Not your pop's pops but my grandpops pops

Growing up I went to Taiwan every summer and my grandfather would always take us to get popcicles.  They had a huge selection of flavors.  Mine were always milk, lemon and peanut but as I grew older I came to appreciate the taro and the sticky rice pudding as well.  They use to come in a rectangular shape wrapped in paper but now they have updated their production and wrapping.  I personally prefer the nostalgia of the old fashioned shape but the flavors are still just as good.  

Hitting the street markets of Taiwan

There is nothing like street food in Asia.  Who needs the health dept. looking over your shoulder.  Its all out there for you to inspect yourself.  Sure its un refrigerated  raw meat.. or chickens slaughtered and plucked on the spot.. that what makes it great. Its flavor that you can't get from mass produced frozen meats.  Worth the risk?  For sure!  I haven't died yet.. 

How do you know when to stop eating?

I clearly don't know when to stop eating in Taiwan.  But sometimes there are signs that its time put the chopsticks down (your throat while holding your head over the toilet) like....

when you've eaten a tree's worth of lychees and your "chi" is en fuego

when your belly starts to look like the 2" thick fat pork belly

when the owner of the all you can eat hot pot place tells you your time is up, you can not put anymore in the pot, you can not have dessert, you must pay now and leave

its your 4th stop for food and its only 10am

everyone at the dinner table insists on setting you up with every available guy they know (00ps I think that only applies to my pathetic self.. don't even need the chopstick down throat for this one) 

when the fish you're about to eat is mummified 

and even when its your fourth bowl of shaved ice in 3 days... but its so good...

Were is the Passion?

Passion fruits in Bali are TOTALLY LAME!  I have more passion hating on them than they can evoke in flavor. Stick to the purple ones ppl!

(photo curtesy of MyKugelhopf due to demise on my own camera in pool)

Shaved Ice; you're a fool if you're not drooling.

The thing that I think about first whenever I start talking about food in Taiwan is the shaved ice.  It is in no way related to that neon stuff that they love in Hawaii, which don't get me wrong I love but in a totally different way.

Taiwanese shaved ice is fluffy and topped with fruit and condensed milk or some more traditional things such as red bean, mung bean, boiled peanuts, tapioca pearls, all sorts of chewy rice cake like things.  

My all time favorite is the Mango Ice from Ice Monster in Taipei.  Its only served when mangoes are in season and its topped off with a scoop of mango sorbet. The mangoes are ripe sweet, buttery and packed with flavor. They also have other flavors which are 

good but I only take that option when mango isn't in season.  The strawberry with mango sorbet was a good option as well as the combo with strawberry, kiwi, and mango compote. 

Since its summer every night market has shaved ice stalls which can be just as good and often with more topping options.  The best is when you can find xue hua which is shaved milk ice.  The texture is like catching a mouth full of falling snow during a blizzard. 

In NYC there use to be a good place in Flushing years ago but its gone now.  If you are desperate there is a stall in Flushing mall food court that isn't as good.  The texture of the ice is their main problem.  Its rough, grainy; not shaved ice but crushed ice. Total crap if you ask me but if you're desperate... I would have the Korean ice instead.  The Korean version, though not a fine shaving either, is available at most nice Korean bakeries and cafes.  In K-town recently went for a late night dessert fix at Koryodang and had the fruit flavored ice.  Don't get it.  Its strawberry jam from a jar with some fruit on top and this very bad strawberry ice cream like that of supermarket brands circa 1985.  In the past I've had the green tea version which was better.  

If I weren't so busy or lazy or both, I would whip out my panda bear shaped ice shaver at home and make my own.  Mangoes are almost in season. 

Ding Tai Fung

Since I am on a short trip to Taiwan I had to make a stop at the famous Ding Tai Fung.  They have opened several branches in Taipei and around the world in recent years.  The place is always filled and overflowing with tourists in knee high socks coming off huge tour busses all saying"ahh sugoii yo.. oishii desu!"   Totally lame.

The model for their restaurants is fast service and

 turning tables. Every location also has an open kitchen separated by glass behind which two dozen or so men (only men) roll out dough paper thin, fill and crimp dumplings at super speed.  Massive custom steam tables are lined with bamboo steamers full of dumplings at all times making it possible to get your order within seconds.  They remind me the commis kitchen at Perse but more like yellow skinned robots.

My staple order is the regular soup dumplings ( I don't like the fishy flavor the crab ones have), a hot and sour soup, fried rice with porkchop, and one of the cold side dishes of the day, usually the marinated seaweed with dried tofu strips. The cucumbers are also very standard but can lack seasoning.  I always mix my own dipping sauce with 1 part soy and 3 parts vinegar over

 the juliene ginger.  I am always tempted to put hot sauce as well but don't do it, because its just wrong.

The soup dumplings are good but must be inhaled as soon as the lid comes off the steamer.  If you eat too slowly the skin gets dry and hard. Best to eat with multiple people and have an iron clad mouth.  You will burn your tongue.  The meat and soup are just ok; very consistant flavor, seasoning and texture but nothing outstanding. The skin is the key part, thin thin thin.. like girls on the paris runway.

There is nothing thin about the hot and sour soup, my favorite dish there.  The flavor is delicate and its full of ingredients such as tofu, ducks blood cake all perfecly juliened (seriously these guys must have trained with TK).  Unfortunately the soup is always underseasoned for me but they have all the vingar and hot pepper oil you can add till your tastebuds content. 

The fried rice with the pork chop on top is pretty good in that the rice is the right texture, chewy, what Taiwanese people would say QQ.  Other things that are good, chicken soup and the chinese liquior marinated chicken; a cold dish certain to warm you right up.

Overall is it worth beating down Japanese tourists to get a table? Sure why not as long as you politely say "sumi ma sen" in a high pitched voice as you do it, it's cool with them. 

What I learned from them is consistency is key, turn those tables and push the food out.  The covered baskets they provide for your designer purses is a must have. When a girl's purse is safe from damage its easier to focus on the food. 

Hate Me...muahahahaaa

Is it fair for me to critique the food I eat and/or the food I create? Why not?