hey there everyone today i'm going to share with you some top eats for Taipei.
As an international food capital Taipei is a dynamic city of modernity, Street food
and fusion foods. Virtually any diet will be able to find a Taiwanese dish to
tempt your taste buds.
Now what better way to see the city then through the food
so today i am going to take a food tour
or I'm going to see the city sights and its food
through Taipei Eats. What's the flavor of Taiwan? Are there many flavors or popular flavors..
So we get this question a lot ...like it's really difficult to have
like a main dish in Taiwan, because we have so many different variation of foods and
when you get a lot of that
a little bit of sweet profile in our savoury foods. And we also like to mash in
a mixture of flavours, which the contrast boosts the other flavours.
Like my grandma would use like pear or Apple and they would put salt on it.
So the saltiness
boosts the sweetness of the Apple and the pear.
Oh.
So that's how you get sweet things to taste sweeter. One of my favorite Street
snacks is called scallion bread.
The Taiwanese however know it is the thousand layer bread due to its many
layers
You'll often find the Taiwanese are queued up for it . Lightly salted. ...Scallions in it.
Crunchy but spongey. Glutinous rice... with the inside having sesame powder and peanut powder on the outside..
It's one of our most favorite desserts so you're find stands like this, everywhere
around the city. Next up is stinky tofu and it's a favorite of Taiwanese.
Why do they call it stinky tofu? Well...
It's exactly... what you smell is what you get in your mouth.
yeah.
That's it very distinct taste.
I wanted to say that it smells like stinky socks. I'm gonna go in for a second bite.
And see if I can't get used to it.
That second bite was better. I think it's like one of those things where you keep trying it..
you start to like it. So people in Taiwan, a lot of people complain that
is not as stinky and had a strong flavour as before
Like myself.
I would like it to have
a stronger flavour. A lot of them use the...brine. So they ferment it for a really short time.
that's right right
So they ferment it for a really short time, so it doesn't have that strong
flavor that you used to have like 10 years ago!
We like it stinkier. They want it stinkier! than that
The smell is pleasant for us.
So we wouldn't say it's stinky.
I need a breath mint, I'm still I'm... really smelling that stinky tofu.
Guan Bao or the Taiwanese sandwich is typically made of a bao bun with braised pork and
And we also get the cilantro, peanut powder combination, which is really
Taiwanese.
They made my life with vegetables
There's this very sweet flavor to it.
And it's complimented with the peanut powder and combined with cilantro , ... omigosh.
It's like a knock out. I'm going to try this sauce.
Give it a little punch! That clump of chili will either do me good or do me
wrong.... but it's really good.
Actually, I think I'll put more sauce.
So these are cold noodles with some sesame dressing and some bits of garlic
And this is a popular Taiwanese hangover dish. The noodles
have been cooked in very hot water and then immediately
cooled off so. that they separate and produce a spongey feel
This cheesy blinkin sign is to let people know that the store sells betel nut, a
mild intoxicant similar to having a can of beer.
It gives you a bit of a buzz it doesn't have any tobacco it in. But you bite it...
at the top
spit it in the cup.
You chew it for a while.
It doesn't taste...it doesn't taste very good.
Bitter... bitter.
It tastes like a bitter plant.
Taxi drivers and bus drivers, who are really into this. And you'll find it in
like India or Burma...
You see these red stains everywhere. Eventually, if you eat enough if it
It can stain your teeth. And give you oral cancer.
It's supposed to give you this..
feeling that's equivalent to a can of beer.
Yeah I think I'm starting to feel a little heady.
A little light-headed.
It's...
... a little short of breath.
Very relaxied. I'm starting to feel relaxed.
I've always been kind of curious but afraid
of trying it.
On a food tour though...
You know you're at least under guided wing, trying this!
Here I am at Bei Min Fong Lin Bin. I really had to go slowly there. Bin is ice and this place is known
for their sorbet. They make their sorbet daily, fresh. It's made through water and sugar and
it's churned and churned and churned until they get the texture and flavor
just right and if they don't have the texture right or the flavor
right and they toss it out and they start all over again.
She's just packing it in. Packing it. So i ordered the salted plum sorbet with the pineapple.
One of the popular flavors here are like taro, mung bean, dragon eye,
pineapple... these are all the flavors that you do not suspect sorbet to come in.
A perfect ending to my day is found in a teaspoon.
What do you feel is distinct about Taiwanese food that's different from anywhere else in the world?
Probably that we don't have a big dish, like a national dish. We have a lot of small dishes.
A lot of street snacks. Do you feel like there's any kind
of distinct thing... - Probably just the variety of food.
Variety of foods. Okay.
And Jean was right, variety it is! Taipei has several night markets which showcase
endless varieties of food and street snacks. So I'm at Raohe Night Market . It's New Year's Eve
These streets are packed.
You see like the tables and chairs set up in the middle of the street
It''s a huge food night market . The foods that you'll find here,
are kinda what's in vogue in Taipei. Each hawker has their own type of style.. their own
sauces as well as, flavors.
Sometimes they prepare it just a little differently.
There's a general rule of thumb when you eat. When you're in Taiwan, when you see a crowd,..
It means that the food there is really good.
Taiwan is the home of bubble tea, a drink loved by Taiwanese and travelers alike.
This milky tea was originally designed with tapioca balls so that you could
chew your drink.
It's Xiao Long Bao
in China. And it's Tang Bao. She's calling it Tang, which is soup
Bao, which is .. you know..
a bao, dumping!
So there's soup inside here. -Yeah, so a little bit of ginger and then this soup
this other sauce in here and now
I like the vinegar , soy sauce. See inside there's like that's all soup.
ok
But it's hot. I always burn myself when I eat it. I want to call these like
tako balls.
They're like squid
in like little balls. Deep fried.
Holy cow. These are amazing! Wow you can taste the garlic! Ooh.
these are amazing ! Try it Sharon.
This is like the snack of the Century for me.
Taipei has a handful of night markets for those who want to shop and eat on
the streets at night.
One of my favorite markets is Shilin night market, a healthy dose of Taiwanese
drinks, jellies, ... dessert snacks... and Taiwanese delicacies.
It tastes like regular egg. - It's just tinier?
The sauce is what makes the flavor.
For 30NT dollars I got these candied tomato
plums.
Tomatoes. I didn't know you could candy them.
Wow these are really good! There's a hard candy coating on the outside of
that crunches when you bite into it and I can taste plum. It's like a lee hing plum.
I want to say. Tomato...
acidic...very sweet, ...
and plummy taste. I wish we had these at home.
Wherever home is when I travel.
It's like a deep-fried squid. It's got garlic and cilantro in it.
It looks really
soft when he was cutting into it.
it was really kind of soft right? Do you feel like it's buttery?
It's not overcooked that's for sure. He cooked it just right.
The cilantro really nails it in.
and the garlic chunks, it's kind of raw garlic... i love raw garlic.
All that just seals the flavor in.
So this is Mien Shen? And it has...
Oysters, this is fishcake, and then there's these noodle things, and then chinese parsley.
And then they put vinegar in there. Mien is like noodle and Shien
is string. This is a favorite dish in Taiwan.
So this is really gooey and almost hard to get the noodles on the spoon.
I taste fish flakes.
Bonito. That's exactly what I tasted.
and then you can add more garlic or you can add more vinegar if you want to.
So it's an interesting flavor. - It is an interesting flavor and this because of noodles are
very gooey and with the broth it's kind of pastey.
Yeah I know it's like thick. Yeah it's not a soup, it's not a broth, it's like a thick...
(fish face)
I like the Chinese parsley..or the cilantro.
That's exactly what I like that I taste. I feel like it
can really fill you up. - Yeah, that's probably why it's cheap and filling!
That's it. So I got some Chi Dan Gao.
which is this mini bread cupcake . Kinda tastes like a little bit of an egg sweet bread.
The prepares it like fresh. Hot. He just makes it right there in front of your eyes.
And heats it up.
These can be pretty addictive too.
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travel safe , smart and fun and may the GRRR be with you .
I feel a little buzzed right now actually.
That wasn't even five minutes.
I would not be trying that any other time. Other than now. But it's cool I got to try it.