7-Eleven Snacks!

Now that we're back to sunny Los Angeles... I still crave the little things from Taiwan... like the 7-Eleven foods... :D

Everytime you walk into a 7-Eleven in Taiwan, it smells like tea eggs and guandonzhu (oden - Japanese soup with mixed ingredients)...


They don't just carry potato chips and spicy potato chips.  They get creative!
         

Lay's Chips with a different kick!


Bacon and Egg Salad Rice Balls


Shrimp Tempura Rice Balls


Sponge Bob sponge cake (clever!)


and then there's this specially packaged Kirin Beer... called BAR BEER !!! YAY !!




and YES they are ALL DELICIOUS !!! Learn something 7-Elevens in America !!!

A Tale of Two Family Meals

Lin Family - Aunt Heidi and Uncle Lin gave us shelter throughout the whole trip!  And food of course!  Most of the time, Uncle Lin whips up his signature hot pot.  I know we've had many different hot pots during our visit in Taiwan, but this one you can taste "love".  We love our hot pot dinner with some "fried foods" and Taiwan beer while uncle sips on his "Johnny Walker"... Good times!

Taiwanese loves fried food... My wife is from Kentucky and she said, "Taiwanese must've been frying food long before Colonel Sanders!"  Well, why? I think it's the Taiwanese popcorn chicken... maybe its the fried sweet potatoes!  

To make a really good spicy hot pot soup base... you need pork intestines and duck blood!

More photos in this slideshow!

Yeh Family - Aunt Anita and Uncle Yeh love me! what can I say... I am a lovable person!  Well, they knew that Beth and I are in town... so they invited us over for a home cooked lunch!  Uncle Yeh is a great cook, he can cook seafood like no other.  We ate so much we could barely walk... 

The family of crabs :)

I can go for one of these now... mmmm sooo good!  Uncle Yeh's seafood porridge has shrimp, crab meat, oysters, fish, and clams

More photos from Yeh Family in the slideshow below

I miss my Taiwan family already... :(

Body Parts and Cages

Introducing 龍山寺 Longshan Temple

This temple is one of the most popular temples for the civilians to come and pray.  Most of the people pray for health, money, lottery numbers and more money.  When you walk in to the gate of the temple you will smell the burning incense from the faithful believers.



Body parts and cages?  well, this madness didn't happen inside the temple...

When we were done visiting the temple we noticed that there's a small alley market next to the temple.  We decided to check it out.  We thought there might be some street food... well, there's definitely "food"... uncooked "food"... It's more like a butcher alley!!!  Chickens in cages... body parts from chickens, pigs and cows... Last time I saw a live chicken getting butchered was in college... oh college days...

Not free range chickens


Black chicken, white chicken, yellow chicken... you name it!


Charlotte's Web? aw Babe...


Check out more photos from the slideshow below... this is bananas!

Sushi on the Go!

When people travel in Taiwan they certainly take advantage of their most convenient public transportation - Taipei MRT (Merto Rail).  In most of the metro stations, you will find this sushi joint located by the entrance.  Each sushi is wrapped individually in plastic, allowing the customers to create their own platter of sushi!  on-the-go!

each piece of sushi is priced at 10NT - 15NT (30 - 50 cents)

          

and yes they are very fresh!

I'm looking at you Los Angeles, make this happen soon!  

The Original 鼎泰豐 Ding Tai Fung

Are you ready to drool all over yourself?

There is NO way anyone can come visit Taiwan without getting their fix of Ding Tai Fung. We did. My aunt was able to get us pass the long waiting line into a VIP like treatment! The minute we sat down, got our Taiwan beers, we know what is going to be served!

Peek into the kitchen and you know 
these guys are your new best friend!


Small Steam Buns (xiaolongbao) is the signature dish!


Jealous?


Shrimp Shao Mei


If you've been to the Ding Tai Fung in Arcadia, you know that they don't have any attractive servers... and they can be quite rude at times... here in the original restaurant... there are plenty! And they served well! The "original" deserves a 5 star award for the great service all around the restaurant. If you need to use the restroom keep an eye out for a nice cleaning lady that constantly cleans the area. American branches must learn to improve on the service for sure.



more Taiwan beer please!


I took so many photos of the food! More from Din Tai Fung!

士林夜市 Shilin Night Market

Finally... introducing the biggest and the most popular night market in Taiwan!!! 士林夜市 Shilin Night Market! This is the market where you can eat all you want, shop all you want and play all you want without burning a hole in your pocket! Today I'm not gonna talk about shopping... I'm gonna talk about food. Duh!

When you first walk in to the entrance of the market you will smell "stinky tofu". Stinky tofu is a traditional Taiwanese street food that smells like dirty socks but according to Beth... it still taste like dirty socks (takes another sip of her beer to wash down the taste). But me... I love it! I can't really explain why I love stinky tofu like the rest of the locals... but when I smell it I want to eat it!



So what is "big sausage wraps little sausage"? Think of a hot dog... but instead of a bun... you get sticky rice sausage and instead of a hot dog you get Taiwanese sausage. Then the cook splits the rice sausage like a hot dog bun... placed the meat sausage in it and served it with onion, awesome sauce and love! mmmm I can eat another one now...



Oyster omelet is also a must eat in Shilin Night Market. That with "awesome sauce" brings back memories of my childhood :) BTW you must be wondering what "awesome sauce" is... well, don't ask... cuz i have NO idea! but if the sauce is delicious... its awesome sauce!



I mean, there are just way too many things to talk about when it comes to Shilin Night Market!!! My advice is... get yo butt over to Taiwan and experience it yo-self! Like Beth would say... too bad there's no scratch n sniff.

Check out the slideshow below and you'll see more photos from the market :) enjoy and feel free to drool on your keyboard heheh. This is a good one!

Pork Blood and Fish Balls

淡水 Tamsui is a city north of Taipei. They are famous for fish balls! They even have a fish ball museum! Before I get to the fish balls... let me introduce my American friends this little popsicle looking thing called 豬血糕 (Pork blood cake).



This is one of my childhood favorites, a true Taiwanese street cuisine! It is a made of pork blood and sticky rice... covered with awesome sauce and peanut powder and love!

Now... back to the fish balls!!! Fish balls in Tamsui is famous and delicious! Every fish ball is stuffed with a small amount of pork, just enough to make the fish ball juicy and chewy at the same time! Beth said, "This is the best fish ball I've EVER had!"



If you want to try the best fish ball ever... I suggest you visit Tamsui, Taiwan!

Vegetarian Sashimi, Yes!

Do monks eat sashimi? Oh yeah! Only at Jendow Vegetarian Buffet. This place is as big and fancy as any luxury buffet in Vegas... You are guaranteed to walk away with a full belly, even if you are a meat eater! The buffet has so many different stations its ridiculous! You start with an appetizer station that has cold cuts to salad bar. Then you should move on to the sashimi!!! why not right? hahah. Personally I am still a big fan of "real" sashimi... (ya know with fish and stuff from the sea). But the vegetarian sashimi was fairly delicious! I can see why the monks would eat plates after plates of sashimi without killing any living creatures.



Dim Sum station, noodle station, street food station, quick stir fry station, pasta station, traditional Chinese food station, tea station, coffee station, ice cream station, gelato station, liquor station (some already mixed speciality drinks are included but other liquors are extra $), dessert station, and they even have a chocolate fountain station! I think I've named all the stations, if not I'm sure there are more to add.... but seriously... that's pretty insane, even for a regular buffet!!!

For those of you who love vegetarian food and are planning on visiting Taipei, Taiwan. You should totally visit this vegetarian paradise!

Jendow Vegetarian Buffet
人道素菜百匯餐廳
No. 353, Chang Chiung Rd
(02) 2547-4788