A Taiwanese Feast

By Ashley

In a city with an endless number of incredible restaurants, not being able to read Chinese is a curse. There is so much that we miss as we walk down the street. Sometimes we'll catch a character or two, but knowing only one or two doesn't quite do the job and it just kills me knowing that we are missing all the signs that might alert us to some wonderful culinary option.  We're fortunate, therefore, to have Taiwanese friends who also adore food and are excited to share the riches of their culinary culture with us. They have been the key to our enjoying some amazing Taiwanese cuisine.

Last night, Frank and Jennifer (Ping An and Ijen - the same folks who took us to Sun Moon Lake), took our family to one of their favorite regular spots in a section of town called Yong Kang Jie. Yong Kang Jie is just north of Shi Da, the university we live next to, and is an area that has become popular over the last few years for its food, shops, coffee shops and tea houses. Some old Japanese era houses still exist in Yong Kang Jie, and in the evenings, the streets are crowded with people so that scooters and cars can only occasionally and very slowly sneak through. It is a wonderful place to wander.

Frank, Jennifer and their two children led us through the crowds to a side street with everything from sushi shops to brick oven pizza. However, our group entered a nondescript restaurant that housed about four tables and two private rooms. The restaurant reminded me of some of the places at which we loved to eat in China...plain decor, no frills. I was psyched!

As we entered, the fu wu yuan (manager/waitress) greeted Frank and we had a few minutes to take in the variety of creatures that inhabited the fish tanks and bowls along the back wall. It never ceases to amaze me how many types of bivalves I am not familiar with. There were bowls filled with an incredible assortment of shelled critters with slightly protruding, slimy feet. Ugly stuff indeed. These bowls were set against a background of a refrigerated, glass case that featured two parrot fish heads!  Although I am very familiar with this type of thing, it still makes me a bit sad!

The Fu wu yuan welcomed us into one of the private rooms and the feast began. First came a big plate of chao fan (fried rice) to pacify our troops of kids. We had been biking all day and they were famished. It was nothing new, but it was delicious and comforting and the kids inhaled it. Then came a dish called San Bei Ji (san bay gee) which consists of pieces of bone-in chicken, basil, garlic, huge pieces of ginger and hot peppers cooked in a hot cast iron pot. It is a traditional Taiwanese dish; I am pretty sure we never had it in China. It was delicious. 

San Bei Ji ("san bay gee")

Following the San bei Ji came Cong Bao Niu Rou ( song bow kneeoh row), beef in a brown sauce with green onions. Unlike the American granddaughter of this dish, the Taiwanese original is not heavy at all and the sauce does not overwhelm. Next came two dishes of sashimi! One dish was typical sashimi and the other was a Taiwanese version that was very quickly grilled. The Japanese occupation of Taiwan is reflected in Taiwanese architecture and, thankfully, food as well.

Cong Bao Niu Rou ("song bow kneeoh row")

The next dish worried me a bit at first as I am not a huge consumer of clams, but these were so incredibly beautiful that I decided I had to try them. They were called Hua Gua Zi and the shells had a gorgeous, lined pattern on them.  They were cooked with huge slices of ginger, lots of basil and slightly spicy red peppers and we just picked up the shells and sucked them down.  They were unbelievably good!    

Hua Gua Zi ("hwah gwah z")

Following the clams, came a plate of dry cooked shrimp with peppers and scallions.  It was called Yan Su Xia (salty, crispy shrimp).  I love shrimp and I had begun to peel and eat them when our friends smiled and told me to just chomp them right in the middle so you eat the body with the shell and leave the tail and head behind.  This dish was good, but was my least favorite.  The shells were completely edible, but they somehow took away from the taste of the shrimp.  

Yan Su Xia - Salty, crispy shrimp

Served at the same time was a very cool veggie dish called Long Xu Cai - dragon beard vegetables and called such because of the fern-like stringy portion of the vegetable. It is fabulous.  They cooked it with tons of garlic.   We had been craving good, dark greens, so this was a welcome dish.

Long Xu Cai - Dragon beard vegetables

Just when I thought there could be no more food and that my belly was sure to burst with the combination of food, wine and beer, out came the final two dishes.  The plate of Cong Hua Chao Dan (fried eggs with scallions) didn't seem appealing as I was so incredibly full, but my brother Ian tried it and grinned gleefully at me.  I dove in.  I think that those eggs were perhaps the best eggs I have ever consumed.  It could, perhaps, have been the influence of the wine, good company and the fact that Ian and Frank were playing a hilarious, crazy, Chinese hand game that included shouting and small glasses of beer, but regardless, the eggs blew me away.  As I raved about them and Frank laughed at my enthusiasm, Ian looked at me and said, "It's probably the MSG."  Kill joy. 

Cong Hua Chao Dan - scrambled eggs with scallions

The last dish was what we thought was fried squid and was called Su Zha Zhang Yu (salty, crispy squid).  It came with a small dish of some yummy pepper to dip in.  As opposed to fried calamari in the States, the batter on this dish was fine and light and the squid was tender, not rubbery.  It was delicious.  Frank and Jennifer then began to say that it wasn't squid but a bigger version of a squid and that it was some part of the legs….we thought they might have meant octopus suction cups, but I have been trying to look it up and it doesn't seem to be correct.  Whatever it was, it was outstanding.  

Zha Hua Zhu - fried squid?

At the end of the evening, Carly's blank stare and Perrin's slowly-closing eyes told us it was time to go home.  We all hobbled out of the restaurant after many "xie xie"s to the fu wu yuan and strolled home through the still-bustling alleys.  By every measure, the meal was the best we have had in Taipei.

Ning-Ning, Perrin, Julian, Carly and Frank on the way home