I really enjoyed was the filleted grilled milkfish (煎虱目魚 / Mandarin: jian shi mù yú), particularly because of the crispy skin and the slightly burned edges.  The best part of the filet, though, was the fatty area in the center where the main bone would have been.  A squeeze of lime with a sprinkle of salt and pepper make a bite of the fish and its fat comprehensively mouthwatering.

Other than the cucumbers, the freshly cut chilled bamboo shoots (竹筍 / Mandarin: zhú sǔn) can also help cool off from the hot summer heat.  The white vegetable against the white plate with a side of white sauce is not much to look at, but this is an item that always surprises first time eaters.  The almost effervescent sweetness lingers after the first taste, and each bite thereafter could convince you that this is the reason we should protect Mother Nature.  It's that good.

Although I was getting filled up with the array of dishes that Mr. Liou ordered, it was only a small taste of what was to come for the rest of the day.  Until our next stop, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

Chou's Noodles (周記切仔麵)
台北市大安區復興南路一段267號
No. 267, Fuxing South Rd., Sec. 1, Da An District, Taipei City

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