你好 Ni Hao Taiwan!

1st day

Currently in Taipei, Taiwan studying Mandarin, so I'm going to post my culinary adventure (it means what I eat everyday :p) in Taipei!!!!

I arrived in Taipei on the 15th September, quite some time ago..a little late in posting everything but trying my best!

I will just post some picture, some description, where, and basically just my comment on it! Something just for fun, if I put any information wrong don't hesitate to leave a comment yaa!

First day in Taipei, arrived in the afternoon starving...but only got a chance to eat later in the evening;;

OYSTER VERMICELLI

Small bowl of Oyster Vermicelli

Not quite sure what the Taiwanese name for it, I'll try to find out and post it. Anyway, this food is one of the popular food in Taiwan especially because of a very famous shop in Shilin, Taipei. The one i had was not from a famous vendor, it was just a tiny shop, which i forgot where it was. I was pretty sure it was in the XINDIAN area, but a month after i went there again but it doesn't look the same at all soo...I'm not quite sure....

My stomach was bloated at the time so I decided to go with a small portion (小碗: xiao wan, means small bowl).

What you get is basically a bowl of hot vermicelli (mee sua) in a thick brown broth which looks more like a sauce. I think that the broth is thickened with some sort of starch; either potato, tapioca, or corn, but i'm assuming based on the consistency it was thickened with tapioca starch.

It was served with pork intestines, fried small pieces of fish cake, and of course oyster! The oyster looks pretty raw and fresh, I don't think it was pre blanched nor cooked. Then to top it of the 老闆 (laoban) or the Boss add chopped cilantro (the Taiwanese call it 香菜 xiang cai, which literally translates to fragrant vegetables, but if you look it up in google translates it will tell you that it's parsley but really it is cilantro). 

Dollop of Chili Oil and Flakes

What's inside it..

You can ask the vendor to not add it if you don't like the smell but I personally thinks that you need it, since it compliments the flavor of the vermicelli. This was a perfect quick tasty meal that is easy on the stomach.

To eat this vermicelli, you can add various condiments according to your liking. All condiments available on the top of the table, I simply add everything, which were; vinegar, garlic puree, and chili oil. I would say adding all the condiments plays a huge role in enjoying this dish, highly recommended to add all, but if you can't take spicy food just skip the chili oil!!

Price:
- Small: NTD 30
(IDR 13,500 or US$ 1)
- Big: NTD 50
(IDR 22,500 or US$ 1.6)

BIANDANG 便當

Store Front

Just across the vermicelli place there was a store where a lot of people are lining up for...in Taiwan this means that there's something good worth waiting for. So my friend and I decided to line up as well and buy a portion to share.

It was a 便當 (biandang) place, which means convenient, or what you will know as rice with protein and vegetables. Indonesian will call it as nasi campur or mix rice which is exactly what I thought it was. However unlike Indonesian mix rice where you can have however many type of vegetables and protein you want, in Taiwan it is just 3 kind of vegetables or side dishes, and 1 type of main protein.

This store has various options for the protein, they put up a menu on the wall which is all in Chinese characters, very hard to understand! But you can simply point at the food displayed in front of you!

We decided to go with the braised pork belly, along with braised tofu, sauteed white cabbage, and sauteed some kind of gourd. 

Layers of Goodness in between..

The pork belly DID NOT DISAPPOINT AT ALL!! No joke! I usually dislike eating braised thick fat, but this was amazing! The meat were so soft that it melts along with the fat!

The vegetables on the other hand was so so, the cabbage taste exactly like sauteed cabbage, nothing special. 

The tofu was fried than stir fried with a sweet sauce, I'm guessing oyster sauce. The texture wasn't really like the tofu I know. It wasn't silky like the Japanese tofu, yet it wasn't soft like the Indonesian or Malaysian tofu, it was actually quite dense and has a bounciness to it, unique for sure. 

The sauteed gourd was interesting...I'm not quite sure what it was really. Taste wise it was pretty bland, but the natural taste of the vegetable was not something I know. It tasted like chayote but the texture is more like a cross between winter melon and cucumber....mysterious for sure....

Also in most 便當 places, you can help yourself to a bowl of complimentary soup. Which was so so, pretty bland actually.

Free flow of Soup with bits of Egg and Carrot

Next time, if I figure where this place was, i would definitely try the fried chicken leg, because it seems like what every one is getting!

Price:
- 雞腿飯 jitui fan, Chicken leg rice: NTD 95 (IDR 43,000 or US$ 3.2)

- 明蝦飯 mingxia fan, Shrimp rice: NTD 85 (IDR 38,500 or US$ 2.8)
- 排骨飯 paigu fan, Pork chop rice: NTD 85 (IDR 38,500 or US$ 2.8)
- 沙茶牛肉飯 shacha niurou fan, Stir fried beef and greens rice: NTD 90 (IDR 41,000 or US$ 3)
- 黑胡椒肉片飯 hei hujiao roupian fan, Black pepper pork rice: NTD 90 (IDR 41,000 or US$ 3)
- 咖哩飯 kali fan, Curry rice: NTD 85 (IDR 38,500 or US$ 2.8)
- 焢肉飯 hongrou fan, Braised pork belly rice: NTD 85 (IDR 38,500 or US$ 2.8)
- 魯肉飯 lurou fan, Braised chopped pork rice: NTD 20 (IDR 9,000 or US$ 0.7)

Menu Board

YILAN CONG BING 宜蘭蔥餅

Bite of  宜蘭蔥餅 

Around the MRT station area, we've managed to find a vendor that sells a green onion pancake or also called as 蔥餅 (cong bing). But this was unlike other cong bing it was a special one that originated from a region called Yilan City. 

宜蘭蔥餅 (Yilan cong bing) or green onion pancake is a dough wrapped around chopped green parts of the leek or green onion, then twirl into spiral like round shape. It is then pan fried.

To be honest I wasn't a big fa of this, I'm not sure whether it was the vendor or the pancake in general since I have only tried it once. It was quite bland, no umami nor fragrance. All i can taste was green onion and tons of white pepper. 

I wish there could be a little more flavor..but that was just me, my friend really enjoyed it, so I guess nothing wrong by giving it a try!

Price: NTD 40 (IDR 18,000 or US$ 1.3)

Earl Grey Milk Tea

I bought a bottled milk tea at a 7-11 just right behind the pancake shop. Since Taiwan is very popular with its milk tea, I figure I should drink one on my first day here. I chose the Earl Grey Milk Tea which cost for NTD 25 (IDR 11,000 or US$ 0.8). 

It was nice and refreshing! A little sweet for my liking but it wasn't overly sweet. I like that it has a nice fragrance of the Earl Grey, so I would say that it was a nice purchase, plus it has a nice bottle!!