At the conclusion of yesterday's entry, I claimed to have covered everything that we'd done in Taipei during the day and I said that, because of a time constraint, I'd write a separate entry about night time activities. Well the truth is that was a lie. I almost covered everything that we did during the day but somehow I forgot to mention one of our favorite parts of Taipei--the mornings. Why? Because breakfast is great and Taiwanese breakfast is especially great. So once again, now that I've explained the nonsensical title of this chapter, allow me to pick up where I left off yesterday...
I'm not one to post pictures of everything that I eat. I find it slightly annoying and to everyone who posts pictures of delicious looking breakfast foods and sandwiches I especially dislike you for rubbing in my face some of the things that I want the most but can not have. You're the reason I've had several dreams about walking out of Gene's with a pound of freshly carved roast beef in my hand, excited to go home and make a sandwich only to wake up in Korea where roast beef may as well be derived from unicorns and sandwiches look more like things you'd throw at the opposing team from the bleachers at Wrigley.
I've digressed.
Prior to the trip, Caroline found some famous Taiwanese breakfast spots. One was located on the second floor of what appeared to be an indoor market. It was really well known and the line went from counter where you placed your order, through the seating area, down two flights of stairs, onto the sidewalk and around the corner. We waited for about 45 minutes and we were glad we did. I'll remind you again--I'm not one to photograph food so I'll forewarn you that the following images are of poor composition and slightly graphic:
You were warned. This photograph--which looks like two bowls of soup sitting next to...possibly a trash bag and two unidentifiable things wrapped in paper--was what the fuss was all about. You're actually looking at two bowls of warm soy milk beside two breakfast sandwiches, (under the paper), and what I can only describe as a breakfast dumping of some sort, (in the plastic bag). Here's a better, or possibly worse, picture:
I told you it would get graphic. It turns out I'm just as bad at describing food as I am at photographing it so please excuse the following lackluster descriptions of the above. The two sandwiches have switched places, and inside of the once suspected trash bag you can see the half devoured dumpling. It was labeled as a radish doughnut and it tasted similar to an egg roll, the difference being that egg rolls are deep fried and this was baked. In my humble and glaringly unprofessional opinion, the sandwich on the right was the better of the two though I think the sandwich on the left is the reason why this particular place is famous. The sesame bread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. There was an omelet in the middle. The inside of the bread may have been buttered. The sandwich on the left was also made using the same sesame bread but instead of using an omelet or some roast beef to complete the sandwich, this one used more bread. It was shaped like a churro and it tasted like fried dough, (how's that for a food critique?) I remember thinking if only someone had the nerve to combine the two sandwiches into one...and then a few days later we found this place:
Where they did this:
It's hard to tell in this picture but there is an omelet hidden beneath the heaps of dough.
That about wraps up our daytime excursions in Taipei so now, as promised, I'll move onto our Taipei nightlife. There are only two things worth noting in this section--Mengjia Longshan Temple and night markets.
Completed in 1738 Longshan Temple is where countless generations of Taiwanese citizens have come to pray and seek guidance. It was packed full of people offering tributes to the various Buddha statues situated inside the different buildings and I would have felt really uncomfortable taking pictures once inside the temple grounds. The traditional Chinese architecture was stunning though so I took a few before we entered.
Second on the list, (though first on mine), of not to be missed night time attractions are Taipei's numerous night markets. As soon as the sun sets and the street lights turn on, these open-air markets spring up all over the city and they bustle until the wee,wee hours of the morning. The markets are great places to wander through, each offering games, shopping, foot massages, snake-venom liquor, and most importantly, cheap and delicious food. The street food in Taipei is so far unrivaled by the other places I've visited. The options are unlimited--everything from dumplings to noodles to soup with noodles to fresh fruit juices, to various chicken parts--I could go on for a long time but thankfully I took some pictures.
Vietnamese sandwiches:
The front of this stall had a picture of a swordfish hastily breaching water. The people running the stall were frying what appeared to be lumps of fish paste and the patrons were dousing them in sauces so my best guess is that signage translated to something along the lines of "Deep Fried Lumps O'Swordfish". There's a pretty good chance I'm wrong:
Stinky Tofu:
The Cart of Random Edibles:
An Entire Cooked Chicken:
There was so much food to choose from it became overwhelming. After a few nights of trial and error, I am proud to present my two favorite Taipei night market fares. First up but second on my list, the Taipei Style Chicago Style Hot Dog, (not the actual name but the likeness was mind-boggling):
Take a look at the right side of the grill and find the sausages that appear to be suspiciously lightly colored. HA! They aren't sausages at all, they're sausage casings that have been filled with rice and when you order a sausage at this place, they grill one of the rice casings and split it down the middle so it can serve as the bun for the actual sausages which are pictured above, stacked up on the left side of the frame. On the far left you'll see various tubs of different vegetables and sauces. These are the toppings and that guy in the red apron is pretty liberal about piling them on. The end result looks like this:
Not impressed? Well how does an ice-cream burrito sound? If the look on your face in any way suggests hints of repulsion then I recommend clicking that tiny "X" in the top right hand corner of your browser. If you're still here then allow me to present to you the greatest culinary achievement in the history of ice-cream.
First, grab yourself a wood planer and shave about a handful's amount from the top of your cinder-block sized cube of peanut brittle:
Toss the peanut brittle powder onto a round piece of rice paper and add three scoops of ice cream in this order: one scoop of taro, one scoop of peanut, and one scoop of pineapple:
Top it off with some fresh cilantro and quickly roll it up like you would a burrito. The end result looks like this and as good as it looks, it tastes thousands of times better:
We had three of these--each--in three nights, including one from a different stall than the one pictured above. The cilantro at this place, which was located near the front of the night market just west of Longshan Temple, was fresher and their ice cream tasted like it was homemade. I could have eaten gallons of the pineapple flavor but I'm watching my figure.
After a night of heavy food intake, the responsible thing to do is to find yourself a nice place where you can sit down and enjoy a refreshing can of Taiwan's choice lager, Taiwan Beer:
It didn't taste good by any means, not even close actually, but the logo's become one of my all time favorites.
