我家涼麵 (My Family's Cold Noodles)

Another gem I found near the main campus of NTU, on 汀洲路 (Ting Zhou Road) was a small shop called 我家涼麵 or roughly translated as 'My Family's Cold Noodles.' They're a small shop that has no more than 4 tables inside, and specializes in... as the name would suggest, cold noodles. Not to be confused with Korean 냉면 (naengmyun), Chinese cold noodles are almost always served with sesame paste sauce (sort of like tahini), sliced cucumbers, and most likely bean sprouts. I, however, haven't eaten 涼麵 made in a restaurant since, well... ever. My grandfather had always said that cold food prepared in Taiwan was unhygienic (probably true), and would most likely have me crying on the toilet bowl (definitely true). I walked in bravely, with absolute determination to finally try some cold sesame noodles.



Naturally I chickened out. I know, I know, their 'thing' is cold noodles... how could I order anything else!? Dunno, I took a look at the menu and ultimately ordered a serving of Chinese style 炸醬麵 (black bean noodles) and also an order of 紅油抄手 (Sichuan style wontons). I don't remember the cost of all this, but I think the final bill was under 100 NT ($3). The black bean noodles, pictured above, were kind of weird to me since they had contained cabbage, and way more chunks of preserved tofu than I'm normally used to. The sauce was sweeter than I expected as well (I'm used to a flavor dominated by spicy and salty elements). Not to say that it was all that bad, it was just... different. To be honest, it was a nice change from most of the noodle places I frequent.



As for the 紅油抄手, I enjoyed this dish quite a bit. Midtown people might think of Sichuan style wontons as those from 'Grand Sichuan,' which is to say, bathed in a pool of chili oil... inviting only a second of pleasure prior to a world of pain. The Taiwanese variants seem much milder, with the sauce being sweetened, and sesame oil based. With the heat of the chili oil taking a backseat to other flavors, the bite-sized dumplings get to shine. The skins probably aren't made in house, but they're adequately thin, and do just enough to hold in a fairly large chunk of pork. All in all, it's a wonderful blend of sauce, pork, and wonton skin. Sigh, if not for sheer embarrassment, I would've drank the remnant sauce at the bottom of the saucer... that's how good it was.

Oh yeah, the only reason I walked into such a crappy shop to begin with? I fell in love with the name on the sign from halfway down the street.
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新疆餅 (Xin Jiang 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.
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Egg tarts from KFC

When I found out that 'Egg Tart King' in NYC had disappeared off the face of the earth, almost overnight, I was pretty depressed. It had been my go to place... a shop that I often visited prior to going to work in the mornings... a shop I'd visit on weekends when I was bored. To be frank, I went through something describable only as 'egg tart withdrawal.' Ha, okay, maybe that's not actually true... egg tarts aren't that important to my emotional well being, but I do like them a lot. Something about the piping hot custard (with a distinct temperature gradient from outside to center!) holding together a crumbly warm crust is comforting. When I eat a good egg tart, my frustrations melt away... with my only concern being how I want to approach the pastry to reduce crumblage (is that a word?). Obviously, I have a soft spot for KFC's egg tarts in Taiwan... so when I saw they had a special 'maple syrup' flavored one, I was kind of obligated to try it.

I know what you're thinking... "How in the world can a place specializing in mediocre fried chicken be good at desserts?" I'm not really sure, but I promise you they are. Their regular egg tarts aren't actually egg tarts in the traditional sense... they're actually closer to a puff pastry shell holding a gelatin based egg custard (this is so you can actually put them in your freezer to chill... also crazy good). Anyway, for 31 NT (~$1) you get an individual pastry, or for 158 NT you can get 6. These 'maple syrup' egg tarts are actually layered with a thick syrup base, covered by an egg custard top, graced with a little bit of whipped creme and maple syrup topping. The base is the same, which is to say... buttery and flaky, and the filling is strong with the taste of maple syrup. Consistency is where this shines, as it retains the 'QQ' feeling of a full custard, but with the gluey characteristics of the syrup.

Ahh, as for my impression? I thoroughly enjoyed the spin on an otherwise classic Asian dessert (or is it Portuguese?), and I did care more about dropping custard on the ground than anything else at the time. With that said... 31 NT is a bit high for something so small (yes I know I'm complaining about $1), but when you can readily get obanyaki for around 10 NT per... that seems a bit pricey. Still... it's worth a try. Plus there's something about getting dessert from KFC that I find overwhelmingly satisfying.
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Pigs feet from 東東牛肉麵 (East East Beef Noodles)

Another one of those things that I don't really understand about Asian people. Their obsession with random limbs off animals (tongue, tail, feet, snout, and so on). Taiwanese people, and I guess Fuzhou people, love pigs feet. They braise it in soy sauce until it's fall apart tender, and the 'meat' is basically hanging off the bone. There's not all that much meat on the foot, and it's generally pretty expensive relative to most other meat in the supermarket. So on yet another errand run for the grandmother, I took a detour to a restaurant that I've passed by numerous times over the past few years... 東東牛肉麵 or 'East East Beef Noodles.' I feel like I don't have to say this (since most of you are already thinking it), but that's one of the dumbest names I've ever heard. Alternatively, if they aren't saying 'East East,' then they're calling it 'Dong Dong.' I'm not sure which is worse. What'd I think of their food?

I got their 招牌 or 'specialty,' pigs feet over rice (the picture above). First off, I want to say that this is probably one of the ugliest things I've ever taken a picture of (and there is no way of making it look more appealing). Also... it's no better in person. I actually had a certain description I was going to write on my visual impression of it, but I'll let your imagination take over. Anyway, for 95 NT ($3) you get 3 pigs feet over a giant bowl of rice, with pork sauce, half a tea egg, and some veggies on the side. As described above, the pigs feet are stewed in a soy sauce based broth until the 'meat,' which is actually more accurately described as hide, is soft enough to peel off with chopsticks. The meat takes on the flavor of the broth, and actually possesses a characteristic feel that's halfway in between that of pork belly, and pork hide. In truth, it's a pretty unique texture that I haven't found in any other dish. I guess I can sort of understand why it's a classic Taiwanese dish.

As for my impression? Obviously I wasn't in love with the dish, as I find pigs feet to be way too much work for way too little meat, as well as possessing a, perhaps mental, aftertaste of... well... foot. Basically, it's something I only got because it's what they're specialty is, and I would never buy it again. I should've considered the fact that they have beef noodles in their shop name and gotten that. Oh well.
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