Day 5

Today I had the most amazing ramen ever.

Ramen of the Gods

Christine and Beatrice call it "bone soup."  Apparently the broth is made out of bones that are blended for two days straight.  There are noodles and seaweed and pork, along with some other greens.  We got it with eggs, probably the most delicious eggs ever in the history of the world- I think they were hard boiled, and marinated in some sauce, and they were sooo good.  We also got some croquettes and tofu along side it, but they were barely worth mentioning next to these other plates.

Most Amazing Eggs Ever

For desert, we got "ice"- ice topped with "grass jelly," tarot and yam balls.  So good.  Christine said that I don't have white-people taste buds, which made me feel proud.

"Ice"

After this, I was very seriously stuffed.  I was still pretty seriously stuffed when we got to this fancy French restaurant that Christine was really excited to take Beatrice, her best friend here who had studied abroad in Paris, for quite some time.  When we got there we were greeted by the chef, a prestigious Swiss drunk who moved to Taiwan a couple years ago.  Unfortunately, the food wasn't the most noteworthy thing about this establishment.  The chef came over to chat us up not once, not twice, but seven times.  Talking about his age, he shared that "although there may be snow on the rooftop, there's still fire in the furnace" while he thrusted his hips forward.  After treating us to a cup of free wine, he walked around the table asking for kisses on the cheek, and one point whispering "next time I'll turn my head."  We each took turns entertaining him (read: taking one for the team) while he rambled on about this or that and the other three at the table got to enjoy each others company for a brief, uninterrupted moment.  Christine (who I should mention was sitting farthest away from his chosen hovering spot and therefore experienced the least of this man's creepiness) managed to have a fruitful, productive conversation with the man, where she picked up a few very good cooking tips.

Desert

Anyway, onto the food: we got and shared: foie gras, escargo, two different pastas (one with prawns and tomato sauce and another with a creamy mushroom sauce) duck with the chef's "special orange sauce" (not on the menu, big whoop) and then a desert that he called "sauvignon."  It was my first time eating foie gras, and it was pretty delicious.  I had eaten snails once in Spain but they were prepared very differently and I didn't like them very much- the escargo was really good.  The pastas were both pretty delicious as well, especially the creamy mushroom one.  The duck was the only plate that kinda disappointed- it was a little rarer than I like, and the "special sauce" really wasn't that great.  The desert, however, was AMAZING.  It was beaten egg whites, licquor (we chose cherry flavored kirsch), sugar and some white whine, heated with a little scone on the side.  At the time, the desert made all the creepiness we put up with worth it.  In retrospect, a big part of me wishes we would have told him to leave us alone when he first made us uncomfortable.  Oh well, I guess...

Day 4

First day waking up in Taipei.
First breakfast in Taipei: honey nut cheerios.
Something really cool about Taipei is there's a gym where you can go for about $2 an hour, and it isn't too far from Christine's house.  We went there, and it was lovely, and then of course by the time we got back to the house where Christine's angelic roomie was preparing us lunch, I was very hungry and equally grumpy.  Nothing if not consistent, Christine was amused/not concerned with my plight.
Unsurprisingly, the feast was well worth the wait- tofu-spagetti, garlic spinach, two other types of tofu, the tenderest chicken ever, bamboo, and noodle soup awaited us.  To top it off, desert was a "sweet soup."  Christine described it best: "it's this sweet broth with this lychee type stuff that isn't really lychee, and mushroomy stuff but it isn't mushroom..." The "mushroomy stuff" kinda tasted like cartilage, but Christine's roomie said it was vegetarian. Go figure.

From there we took the most picturesque MRT ride ever to where we tried to ride a gondola up a beautiful foresty mountain where there's a food court, a collection of tea rooms and gorgeous views of Taipei.  We tried to time it so that we'd be on the gondola for the sunset; unfortunately, the wait was 3 1/2 hours, and it would've been dark by the time we got on.  We ended up taking a cab to the top.  Stepping out of the cab, we were greeted with one of the most horrible stenches you can imagine.  I mentioned it to Christine and her friends, and they bursted out laughing- "it's stinky tofu!!"  I had read about this mysterious bean curd in the guide books, but couldn't have imagined how poignant the smell they were describing actually was.  Of course, I had to try it, but not before the chair I was sitting in decided to pick a fight with me for trying to scoot in without getting out with it.  The rusty chair won, resulting in the bandaging of my nail, the state it will probably remain in for the duration of my trip.  The tofu was not as bad as it smelled, and the sauce on it was actually really good.  Overall, it was pretty tasty.  Nonetheless, I don't think I would eat it again.  The smell stayed with me for a few hours, and I don't think I would want to go through that again.  We walked around the gorgeous picturesque mountain and picked a tea place to rest where we tried to watch to sunset, but either a mountain or the smog was in the way.  My coffee addiction kicked in right then so I got a cappuccino, but I got to taste everyone else's tea- there was one that tasted like oolong, one that tatsted like flowers, and a third that tasted like hot tang.


We rode the gondolas back down (terrifying!) and went to this restaurant famous for its spicy food.  Since most of the markets haven't been open because of the new year they had a modified menu which (apparently) was pretty disappointing, but I thought the food was really, really good!  I had the most AMAZING silky delicious tofu ever in the history of the world.  There was also tender chicken, super spicy beef with chillies, cabbage with bacon and green beans.  It was super spicy, a little too spicy for some people at the table- my eyes definitely watered and my nose definitely ran- but I was very pleased.

We all came back to Christine's place, hung out, changed our clothes, left, went to some lounge where we had an amazing lychee cocktail thing, came home and went to sleep.

Day 3

The first thing I ate today was "nian-gao"- a slippery pan-fried rice block.  I've eaten this before at dim sum places but not on its own- I had only had it as a wrapper for veggies or seafood.  This time I had it dipped in soy sauce and it was so good.  It was accompanied by some yummy cheesy foccacia style bread.

From there we were off to this famous temple built in honor of Confucius, but of course I was still hungry (in case this hasn't registered yet, I can't function without a good-big-breakfast.)  I got one of those buns filled with pork dumplings (yum!) and then a coffee (looks like I'm gonna be having a daily cup, at least until the jetlag has completely worn off, which may never happen.)  We walked around the appropriately very simple temple and then ventured off to this cute little pedestrian row lined with stalls selling tea, snacks and trinkets.  I "made a cupcake" by stirring sugar in a little pan over hot coals and adding a little baking soda which was cool to watch grow but wasn't very tasty.  I bought a couple souvenirs, tried some cold oolong tea, and then we were off to the train station back to Taipei!  While killing time at the train station we went to a "sushi boat" Japanese restaurant.  I wasn't very hungry but Christine talked me into eating some sashimi, okra and a hand roll.

Of course, by the time we were off the train I was FAMISHED.  Christine's roommate, god bless her soul, heated up some AMAZING food for me- beef with seitan and some sauce, rice, greens, bamboo with carrots and mushrooms and another seitan dish.  While I waited for this to heat up I had a couple dried mango pieces but Christine, who was greatly amused by my misery, cut me off, not wanting me to ruin my appetite.

After lunch we chilled- I updated this blog and Christine took a nap.  After that we were off to one of the few establishments that was open (a lot is still shut down because of the new year)- the mall.  Our original intent was to get these famous dumplings that "literally burn your mouth," so when we found out there was a two hour wait I wasn't too heartbroken- as delicious as these dumplings sounded, they also seemed a little scary.
We decided to eat "curry"- a plate of food that comes with white rice, meat/topping of your choice, and "curry sauce."  Feeling a little nostalgic for Sevilla I got vegetable croquettes to accompany the rice with potato sauce.
After that we did a little shopping, where I was successful in acquiescing some AWESOME purple running shoes.  From there we went to the night market right by Christine's home, and upon arriving Christine and her friend Beatrice's mouths dropped- they had never seen it so dead, so desolate, so empty.  I wasn't able to taste some of the foods Christine was excited to introduce me to, but I did get a passion fruit green tea a-la-quickly, with yummy crunchy seeds and all, and it was delicious.

Day 2

This was our only full day in Tainan, Chinese New Year!! Happy new year!!

Her family provided me with this yummy sesame-red-bean-filled-cracker-cake thing, and a pineapple filled shortbread cookie/cake very typical of Taiwan- so typical that Christine is sick of even looking at the wrapping.  I don't usually love fruit-desert stuff (unless it's straight up-un-messed with fruit), but like I said I'm being as open minded as possible about everything I eat and it was pretty good!
In the car on our way to temple we had roasted and seasoned seaweed, just like we used to have it at Christine's house back in the day.

Once we got to the temple but before praying, we walked into the most crowded cafeteria ever for a free vegetarian feast- chow mein, tofu skin, seitan w/ mushrooms & bamboo and mushroom soup.  This was the first meal where there were designated food serving chopsticks and food eating chopsticks.  As we finished the plates of food people who I assume work at the temple came around with huge vats of food and replenished whatever any table was running low on.  Naturally, we stuffed ourselves silly and then went out to light incense, burn (fake) money and pray.  From there we went to Christine's oldest aunt's house where there is a goose farm and ripe tomatoes for picking.  The baby geese were super cute, and we spent a little while picking tomatoes but stopped after the bird poop smell started to get to us.

We snacked on candy and crackers as we drove to a second temple, and from there embarked on the long drive back to Tainan.  On the way back to the house we stopped at a vegetarian cafeteria style restaurant where I got to try all kinds of food- there was sushi, bittermelon, yucca, bamboo, seaweed salad, seitan, different mushroom dishes, yam, sweet rice, tofu and even some green vegetables!  The only thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the bitter melon, but Christine said that it's really good for you so I finished eating what was left of it.

We went home and I took Christine's Glee-card.  It was magical.  I passed out after four episodes but she stayed up for twice as many.  It's no surprise that she's hooked.

Day 1

I got to Christine's house around 7, after being dropped off by the sweetest taxi driver in the history of the world.  I got into bed, chit chatted with her for a little while and then took a nap.  As we were getting ready to leave for the south, where her family lives, I was introduced to her roommate, a ridiculously sweet old lady.  She gave us oranges and I ate mine right away.  I later found out that they were supposed to be for the road, but I don't think she minded too much.  It was pretty juicy and sweet, but I've never been one to get too excited about oranges, ya know.

We packed up our things and left for the train station, first stopping in the mall to visit Christine's friend who works in the most delicious doughnut shop ever, in the food court of the mall.  When we walked into the mall, all the workers we walked past bowed and said "welcome" in Mandarin.  I didn't know how to respond, but luckily we only passed four people before we got to the elevator.  Christine's friend who was working is Christine's roommate's granddaughter.  She was really sweet and hooked us up with some free doughnuts.  Now, a lot of you out there know that I'm not a very picky eater, the three things I generally don't eat are 1) lettuce in burritos 2) pancakes and 3) doughnuts.  However, I came into this trip saying as far as  food goes, I'm willing to try everything with as open of a mind as possible.  So we bought six doughnuts, her friend hooking us up with a couple free ones, and I got a cappuccino and Christine got matcha milk.  We didn't eat all the doughnuts right away, but the ones we tried were really good!!  Much lighter than the ones we have at home.  Not so overly glazed.  They were spongy, with the same consistency through and through.  I tried a chocolate one, a "classic" one and a strawberry one.  Apparently, strawberries are in season, so this doughnut had strawberry filling, strawberry glaze and dried strawberries on top. So good.  The cappuccino was just like cappuccinos everywhere else- milk and espresso.

Then we went to another part of the food court and got this beef teriyaki "sandwich," with rice patties for the bread.  We were both pretty stuffed from the doughnuts, so we saved it for the train ride.  The bullet train took us from Taipei to Tainan in less than two hours, but we got hungry enough to eat it.  And it was so yummy!  We also had another orange.  Anyway, I wonder where we can get that style rice bread back home.  There must be someplace...

We were greeted at the train station by two of Christine's cousins, one of their 2 1/2 year old sons and her aunt.  Once in the car, our first stop was at a bubble milk tea stand.  Unfortunately, this first stand was all out of the bubbles.  But the second stand did not disappoint.  All I have to say about that is quickly, eat your heart out. So much better than that über-sweet stuff we settle for back home (sigh.)

When we got to Christine's aunt's place, I was greeted with teriyaki beef jerky (more tender than what I remember from back home) roasted chestnuts (just like momma makes em) and mountain apple, guava, and this other fruit that kinda tasted like a mix between an apple and a pear.  We had our first home-cooked meal of the trip, and it was quite extravagant.  There was fish with asparagus, dried fish, seitan w/mushrooms and bamboo, pork, fish cakes, tofu skin and duck.  Everything was soooo good, especially the duck and seitan.  It was a kinda special meal because of the new year.

Then we took a nap and went to a night market.  It was kinda like a mix of a county fair and a flea market, only way better.  Christine bought some gloves, but (surprise surprise) we were mostly there to try the food.  First we had these yucca/tarot fried balls (so puffy and delicious.) Then Christine tried to get me to try this kinda spicy kinda sweet fried chicken.  When I reluctantly agreed to try a piece, telling her I wasn't hungry AT ALL, she laughed and said "sorry hun, but that's gonna happen!!"  Next we had yucca covered in molasses, one of Christine's favorite treats.  We then passed this stand with really pretty sweet-shish-kabab looking things.  She bought me the one that is the "most typical," and I ate one piece and had my first unpleasant food experience of the trip!  Turns out it was tomatoes coated in caramel. I threw the rest of the stick away.  We spent the rest of the evening people watching and releasing the fish we had won in one of the games.  Went home and passed out.  A very successful first day in Taiwan :)

Intro

Since I'm unemployed and have friends in corners of the world I've never been to, I decided to take advantage of their awesome adventures and visit while I still can.  The lovely Christine Fong has been living in Taiwan since February 2010, and for the next few weeks I'll be her useless mute shadow.
One thing Christine and I have always shared over our 7 year old friendship is an obsession with food.  When she asked me if I would give up my vegetarianism for my trip, my answer was easy to come to- "duh."  A few months later, when she sent me our itinerary, I noticed that most of our "activities" weren't landmarks, museums or activities, but were food dishes.  Clearly, I wouldn't have it any other way.  Since eating is often the most looked forward to parts of any vacation and some of my most exotic experiences here will be via my palette, I decided to keep a blog about my food adventures.  I will document everything I eat with pictures, descriptions and stories.  Although I'm doing this more for myself than for friends who might be reading, I hope you enjoy it!