April 12th, 2013
Singapore, Singapore
Mood: Exhausted from traveling on a boat, car, and planes
Language barrier
I felt pretty comfortable communicating during my time in
Myanmar, Singapore, and Malaysia. Even though English wasn't the native
language in two of the countries, all of the places had been ruled by the
British. As a result many people had learned English and could speak it proficiently.
Not so in Taiwan. One morning, I wandered around on my own
and found a nice, little place to eat breakfast. As I approached the counter, I
realized that I had absolutely no idea what was on the menu, much less how to
ask.
I waited around so I could point at whatever a local ordered
and hope for the best, but then I realized the danger as I didn't
like spicy food. I finally approached the chef and asked if he spoke any
English. Through my very limited grasp of Chinese and his five word vocabulary,
I discovered they had hamburgers. It sounded edible and I went for it.
I pointed towards the refrigerator and he came out with the last drink, bean
juice
Boba tea
One of my favorite drinks is boba tea (known to white people as "bubble tea"), which is typically
milk tea with tapioca balls. Taiwan claims to have invented it and I went to the original restaurant near Taida.
The boba is so good that you don't pick a flavor or have any
choices. You just stand in a long line, order the original drink and enjoy.
It was amazingly delicious and the best boba I've ever had.
If you go to a night market, you can find boba vendors with
crazy names
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| Yes, it was still delicious |
Xiaolongbao at Din Tai Fung
There is a special kind of food called xiaolongbao that is steamed dumplings with soup inside. It is amazing.
The best place in the world to go is Din Tai Fung and the
Taipei location is the best of DTF. Luckily, the Indefinite Immigrant took me there and we had an awesome time.
Shilin night market
Taipei is also known for its night markets. I was able to
sample the nocturnal delicacies a couple times while I was in Taipei and I
really enjoyed it.
One of the most famous night markets is the Shilin night market. No
matter what night it is, there are tons of interesting people.
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When I was at Yale, I lived right next to a restaurant
called Ivy Noodle. I had a couple go-to dishes and one of them was the scallion
pancake. When I found scallion pancakes in Taipei, I was overjoyed and came
back to the same stall multiple times.
Through all my journeys, I have enjoyed the Taiwanese delicacies the most.
I was waiting for the xiao long bao and night market mentions! What did you think of Din Tai Fung? I went to one in China and thought it was really overrated, though I'm guessing the ones in Taiwan are better. Have you had sheng jian bao before? (They're a Shanghainese dish.) They have a thicker doughier shell and are pan-fried, so they're crispy on the bottom and soft on the top. Did you have hot soybean milk and you tiao (deep-fried dough sticks), a traditional Taiwanese breakfast combination?
ReplyDeleteI loved DTF! To be fair, I don't have any other xiao long bao places to use as comparison so maybe I simply like the type of food instead of the particular restaurant.
DeleteI googled sheng jian bao and it kind of looks like something they had at the Chinese restaurant down the street in Minnesota. I can't remember the taste, but it looks yummy.
No you tiao for me, but I'll have to try next time!
There is a DTF in Los Angeles! But the one in Taipei has xiao long bao filled with truffle (delicious!)--something that I haven't seen in any other locations.
ReplyDelete