Taiwan Trip: The story of 2 cows!

A meal of beef noodles has always been a great dining option.  Despite being such a common food in many Asian countries, many things can possibly go wrong.  Sucky noodles, tasteless broth, and chewy beef just to name a few.  Nevertheless, coming to Taiwan could possibly be a beef noodles lover paradise!  With so many different stalls to choose from, one would be held back only by price and stomach space.  From the little darling who watched a lot of Taiwanese host shows, the price of beef noodles can range from the low hundreds up until 1000 TWD.  Of the two which I had, the noodles which tasted best came from a shop in Ximending!

While I cannot read/speak Mandarin, the pair of red horns have easily made a strong impression!  This restaurant was rated as the top 10 best beef noodles in Taiwan and it was a lucky day for us that we stumbled upon it on that day when we were clueless about our food!

 

As good as it gets, popular eateries means having to queue up for a meal.

Hungry folks! But fortunately for us, the wait took little more than just 10 minutes as we were there past lunch time at about 2 in the afternoon!

Condiments for the day was cold stewed bean curd, bamboo shoots, beans and braised taufu pok! Most were pretty good with the exception of the bamboo shoots! I could have easily had another one of the braised taufu pok with rice. It was really delicious! Tasted something like the ones accompanying traditional Chinese Herbal Pork but even tastier! Slurps!

 

The main meal that day was the braised beef noodles.  With a choice of thin/thick handmade lai mien (pulled noodles), we all went for thin considering the thick one had already finished selling.  Unfortunately, I am never a fan of lai mien as I often found that it was rather thick (despite having the thinner one) and failed to absorb any of the delicious broth.  As for the soup, I had the spicy one which was a big FAIL compared to my peers who had the classic broth.  I’d have to say, the classic broth was rich and flavourful! Everything a soup base should be!  And now, for the beef, it was decadent.  Despite looking dry and cut too thick, it is everything I did not expect! It was moist with melt in your mouth bits. Really surprising!  If I had to guess, it was the translucent swirly parts of the meat that made it taste so good!

 

Overall, this had to be the best beef noodles I have had in Taiwan only to be spoilt by a poor choice of soup and noodles.  If I had the original soup base, this meal would have been close to perfection!  Nevertheless, a good eat!

 

Regards,

WenY

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Taiwan Trip: Having Breakfast the Taiwanese Way!

Finishing a good trip to HK, the little darling and I flew to Taipei using EVA Airlines.  That is a seriously good airline company to travel by.  Our seats were business class size and treatment on-board were first class! Our holiday to Taipei was a new experience to me.  With no knowledge of speaking mandarin whatsoever, this means I am pretty much handicapped in a country renown for its night markets and glorious food.  But hey?  We have fingers for a reason is it not? xD!  In the next few post I will put up pictures of some of the many places that I have eaten which I believe deserve recognition :)! It’s purely subjective but yeah! Just feast your eyes :)!Taipei unlike HK felt rather old.  Everything thing here runs in alleys which gives it quite a nice feel.  And even though I am from Malaysia, the number of scooters in Taiwan is by far the most I have ever seen. 

 

Our breakfast just minutes from our service apartment located in Q Square!Juicy Pork Dumplings! Xiao Long Bao!

 

Super Crispy Youtiao! 

 

One shall not forget the delicious soya milk which is almost customary in the Taiwanese society! Its a really good drink which I enjoy almost everyday!

 

While this might not be your average Malaysian or Aussie breakfast, this sort of meal despite feeling bland at times is really quite satisfying  The taste of juicy pork dumplings is simply delicious; add it to the awesome feeling of tasty hot soup gushing out in the first bite? Smashing!  Crispy Yuetiao despite being and oily start to the morning is always easily washed away with the warm soy milk!  It was really good!

 

WenY

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CNY 2012: A Chinese New Year at home!

The moment of festivity is almost at its end for the Chinese!  Despite leaving home for almost a week now, the thoughts of how Chinese New Year used to be is not all that distant. From late night firecrackers to early morning prayers followed by a scrumptious all day vegetarian meal, its one childhood memory that will never be lost.  This year the celebration was a little smaller than it used to be, but mom did not hold back on her cooking for the reunion dinner! We had so much to eat that night, to start:

Yee Sang! The prosperity toss!

 

Next came mom’s superb sharks fin soup!

Unlike most places which would put less ingredients, there was no holding back from mom! Fresh crabs steamed and peeled, superior broth, dried scallops and pure sharks fin! Now, that is what I call a New Year delicacy!

 

After having all those appetizers we had the mains with rice:

Mom’s fried pomfret with fried garlic and herb garnishing!  Something which is not available fresh in Perth! I wonder why? Pomfrets are so good!

 

Mom’s baked crabs because steam crabs are too mainstream :P!

This was really yummy! It has been a long time since I have had this! Probably almost non-existent in Perth!

 

My contribution for the night:

Salt Pepper Prawns hehe! Luckily it turned out ok even though the batter has already lost its crunchiness when the relatives arrived!

 

This was for the Sang Choi Bow!  Mom made a special meat mixture with carrots, chestnuts and spring onions to be wrapped in lettuce! YUMS!

 

Arrow head with sliced pork and cilantro in fermented bean curd sauce!

This is one of mom’s specialty which took me ages to like! Now its like omagawd every time she makes this! Probably one of the dishes I look forward to the most each festival!

 

After having all the yummy food we did not just stop there.  We continued with tea and all the lovely CNY cookies which mom got! Also present was the Mochi which I brought back from my trip to Taiwan!  So next up on my blog? Taiwan ;)!

 

Also, Happy CNY to all my readers :)!

 

WenY