Saturday, May 29, 2010

新疆餅 (Xin Jiang Bread)

新疆餅 (Uyghur bread)

I didn't have anything creative to use for the title of this post. Honestly... my best alternative was 'Uyghur Bread!' Anyway, it's a weekend post, so I'll keep it short. On the back road behind 公館夜市 (Gong Guan Night Market), there's a small stand run by an old lady that specializes in 新疆餅 (xin jiang bing). It looks like hot dog cart filled with Hot Pockets, but don't be deceived, it's rather mundane looking, but it's genuinely special. Not completely unlike 燒餅 (shao bing), they're floury pockets of dough dotted with a generous helping of sesame seeds, and with filling sandwiched inside. Traditionally served salty (which is what I got), the bread pocket is lined with scallions and garlic, with an almost overwhelming spread of black pepper. The texture is hard to describe... not flaky, nor doughy, it sheers off in chunks, but is somewhat chewy. Hm, let's just say it's not a bad 30 NT ($1) investment. I'll probably wander back there for more eventually.

5 comments:

LIN said...

mmm looks good! is the vendor along the lane next to the blue building? or on tingzhou rd?

Nicholas said...

it's somewhere on tingzhou road between 公館 and 台大? sorry! that's a really long stretch of road to direct you to.

Anonymous said...

Is this some variation of shao bing? Where is this food cart? Flushing? Chinatown?

Nicholas said...

@munchimonster sorry! this is in taipei haha, i don't do a very good job delineating my time spent in Asia vs. NYC. To answer your question though, it's basically like shao bing with a heavy (although not distasteful) amount of scallions and pepper rolled inside.

joanh said...

ah yes, i've had this too!! my friend gave me a bagful. mine was crispy and chewy at the same time and crazy peppery.

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