Among the many questions I've gotten from my friends about Taiwan (about the people, the area, my house, my kitchen, my room, etc.), I think the most important one we all can agree on, and can't help but be curious about, is this:
How's the food?
Quite frankly, food here is DELICIOUS. I'm not trying to brag or shove it in anyone's face but Taiwanese food is amazing, and it helps that there are countless numbers of food establishments--vendors and restaurants alike--down just about every single street. From typical pork belly rice to the infamous stinky tofu, homemade seafood porridge to tender oyster omelets, Taiwanese comfort food not only evokes the warmth of down to earth, home-style cooking at its finest, but also strongly ties in with my own sense of cultural identity, as do all different types of food, all over the world. But that's for another blog post :)
So I guess from now on I'll be posting about my food outing adventures on By the Spoonful too =) as long as I remember to bring along my camera.
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Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese institution. It is a world famous dumpling house that has establishments in, I think, 10 countries? One of the chief reasons why I love Din Tai Fung is because they steam their dumplings. I know of several restaurants out there that lather their dumplings in extra, unnecessary oil, so I appreciate that Din Tai Fung leaves their delicacies alone, letting the natural flavors of the ingredients speak for themselves.
Anyways, appetizers first! We always order kao fu (top) and xiao cai (bottom).
Kao fu is a wheat-gluten, which is used as a meat-substitute in Asian dishes, often braised in a sweet and savory sauce along with other ingredients, and served cold. I actually didn't know it was a wheat-gluten til 5 minutes ago, so I'm actually pretty surprised hahahaha but it has the texture of tofu and is really addicting. Xiao Cai is basically a small dish of vegetables--tofu strips, bean sprouts, seaweed-- drizzled with a vinegar dressing, on the lighter side and also, very addicting and a must try if you ever eat here.
I also never knew there was a such a thing as young or old ginger until I came to the Din Tai Fung in Taipei.
The ginger slices above are from a young ginger and has a lighter yellow color and milder taste. Young ginger is mostly used for toppings or eaten as is, usually dipped in vinegar or soy sauce. Old ginger is the one we most often find in supermarkets, and are the ones used at the Din Tai Fung in Arcadia, CA (the Din Tai Fung I used to frequent). Mostly used for cooking, from soups to stir-fried or braised dishes, old ginger is juicier and has a much stronger flavor. Ginger is gaining a lot of popularity and I always see healthy smoothie recipes that call for ginger slices. Boiling water with some black sugar and ginger slices makes for a great cold remedy too!
I don't eat my dumplings dipped in vinegar let alone accompanied with ginger slices. Apparently that's how you're supposed to eat the dumplings, and apparently it's 10x more delicious that way, but I just never got around doing so and it's become a habit to not reach for those ginger slices. I mean, I'm all for trying out new things, so maybe the next time I go... :)
Xiao long bao! Or steamed pork dumplings! The fame and fortune of Din Tai Fungs all over the world, but not my personal favorite. Each dumpling is juicy and contains just about a spoonful of soup. I always nibble a bit of the dumpling skin first to drink the soup, usually burning my tongue in the process.
Xiao long bao up close.
THESE are my favorite :) Vegetarian mushroom dumplings! They don't serve these at the Din Tai Fung back in SoCal, but I'd choose these any day over all the other dumpling choices! Each dumpling contains mushroom slivers, finely finely chopped green vegetables and what I think are cellophane noodles (crystal noodles, vermicelli, etc.). For all you meat lovers out there, TRY THESE and you might just change your mind about vegetables ^_^
My dad's favorite vegetable and meat dumplings! The vegetable to meat ratio is, I'd say, about 3:1? Maybe? Don't take my word for it? I felt that the ratio back at the Arcadia store was more of a fifty-fifty, but I appreciate the extra veggies in these dumplings. They use a different type of vegetable here too, but I honestly can't tell the vegetables apart so I won't say.
Last but not least, DESSERT!
We always end our Din Tai Fung lunch/dinner with these red bean and taro steamed dumplings. I'm a red bean lover, but I'd have to say the taro dumplings in Taiwan taste a lot better than the red bean ones. The taro is slightly sweetened, but not overwhelming, and has a smooth, silky texture. Unlike the ones from back in Arcadia, which I personally felt were too sweet, the red bean dumplings here actually taste like legitimate red beans in paste formation, not a sugary mush (no offense Arcadia store, I'm sorry).
TARO.
RED BEAN.
I've had Din Tai Fung three times since arriving in Taipei: twice with my family, and once with my family + uncle and aunt. The last time with my aunt and uncle I'm pretty sure I overstuffed myself, to the point where I announced I wouldn't eat Din Tai Fung ever again.
Which we all know is a lie.
It's been three days and though I can't really stand the thought of dumplings right this moment, I'm definitely craving some taro and red bean...dumplings. Hah okay just kidding.
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