I've been in Taipei for less than a week, and have mostly been seeking out small local places for my meals. I haven't even cracked open the pandora's box that are the night markets, and there is already more than plenty to keep my belly full. Is it surprising then, that my photos so far are 98% food?
So far, the takeaway I've received from this week's meals is that Taiwanese food is unexpectedly heavy for such a warm climate (and it is WARM. and HUMID).
One of my first meals back to celebrate my return to Asia involved rice balls. I missed those little suckers so much when I was in France, which was funny because I had eaten them so much in Japan that I was sick of them.
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| YUM! |
Another trip down memory lane is Ah Chung Mee Sua, is a rather famous place located near where I'm staying in Ximending. I visited last time I was in Taiwan, and it hasn't changed at all. The broth was thick and tasted heavily of bonito, while the braised intestines added an earthy flavor. I have to admit, I felt really full and needed a nap after eating the whole large bowl. This meal set me back 110 NTD (65 for the mee sua, 40 for the drink), or $3.50 USD.
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| Hearty, and rich, this would make a really good winter meal/snack |
Rats; the picture below really doesn't make the dumplings look appetizing. But rest assured; they were plump and juicy and best of all, CHEAP. This restaurant sells dumplings by the piece: all pork-based dumplings cost 7 NTD (22 cents USD), and all shrimp-based dumplings cost 8 NTD (25 cents USD). Each protein was paired with different veggies, so there were about 10 different types of dumplings in all. I stuck with the pork base, and had pork-cabbage, pork-leek, and pork-radish. 7 dumplings in all, for a cheap dinner of 49 NTD, or $1.56 USD. Next time I'll try the shrimp!
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| Maybe I'll get 10 dumplings next time... splurge! |
I was walking along one day when I noticed a small open-air restaurant with about 5 items total on its menu. They specialized in zongzi (粽子), sticky rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed. The Taiwanese version of this yummy treat involves pouring a gravy over the whole thing before serving. This certainly sounded interesting, and so I had to try. Taste-wise, this was more like a Cantonese 糯米雞... it was stuffed with fatty pork, peanuts, a salted egg yolk, shitake mushroom, and chestnuts. Paired with the savory gravy, it was delicious and filling. And at 65 NTD (just a smidge over $2 USD), another cheap meal!
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| Not pictured: the lumps of fatty fatty pork. |
For dinner one night, I tried to balance out the heavy food with something a little lighter. I found a place serving Fujian-style fish balls, and decided to try them out. These fish balls were stuffed with bits of meat and served in a light broth. The fish ball portion was a little bland, but the meat inside was generously flavored. Add a simple dish of greens in an attempt to be healthy, and I had a 75 NTD ($2.40 USD) meal.
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| See? So healthy. |
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| The menu. Everything's so cheap! |
Of course, I had to go get a Taiwanese breakfast one morning. I ended up ordering way too much food... a nice large cup of sweet soy milk, a Taiwanese rice roll (stuffed with 油條, pork floss, and pickled radish), a fried fritter filled with lotus bean paste, and some fried turnip cake. This was enough for me for two meals, and only cost me 95 NTD ($3 USD).
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| A bounty of food for three bucks. |
After all these meals, spending anything more than two or three dollars seems outright frivolous! Like I mentioned before though, I'm finding the food surprisingly heavy and unsuited for hot weather. One thing that does make sense though, is the plethora of drinks available in Taiwan. With this weather, it's imperative to stay hydrated! I finally broke down after a few days, and got my first shaved ice. It was from a pricier spot, and cost more than any of my meals so far (120 NTD, $3.82 USD)!
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| The first. Of many. |
There is still a long loooooong list of food I want to eat, so perhaps it's good that I'll be spending a year here. It's tempting to cram it all in now though! The juicy fried pork chops! The night market street food!
... maybe I should look into joining a gym or something....
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