Sunday, December 11, 2016

Taipei - Awesome Food Trip

There are plenty of delicious food in Taipei. Visit night markets and you will be amazed of the variety of food they sell. We have tried a couple of popular snacks and street food during our short stay in Taipei. With the help of some food bloggers, we were able to find them. We hope to try more when we go back to Taipei. Here are our favorites in no particular order:

1- Pan Fried Pork buns
There are many stalls around our hotel selling freshly made pork buns. Selling at NTD15 each, this soft bun has juicy meat fillings. The bun is pan fried at the bottom.

2- Flaky Scallion Pancake NTD35
This pancake is similar to roti. It is flaky and best eaten warm. Plenty of sellers in various streets.

pork bun, gyoza and flaky scallion pancake


3- Beef noodles
We got our beef noodles at Breeze food court 2F of Taipei Main Station. The beef was so tender, the soup has a bit of star anise flavor, the noodles al dente. It is a comfort food. Prices vary but this one cost NTD300


4- Pepper pork bun
This gorgeous crunchy pork bun is filled with moist filling consisted of ground pork and pepper. The popular stall selling the bun can be found right at the entrance to Raohe Night market. You will not miss it due to the long line it creates. It cost NTD50 each. 
cook tandori style

freshly made dough and filling

crunchy bun

5-Misua soup
This bowl of misua ( thin rice noodles) in flavorful soup base with chopped pork intestines is so delicious. 
It's kinda gooey and you can slurp it. It is really good. The most popular seller can be found in Emei street in Ximending . The store name is Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodles. Soup comes in 3 sizes.



6- Taiwanese sausage
 This sausage is so meaty with smokey flavor. We got ours in Shifen but they can be found in other night markets as well.


7-pineapple cake
Taiwan's most favorite souvenir is this small pineapple cake mostly individually wrapped. This pastry is filled with candied pineapple. It is sweet and the pastry is crumbly and buttery. You can find it almost everywhere. We bought one at Shilin Night market and another one in Sunmerry bake shop in Yong Kang.


8-xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung 101
While Shanghainese in origin, it was said that Taiwanese perfected this dumpling. This bite size xiao long bao has paper thin wrappings which hold the rich hot broth and tender meatball. The soup squirts out upon biting the dumpling. There is an instruction provided by DTF on how to eat and enjoy these soupy dumplings.



9- Ice Shaving
This wonderful dessert of shaved ice can be topped with fresh fruit and flavorings. You can select from mango, strawberry,  kiwi, red beans and a lot more. The presentation is very appealing to the eyes and you will definitely enjoy this dessert. We had ours at King Mango in Yong Kang street.



10- Pork Belly bun: Lan  Jia Gua Bao
It is a steamed bun sandwich with a hearty filling of braised pork belly, pickled Chinese cabbage and powdered peanuts. The filling is chopped into small pieces and mixed together so you can have a bit of everything in every bite. It's salty, sour and sweet flavor combine. A piece cost NTD50. We got ours at Lan Jia gua Bao which is a 7 minute walk from Gongguan MRT station. If you're lost, just seek help from some students as the stall is near National Taiwan University.


11- Blow Torched beef cubes
 The steak cubes are first grilled, and then blow torched to speed up the cooking.Once cooked, it is placed in a takeaway box and you get to choose your seasoning. I chose pepper.

The steak was quite flavorful, and  cooked medium well. It cost NTD100 . You can find them in night markets.





12-Lemon Aiju jelly
 The aiyu juice is made with a type of fig and lemon juice. There's a jelly and it is served ice cold . It is refreshing. Bought one at Shilin Night Market.



13- Tea egg
A batch of tea eggs with shell still on braised in  brew of spices and tea. Tea eggs just like hard boiled eaggs are great for snack. Convenience stores are selling tea eggs. However, we got ours at Jiufen. NTD10


14-Taro and sweet potato balls
 This cold dessert is made up of taro and sweet potato balls with some shaved or crushed ice in a dessert bowl. For variation, condiments like candied red bean, tapioca pearls are added if desired. The balls are chewy and the cold syrup is refreshing. We got one in Jiufen at NTD35

You may be interested in:
yehliu-juifen-shifen-day-tour
raohe-night-market
elephant-mountain-or-nangang-district