Day 2 in Taipei, Taiwan, Dec 2015

Starting out Day 2!

We have no business to do today.  Full day for fun.

When we come to Taiwan, we hardly have breakfast at hotel.  There are so many breakfast places around town to try.  When our hotel has breakfast buffet, we just take coffee and fruits.

We wanted to go to one of our favorite Doujian places.  Xian Doujian is a common breakfast.  It’s salty soy milk.  With a little vinegar in it, the soy milk becomes half solid, fluffy texture.

 

We went to Fuhang Soy Milk = 阜杭豆漿 =

 

It was Sunday, at 9:00.  OMG, what a long line, all around the building.  It could be 1-hour wait.  We don’t have that time.  We’ll move on.

 

 

sunmerry = 聖瑪莉 =

Summery is a very popular bakery with several locations in Taipei.  We are not really interested in big enterprises when it comes to food.  But when we walked by, i just thought we’d drop in, maybe find some pastry for breakfast.

 

The pastry didn’t interest us, but we spotted this green onion.  Maybe we’d try and see if this can be a good souvenir for friends.

We tried it when we came home.  It was good!  It can be a souvenir.

 

 

Carameled peanuts.  We tried it to see if it’s any different from black sugar one in Okinawa.

It was surprisingly good.  It’s not sweet as others and it’s seasoned with a little salt too.  I can go forever on this.  I would buy this for myself.

 

 

Tian Jin Flaky Scallion Pancake = 天津蔥抓餅 =

This is a very popular Taiwanese scallion pancake.  Good snack for a dollar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shengyuan Shigua Steamed Dumpling = 盛園絲瓜小籠湯包 =

Shengyuan ranks at No. 1 in our best Taiwan Xiao Long Bao so far.

 

Usually very crowded.  Especially on weekends.  It was Sunday lunch.  We planned and arrived a little before opening at 11:00.  There were only couples on the wait before us.

 

 

It’s just fun watching these veteran craftsmen working on hundreds of dumplings.

 

 

This is Xiao Long Bao with Loofah that they are so famous for.

 

Silky dough, smooth meat, crunchy loofah, juicy soup has such a delicate balance in flavor.

 

Watch out.  It’s a heat bomb.

 

Xiao Long Bao with Crab Innards.  Crab innards is like liver that tastes and smells nothing but crabs.  It’s used for the rich seasoning.

 

The rich flavor of crabs and the sweet flavor of pork fats are so well balanced.  The perfection.

 

This soup is our discovery for this visit.  The best chicken soup we’ve ever encountered.

Seasoned with some chinese medical herbs, the chicken broth is so rich and delicious, not too greasy, perfectly balanced.

 

Hot Pot Tofu with Shrimps and Clams.  Not to mention that the soup is packed of savors, shrimps and clams were cooked to perfection.  Just about ready to explode, but still intact.  It’s obvious that they each were timed individually for the finish at each best.  It also has some crab innards sprinkled in, making the whole pot richer with seafood taste.

 

 

They never let us down.

 

 

Qingjingmuyu = 清淨母語 =

As we walked on to the next, YuYu picked up water melon juice.

 

Qing Jing Muyu is our favorite organic food store.

They have their own farm field where they practice natural farming.  They make natural seasonings and condiments with their crops, based on Chinese traditional medicine.

 

There is a lady who speaks fluent English and has deep knowledge on their products and chinese traditional medicine.  She wasn’t here this day.  When you visit for the first time, just talk to them and ask for their recommendations.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the spicy paste of fermented beans.  We can’t live without it.

Our refridgerator still has several seasonings of their products.  So today we get just this.

 

 

sunny hills = 微熱山丘 =

The famous pineapple cake place, which has opened a shop in the middle of Tokyo too.

 

 

They have such a stylish cafe space and give you free sample for every visitors.

 

 

The pineapple jam is rich, sweet and sour in a good balance.  With much fibers, it feels very close to what pineapple really is.

 

They come in a pretty bag too.  It’s a little expensive.  NTD420 for 10 pieces.  It’s about JPY160 a piece.   But they have many tricks that catch your attentions.

 

TAIPEI, DECEMBER 2015