Tea in Asia: Day 5 - Taiwan

We had so much food on the 5^th day of my trip to Asia…

Our guides, Coco and Denise, brought us to a place for breakfast a few blocks from the Chientan Youth Activity Center (CYAC) called Dante Coffee. We had a few things to choose from, but I can’t remember what they were. The important thing was that I got the ham and cheese with bread and eggs with hot chocolate to drink. I don’t know about you, but I was expecting (yet again with the expectations) a ham and cheese omelet with toast on the side or slices of ham, cheese and a fried egg with toast. Right? What arrived at the table was a curveball; albeit a tasty one.

I really enjoyed my breakfast sandwich. It was like a savoury french toast sandwich. The sweet and fluffy bread went really well with the salty ham and cheese. The egg didn’t do much for me though. In any case, I should make this local delicacy! Ahem.

The schedule for the day was less intense than the previous day. We took the bus to the crowded National Palace Museum. While in the lobby, there were a bunch of Chinese tourists that treated DB, CPR, and LB (to name a few) like celebrities. I don’t know if they mistook me for a press photographer or something (I had my DLSR out), but they all swarmed our group. They shook hands with DB, CPR, and LB. They smiled sweetly and flashed a variety of Asian poses as each of the Chinese tourists got their pictures taken. I guess they’ve never seen a tall white man with long curly hair, or someone that “looked like” Beyoncé. It was quite funny.

After that whirlwind, we began our tour around the National Palace Museum. I was so amazed at their collection of artifacts. There were so many things to see and so many stories to be heard. We weaved around the various groups of tourists to get to each of the display cases.

It was a bit too crowded for some of our group. They weren’t used to the pushing and elbowing that they received from the groups of older Chinese tourists. I had so much fun guarding my spots in front of the display cases.

“Wow, they’re so rude!” I heard from the back of our group. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Huhuhuu! They’ve obviously never been to Pacific Mall during the weekend, or even Chinatown for that matter.

We were about to go to another area of the museum when one of our guides noticed that we had to eat lunch and then get going again. They lead us to a touristy restaurant that was literally around the corner of the main museum building.

LD and I weren’t very hungry so we just shared the Formosa (aka Taiwan) combo. Hmm… let me refer to one of the menus that I brought back.

An Pin’s Mixed Preserved Fruits (I think it was supposed to be called “Anping”, cause there’s an Anping District in Taiwan). The four pieces of fruits were sweet and tangy. What perfect appetizers!

Traditional Peddler’s Noodles were okay. There was a distinct flavour of pork knuckles that put me off. The pile of fried garlic and shallots made it easier to eat.

I didn’t like the Marinated Pork with Bamboo Shoots. I tasted pork knuckles in this too. The restaurant must use pork knuckles in their broth. Also included in the meal was a bowl of Traditional Ground Pork Rice. It tasted similar to the marinated (braised) pork dish.

There were definitely traces of pork knuckles in the Thick Fish Soup. It was made worse by the white pepper. Bleh…

The star of the meal was the plate of tiny Golden Fried Shrimp Rolls. There weren’t any offending flavours in this.

To be on the safe side of things, we decided to get an order of the Meat Balls.

 

LD and I were really happy when dessert finally came. The watermelon, guava and cherry tomato were ice cold.

I do remember having the soft tofu dessert (Taiwanese style). I liked the addition of red beans. It gave the soft dessert a textural change-up, not that the red bean was hard or anything.

We paid the bill and then headed to the entrance of the restaurant where everyone else was getting together. Our guides gave us a choice of going to a fishing village or shopping mall.

I chose to go to the fishing village, which happened to be the Danshui Market. We immediately saw a bunch of food stalls once we began walking up HuanHe road. I was annoyed that we didn’t come here for lunch instead of the touristy restaurant back at the National Palace Museum. 

I shared a cup of some sugar cane juice with someone as we visited all the different stores. The gentleman grinded the whole cane for this cup. There was a woody taste to the warm juice. Bleh… The best way to enjoy sugar cane is chewing the fibers to enjoy the sweetness.

We kept walking and saw so many different snacks being sold. These sticks of candied strawberries, plums with blueberries, and haw looked really good. I sadly walked past the stand after snapping the image. I should’ve gotten this instead of the sugar cane juice!


This sign was sketchy. The place was selling ka ka (refer to the 3rd and 4th points if you don't understand). I'll pass on the weirdly named rice crisps.



A dog resting in front of a store front.

I saw this lady making takoyaki further down the street. Why did we have to eat lunch beforehand? Why?






The market area was packed full of people. I stood near the bearded man's sculpture and looked back at the road we just walked down. The man, George Mackay, came to Taiwan as a missionary and opened up some churches according to wiki.

On our way back to meet the rest of our Danshui group at the front of the (MRT) Danshui Station, we bought some frozen yogurt in cones to snack on. It was a popular snack with tourists. The ladies give you a lot of frozen yogurt. Whether you get the small or large size one, the ladies make sure the yogurt stands nice and tall on the cone.


I got a few frames of the hazy harbour front during our slow walk back to our meeting area. I'm not sure why we were told that it was a fishing village. Mistranslation?

As we waited for the rest of the group, we saw a two younger kids (they were probably 10 years old) fighting. Actually, the slightly bigger kid was just wailing on the other kid. I don’t know what they were fighting over, but when the fight was over, the guy (who did the beating) just got on his bike and casually rode away. So random. The smaller guy didn’t look like he was hurt too badly. He, too, just casually walked away.

Oh, there was also a creeper who was taking photos of our group from afar. He disappeared into the crowds after we all began to look towards his direction. This was not the first or last time people stared at us during our trip to Asia, but it was the first time someone was snapping shots of us from afar.

As the sun began to set, we headed back to the CYAC for the night. Some of us went to check out the famous Shilin Night Market.

I was still jet-lagged at that point and so I didn’t have the stomach to eat much. Sad, huh? This giant bowl of lime jello drink greeted us as we began to walk into the cramped market. This stall also sold bubble tea, which AB happily drank for the first time.

Beside the lime jello/bubble tea place, there was a long line up of people trying to buy the XXL chicken slabs. I was really curious about this place, but maybe that’s just my Chinese instincts kicking in. Hmm? There’s a long line up… it must be good! I should line up and see what the fuss is about!

A few people, including CY, JV, CPR, and MG, enjoyed dinner at a stall with large griddles. I kept walking through the smelly market with AB, LD, and NG. As we snaked through the market, we walked by this stall selling skewers of meat.

Toward the back of the Shilin Night Market, we found the source of the funky smell. It was none other than stinky tofu! I remember Jimmy told me that the deep-fried ones tasted better than the steamed version. We had to get fresh air after this. The combination of the hot and humid air with the stinky tofu was just too much to handle for us. It really did smell like sewage and stinky socks. We avoided the eerie arcade-like area of the market and made our way out to the fresher air.

There was another stall that undoubtedly sold Taiwanese beef noodle soup, but I just couldn’t do it. The noodles were screaming my name… it was so painful to ignore.

On the edge of the sheltered area of the market, I spotted a gentleman making these pan fried buns. I remember reading about this on a Taiwanese blog and I vowed that I wouldn’t leave Taiwan without trying one. I got bought a few and LD snacked on them towards the side of the market. I was disappointed at how small and juiceless the ones I ate were. Not having an appetite to begin with ruined my experience. I’ll snack on a few more next time.

We hung around the market and played some darts before we were all ready to get back to the CYAC and out of the drizzling rain and heavy humid air.

Reflecting on this day, I really missed out on a lot of Taiwan eats. I wish I had the stomach. I wish I could go back and eat some skewers of meat, shaved ice, the XXL chicken, and Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Okay, so I wished I ate my way through the Shilin Night Market – yes, even the stinky tofu. Why couldn't my appetite come back?




Click here to read about my last day in Taiwan (Day 6).

Tea in Asia: Day 4 - Taipei, Taiwan

Here’s the 4^th day of my trip to Asia.

It was regrettably our last day in Kaohsiung and the KHC.

This photo and the first breakfast pic I posted is like a “spot the difference” game. Let’s see… the dessert looks was strawberry instead of mango, there’s was a pile of mushrooms (that I “shared” with JV), and the plate was missing a baby corn. I was hoping that our breakfast was going to be something different. But even though I was disappointed, it was comforting to have something so familiar.

The teachers and students from the KHC were so kind and welcoming. Not only did they do their school proud, they were great representatives of Taiwan. I’m not sure if we can say the same thing about our group, though I wish I could. It was sad to leave them. Thanks so much for being such great hosts!

Our two guides, Coco and Denise, brought us to ride the Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) from Kaohsiung to Taipei. The smooth ride took us only an hour and a half. I remember looking up at the ticker and seeing that our speed was over 250 km/h (about 155 mph). Wowzers!

We got off the THSR and then went upstairs for food. The second floor was huge! There were so many things you could eat; ramen, Korean food, curry, sushi, ice cream, tea shops (bubble tea), and even cats burgers. It was so overwhelming. I wish we had something like the Taipei Breeze Station in Ottawa. Actually, I wish we had something more than the OC Transpo. Period. Come on, Ottawa is the capital of Canada... *sigh* Anyway, back to the food...

Canadian Tulip Festival 2011

I was around the Dows Lake area earlier today and saw quite a few people taking pictures of/with the tulips. Most of them haven't bloomed yet, but with the sunny weather we're supposed to get, they should be looking pretty by the end of the week.

Tea in Asia: Day 3 - Taiwan

This is the third part of my trip to Asia.

Breakfast was essentially the same as the previous morning; Bacon-wrapped asparagus spears, hot dogs, baby corn and mushrooms. My bacon was under-done. *Sad face*

Instead of toast, we received a basket of three steamed Chinese buns. There was a meat bun (shown above), mantou (plain bun), and nai huang bao (sweet custard filling). They tasted fine.

Our group went down to watch a cooking demonstration after breakfast. I couldn’t wait!

The chef cooked some dishes and talked a bit about Chinese cuisine. The main point was that the dishes should be balanced like the yin yang. Chinese chefs think about balancing not only the flavour, but also the colours and the cooling or heating effect is has on the body. I won’t be elaborating on that, mainly because I don’t know much about it.

Anyway, he showed us how to cook a few dishes and then we had to make it ourselves. I’ll include the recipes that we were given but there are a few things missing. Please bear with me.

The hot and spicy soup was okay. I found that there were too many things in the soup. It needed more water/broth.

Hot and Spicy Soup

Ingredients:

Carrot, julienne                                             50g

Bamboo shoot, julienned                           50g

Tofu, julienned                                              50g

Cooked pork loin, julienned                      50g

Preserved mustard greens                          50g

Spicy bean curd                                             40g

Wood ear mushrooms, julienned            30g

Cilantro                                                           20g

Rice vinegar                                                40ml

Water or broth                                          2 cups

Cornstarch                                                     25g

Salt and Pepper                                     To taste

Steps:

1. Boil the water or broth and then add the carrots, bamboo shoots, tofu, pork loin, mustard greens, spicy bean curd and wood ear mushrooms. Turn down the heat and simmer.
2. Create a slurry with the cornstarch and water. Add to the slurry to the soup.
3.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Serve the soup with the cilantro as a garnish.

The rice wine braised chicken with sesame oil was tasty. I was hoping that the chef would make Taiwan’s famous three-cup chicken (made with a cup each of soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil), but I guess it would’ve taken too long to cook.

Rice Wine Braised Chicken with Sesame Oil

Ingredients:

Chicken                        Half

Ginger, sliced              100g

Sesame oil                    50g

Rice wine                      Half a bottle

Salt                                 15g

Sugar                              30g

Water                             2 cups

Steps:

1. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Heat the wok/pot, sauté the ginger in the sesame oil. Cook until the chicken pieces are half-done.
2. Add the water, salt, sugar and half of the rice wine into the wok/pot. Simmer until the chicken is fully cooked.
3. Finish the chicken with the rest of the rice wine. Serve with steamed rice.

The stewed cucumber and mushrooms was okay. Who am I kidding – I don’t remember what it tasted like. Here’s the recipe…

Stewed Sponge Cucumber with Enoki Mushrooms

Ingredients:

Sponge cucumber                              500g

Carrot, julienned                                  30g

Enoki mushrooms                               50g

Sugar                                                     100g

Water/broth                                  1½ cups

Cornstarch                                             10g

Salt and pepper                             To taste

Oil                                                 For frying

Steps:

1. Peel the sponge cucumber and cut them diagonally into 5cm pieces. It looks nicer that way.
2. Deep-fry the cucumbers until half-done and then set aside.
3. In a wok/pot, boil the water (or broth), add the enoki mushrooms, carrot and sugar. Turn the wok/pot down to a simmer after a minute.
4. Add the deep-fried cucumbers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and some water. Add the slurry to the wok/pot to thicken. Serve. 

Sweet and sour pork. Really? I guess they made this to please the not-so-adventurous members of the group. It was decent, though I prefer to order the sizzling plate of beef at restaurants. Now that’s something I’d love to learn to make.

Sweet and Sour Pork

Ingredients:

Pork loin, strips                     600g

Green bell pepper                     50g

Yellow bell pepper                   50g

Sugar                                         100g

Rice vinegar                            50ml

Ketchup                                       50g

Cornstarch                                 20g

Flour                                          100g

Water                                         1 cup

Egg white                   From an egg

Oil                                     For frying

Steps:

1. Mix the pork strips with the egg white and dredge the pork strips with the flour.
2. Deep-fry the pork loin until fully cooked. Set aside.
3. Cut the bell peppers into 2cm diagonal pieces. Blanche the peppers in the oil and then set aside.
4. Add the water, sugar, ketchup and vinegar to a wok/pot. Bring the contents to a simmer before thickening the sauce with the cornstarch slurry.
5. Add the bell peppers and pork. Serve with steamed rice.

The final dish the chef prepared was a plate of stir-fried glass noodles with pumpkin. I really liked how light this dish tasted. It was quite fresh tasting and not greasy at all.

Stir-Fried Glass Noodle with Pumpkin

Ingredients:

Pumpkin, julienned                                    300g

Carrot, julienned                                            50g

Pork loin, julienned                                    100g

Shiitake mushrooms, julienned                40g

Celery, julienned                                         300g

Glass noodles                                               200g

Bean sprouts                                                 100g

Sugar                                                                 20g

Sesame oil                                                     30ml

Water                                                           ½ cup

Oyster sauce                                                 30ml

Light soy sauce                                            20ml

Salt and Pepper                                       To taste

Steps:

1. Soak the glass noodles in hot water for at least half an hour and then strain.
2.  Julienne the pumpkin, carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms (if you’re using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak the mushrooms overnight), and pork loin.
3. Heat wok/pan to medium-high and stir-fry the pork loin in the sesame oil. Once the pork has fully cooked, add the carrots, celery, and water.
4. Season with oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and salt and pepper. Add the bean sprouts and serve.

After the cooking demonstration, our group went into another kitchen where some Kaohsiung Hospitality College* (KHC) cooking students had been waiting for us. Our group had split up into smaller groups and, with the help of the KHC students, we remade the same dishes for lunch. There was some miscommunication within our group, which resulted in our dishes looking and tasting differently than what the chef had made for us earlier. I’m so glad I took the pictures of the chef’s dishes before we went to cook lunch.

*As mentioned in the previous post, the KHC has since been awarded the university title. It is currently called the National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism

That night, our group went to volunteer at some church-run after school program. Our large group split up again and headed to three separate places. My group and I went to the ‘burbs of Donggang Township.

Our group prepared games and songs for the kids. We did the typical tourist visit to the less fortunate, but it was so much more than that. I’m not sure about everyone else, but I felt like we connected to the kids – despite the language barriers. SS and one little girl bonded so much that the little girl didn’t even want to leave SS’s hip.

Dinner came around and the women that ran the program quickly whipped up a humbling meal. It didn’t feel right to take pictures of the food. Hey, look at the tourist that looks like one of us… she’s taking pictures of our food to show all her friends how poor we are! I didn’t want them to take it badly, so I didn’t take any photos of the food. There was a pot of egg drop soup, steamed rice, fried rice, and processed chicken fingers. It was sad how these kids were eating processed foods, while people like Adam Richman was (and still is) eating excessively for pure entertainment.

As the day came to an end, we watched - with tears in our eyes, as the children were picked up by their guardians. We boarded our air-conditioned bus and headed back to the KHC. The bus ride was silent.


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Read about:
Day one: Arriving in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Day two: Bike tour around Cijin District
Day four: Yangmingshang National Park and Din Tai Fung