I’m currently staying in Shilin in Taipei, where the famous Shilin night market is located:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilin_Night_Market

So far I’ve tried to eat my way from one end of the street to the other, but unfortunately I just can’t eat that much.  Many of the old timer food vendors are gone or sold to new owners.  There used to be a guy who sold great marinaded cold cuts, but he retired.  :(

At the entrance to the shopping street, there’s a push cart vendor who sells cow tongue shaped bread/pastry that’s quite good.  Inside the main food vendor building (across from the MRT station) many of the old dishes like fried tofu, tempura, oyster omelette’s, etc. are no longer good.  But you can find some new dishes.  Further in the back, I heard some ladies speak Vietnamese, and the booth they operated sold excellent soups.

The old Fu Le’ shabu shabu on Tsen Doh Rd Section 4 #75 is still very crowded, and has 2 competitors that moved in next door.  Competition is fierce as the competitors are offering all you can eat for NT 200 ($6).  Fu Le’ also expanded to additional seating next door.  Unfortunately, I think they’re cutting corners on the soup base, because it taste like…  water.

I did find a great fried chicken place in Shilin Night Market (buy from guy on right):

I’m off to Taichung tomorrow, will report any worthy finds. 

Very cool!  Can’t wait for the next update…any pics of food?

ask where the shaved ice place is..it’s down the street somewhere….that place is amazing..where it’s literally shaved ice..peanut flavor is best.

Man, momo I am utterly jealous of you. All my life, I haven’t found a better place to fill up your stomach than Taiwan.

Sometimes I sit at my desk in Orange County and dream of the mouth watering foods that old-timers in push carts can make.

I look forward to your pics that will materialize these memories.

Man, what would I give for some: octopus balls, stinky tofu, squid on a stick, pigs feet and oyster omelets.  I was last back in 06; and you are right, most places seemed to all taste the same.  That is the real bummer to globalization; almost everyone uses the same ingredients!  Have fun momo, always envy your food budget!

Gua baa cha kha chui!

I have been looking for authentic stinky tofu in the states for years but I have concluded that stinky tofu is the only Taiwan deli item that no US establishment has been able to accurately reproduce.  Based on my understanding of how stinky tofu is made, I can understand why.  Taiwan street food started going downhill during the 90s when the government health authorities began inspecting and licensing street vendors.  I fondly remember the good old days when street vendors “washed” the dishes by dipping them in bucket of dirty water behind their stalls.  I think salmonella, e coli, and hepatitis B are the magic ingredients that made old style Taiwan street food taste so good.

momopi - 05 April 2009 03:12 AM

I’m off to Taichung tomorrow, will report any worthy finds. 

I hope you had some great sun cakes in Taichung.  Who would have thought that two good things, sugar and lard, would taste so great together.

don’t forget about the:

shao long baus!!!

oooohh, i could just taste them right now…

Chicken in Yilan   @_@

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yilan_County,_Taiwan

I went to the hot springs at Chiaohsi (Jiaoxi) in Yilan, on the NE coast of Taiwan.  Being a tourist, my friends insisted on taking me to their famous kiln cooked chicken restaurant:

http://www.0918717288.com/

They cook the chicken inside these ceramic vats that reminded me of the Big Green Egg:
http://www.biggreenegg.com/

Basically, you order a chicken and some “mountain veggies and mushrooms” on the side.  The chicken is cooked in such a way that the oil drips out but the meat is juicy, and the skin slightly crispy.  Bamboo shoot soup is free (self serve).

UNFORTUNATELY, the chicken cost NT 550 each ($16.50 USD) and they gave us one that was already cooked and had been sitting there for a bit.  So the skin wasn’t crispy anymore.  :(  And the chicken is served whole, you have to rip it yourself.  The soup?  Tasted like it was made with instant noodle seasoning packets.

The chicken was nice and tender, but I’m not so sure about being non-greasy.  After eating it you do feel the grease, and is it really that much better than a Costco chicken??  At $16.50, I think it’s an over-priced tourist trap gimmick. My cell phone camera sucks so here’s a few from their web site:

p.s.  also got some cold cuts at another place nearby:

Cold cuts are OK, the spicy preserved veggies in the pot is excellent.  If you see ice cream shops on the street here, get pineapple flavor.  Peanut butter flavor ice cream sucks here, it’s better in Keelung.

I think I had that Chicken before; it’s popular in the mountainous areas, something like wild mountain chicken right?

Good evening over there!  Looks like you been busy…  I heard from a friend who just came back, she went to a restaurant in Taipei where you can fish out your own shrimp; and they of course cook it for you, heard of it?

man.  you are making me hungry momopi.  i went to TW a couple yrs ago and did a bit of a food tour.  can’t find anything like it here in the US!

i especially miss these: sun jien bao

momo, you’re not a true TW foodie unless you make it to Tainan!  i’m counting on you to show these ppl something they’ve never seen before, not just pictures of roasted chicken and pao tsai (kimchee)!

For 生煎包 you could go to Shida night market (師大夜市/師大路夜市) in Taipei:

http://106.travel-web.com.tw/

http://mag.udn.com/mag/happylife/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=284&f_SUB_ID=2613&f_ART_ID=78763

I’m heading out to Kaoshiung tomorrow.  May or may not make it to Tainan, we’ll see.

momopi - 14 April 2009 04:34 PM

 

Yikes, that’s a crazy line for 生煎包, are the customers being served by some betel nut beauties off camera?  Based on the length and the ethnic composition of the line, it looks like Fry’s on the morning after Thanksgiving.

geez.  that is a crazy line…..................but so worth it

Hey, I’d walk a million miles for some 生煎包 and Chips !!

I just gotta go to Asia one Day!! Thanks for sharing all this Momo!!

ummm…having trouble posting photo…

If Momo gets tired of Taiwan, he can cross the sea and take a noodle tour.

>_>  I’m in Taipei right now but, due to recent typhoon, it’s really not a good time to travel around the island right now.

I am so hungry right now…