Desserts in Taiwan

Grass Jelly, Taro Balls, Taro Ice Cream and Red Beans on shaved ice

Ask me ONE thing about Taiwan at this moment, I would tell you it is the DESSERTS that I miss. In Taiwan, they call it 吃冰, literally meaning "to eat ice". A lot of their "shaved ice" desserts are served on ice, similar to ice kacang. But that does not mean you only eat the ice.

Street food, good food, yummy snacks can be found at:

Nearby temples - 庙 口 小吃
Night markets - 夜市
Old historic - 老街
Close to major universities

This is one of the desserts that I miss while I was looking at my photo files in the folder. The dessert photo told me "You have not posted me yet". Oops, I am sorry. How could I? I have already left Taiwan sometime ago and I have forgotten about this.

Oh well, this happens when you save the best for last and when, the BEST gets FORGOTTEN. Yucks! I hate myself for doing that.

There are many dessert shops that specialize in Grass Jelly (仙草 ) and Taro Balls (芋圆) Desserts. Do check them out when you are there in Taiwan.




For all the other Taiwan episodes, do check out my Taiwan Eating link under Labels.

Tag: desserts, ice

Alisan Forest, Jiayi County, Taiwan

Some rules in Alisan Forest, Taiwan


Signboards along our short hike in Alisan

Tea enjoyment in Alishan Mountain, Ali Mountain, Taiwan

Chinese Tea + Preserved Plums/Fruits...may not be a traditional tea culture in Taiwan but it is definitely a tea culture that has evolved for some time now.

喝茶配梅子, at Mount Alishan, Taiwan

You can find tea houses over Taiwan where it has become a lifestyle, an enjoyment to taste tea. Snacks are introduced in tea drinking just like how biscotti pairs off with a dose of java or wine and cheese tasting.

See that first photo? Tea in a plunger. Not new but definitely modern. I'm more used to seeing and using a coffee plunger. Anyway, I was expecting high mountain tea of Alishan served in a traditional porcelain spout teapot! -_-

But if served in a teapot, there is a likelihood of getting a tea bag and not tea leaves. I was trying to pacify myself. Oh well, life cannot be too perfect. I rather have good quality tea leaves and sip the tea.

Preserved plums and fruits are quite common in Taiwan. Nibble a few of these plums when drinking tea or after a meal. I was really expecting a few. Too bad the staff was not too helpful (I think he did not know) in telling me the quantity when I asked.

And so, the plums came, in ramekins quantity!

You know, guys are not at all fascinated by preserved plums no matter how excited I can be over the variety. Why no excitement? Maybe you guys can tell me...too metro-sexual? preggie snacks? Tell me, tell me! ^0^

I had to finish two ramekins of preserved plums all by myself, in a single sitting. It's a lot!


Preserved kumquats - 金桔


Another variety of preserved fruit - I forgot the name/variety!

The tea was perfect for afternoon drinking. We asked for three refills of water in the plunger, and had to "doggie-bag" the leftover preserved fruits and plums !


阿里山日出二店, 阿里山日出有大美火鍋店 (Rihchu Store)
嘉義縣阿里山鄉中正村32號
Alishan Village, #32
Around Alishan Tourist/Visitor Information Area
Jiayi, Taiwan

Tag: tea drinking, taiwan eating

Egg Tarts in Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taiwan

I'm not bluffing you! Your eyes are not bluffing you!

A REAL family meal - chicken, and its "eggs" in the form of tarts

Portuguese Egg Tarts from KFC! You think I'm gung-ho enough so free to smuggle Portuguese Egg Tarts from Macau into KFC, place them side-by-side a bucket of fried chicken and take that picture? I must be having too much time to spare and too many heads to roll.

Do they look authentic ?

Well, there you have it. Portuguese egg tarts in Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Taiwan :D

This egg tart even comes with mochi beneath the egg custard. Can you see it?

KFC, Taiwan offers the classic Portuguese egg tart and other creative tarts such as the one with mochi in it(above). To verify my words, hop over to Taiwan KFC menu and take a look!

And there is a KFC opposite where I am staying :) ....I will go back for egg tarts more so than KFC fried chicken.

So what is there in your country's KFC or Mcdonalds that is really local and only available there? Curious! Curious! I wanna know!

It is not surprising, really. For example, new ideas for McDonalds come anywhere (source: Fortune article, May 2008 issue). You can now have McKroket in The Netherlands, Maharaja Burger in India, Croque McDo in France and a Bulgogi Burger in South Korea. They may make it back to the United States someday, if it makes business sense.

Tag: egg tarts, portuguese egg tarts, kentucky fried chicken, taiwan eating

Value set-meals in Taiwan

Some restaurants/eateries offer lunch and dinner set-meal promotions during the weekend. Some do so during the weekdays (usually to boost the otherwise poor business); some do so everyday. It depends on the business strategy of the restaurant owners.

Do set-meals spell trouble - mass-produced poor quality food? Most of the times, maybe? It depends.


The spread is quite extensive. There are dim sum items, sushi sashimi and other Chinese food fare. Here goes...at NT328 (~USD10.70) per person:




Super-value or reasonable? You tell me

Quality of food: Not really consistent in all the dishes. Mostly forgettable, except for the prawns. It is delicious and won me over.

Steamed prawns with garlic - I like the addition of glass or cellophane noodles to soak the gravy and essence.

Which do you prefer - set meal or a la carte ? What makes your decision - price, selection, value...or mood? :D

新阿杜香港風味茶樓
文心路一段538-1號 (大業路口)
Hong Kong New A-Do Tea House
Wen Xin Road Section 1, 538-1
Taichung City, Taiwan

Tag: set meal, taiwan eating

Chinese take-out in Taiwan

Package that shows what's inside...

Most of them deliver FREE (minimum order: 2 boxes) and cost ~NT70 (~USD 2.30 based on 9,May 2008 conversion rate) per person per set. Cheap ?

In Taiwan, Chinese take-outs or more commonly known as 便當** (pronounced Bian Dang), literally meaning convenience-meal, are quite similar to the Chinese take-out rice-plate in the United States. It is hard to find Cantonese Chow Mien/Fried Noodles or Fried Rice here where I am staying. Even if there is...99% chance of finding something not authentic. DOH! So I rather choose what they do better - 便當饭盒 . The "contents" of the meal is somewhat similar to the economic rice/economy rice in Singapore...that is rice with meat+ vegetables.


A very typical Taiwanese rice-set. Mostly preserved/braised/stewed food in a wooden box


台中车头便当
台中市西區中港路一段172號(中港路與大仁街口近英才路)
Taichung Kang Road, Section 1,, # 172
Taichung City, Taiwan

They do it differently here when you asked for delivery. Over the phone, you usually order one main dish (typically meat/fish) - can be braised pork ribs, grilled chicken chop, kung pao chicken etc., and they will pair it (for you) with 2-3 different sides of (really small portions of) vegetables (eg. green leafy, long beans, cabbage, corn kernels, bamboo shoots, onions, preserved vegetables etc). In other words, you get a choice of meat but not the vegetables.

~Less than USD3 per person (lunch and/or dinner)
~FREE delivery to your door step

Why not?

Really a savior on lazy days when I don't even feel like stepping into the kitchen except to open the fridge and get a drink or a ready-snack. Oh, the evil of convenience...I'm falling prey to. But Jeff Bezos, Founder, CEO of Amazon.com did say...most, if not all consumers, enjoy convenience, selection, and low prices. Then, what will stop me in this vicious cycle of Chinese take-out diet? Selection, I guess. I don't know how healthy or unhealthy it can get if I do this continuously.

Time to get back to cooking soon.

** I checked Google translation:
Bento (english) --> 盒饭
便當 --> Lunch
ekiben (english) --> 铁路便当

Why is it that I always get the impression that Bento is 便當 ??

Anyway, happy weekend!

Tag: taiwan eating

Taipei 101

We were at Taipei 101 early and could not even get through the entrance. The doors were not opened yet at 9+am. Bummer! :( ...and we could not take the lift. Yes. The lift in Taipei 101 was touted one of the fastest. Too bad...

Before we headed to CKS Memorial, we did not forget to take many snapshots of Taipei 101...from the outside, all angles, different views.


From far


Near the building, yet wanted to capture the height of Taipei 101


Amidst the trees


Another view, another angle

Some facts:
1. Height: 509m/1671 ft - tallest till 2003
2. The elevators (Toshiba) runs just over 60 km/h; taking you up in ~43secs

So remember, if you are planning a day in Taipei, make this Taipei 101 visit from middle of the day or after. You can visit other attractions such as CKS Memorial, earlier in the day, say 9+am.

Related post (one day in Taipei):
1. Take the Taiwan HSR from Taichung to Taipei
2. Take Taipei Metro
3. Visit CKS Memorial
4. Walk around Ximending and have some braised duck wings
5. Tamsui-PartOne from Taipei
6. Tamsui-Part Two from Taipei

Taiwan High Speed Rail - clean, comfortable and fast

If you are traveling between main cities such as Taipei, Kaoshiung, Taichung etc., the Taiwan High Speed Rail is fast, clean, comfortable, and efficient.


The Taichung station


Arriving train


There are cars for reserved (assigned) sitting and the last few cars (I think from car 9-12) are free sitting. Free sitting tickets are usually 20% cheaper.



An information map and guide of the train


Quite comfortable if you ride long distance, since it is not as bumpy as a 2-hr taxi ride from Taichung to Taipei.

So if you are working on a laptop, the high speed rail is definitely a much better option.

For major cities such as Taipei and Kaoshiung, the high speed rail stations are located near the metro system. However, not many cities have rapid transit (equivalent to Singapore MRT and Hong Kong MTR)

Train facts:
1. Taiwan HSR is modeled after Japan's Shinkansen
2. Top operation speed 300km/h

Taipei CKS Memorial Hall, Taiwan

How to get to CKS Memorial Hall - from the Taipei Station, take the Red Line to CKS Memorial Hall Station.




Don't you think the dangling art pieces have destroyed the statue's solitude ?

Travel Taipei, Taipei Metro

With several cases of suicides and accidents on the MRT tracks in Singapore, maybe it's time to build an automated gate or door along the train tracks, similar to those in the underground MRT stations. This will definitely prevent accidents during rush hour traffic when people are rushing for trains. Who knows, you might get pushed around by running masses and fall off to the tracks? :O

The Taipei Metro does it this way in crowded stations -

Famous braised duck wings in XiMenDing, Taipei

Our first time traveling northwards to Taipei after a couple of months in Taichung (central Taiwan). Took us about an hour via Taiwan's High Speed Rail (HSR) and cost us 700NT (USD23/- per person, one way). If you forget about driving, going by the Taiwan HSR should be, in my opinion, the fastest and most comfortable way to travel to Taipei.


We did not plan much. We did not even go up the fastest lift touted in Taipei101 because Taipei101 only opens at 11am and we were there early at 9am. Bummer!

Could only take pictures from the outside since the doors were not opened!

Off we go...heading off to
Chiang Kai-Shek (CKS) Memorial Hall. I admit I am not so into Chinese history (or to be more specific...anything history and stuff...oops!) and spent only a short time around in CKS Memorial Hall. Then headed off to Tamsui late morning on the same day. The day ended traveling back from Tamsui to Taipei's Ximending -西門町, Taipei's equivalent of Harajuku - a famously hip place in Japan that represents youth style and fashion. Don't ask me what I am doing in a place like that! I felt out of place! I AM soooooo OLD!!! Waahhhhh.....:(

What did I do there ? Just walk around...bought myself a canvas tote bag...and some famous braised duck wings.

Since they were cold when I bought them, I chose to bring them back home so that I can heat them up (steam) before I enjoy them. These were very flavorful wings, braised to perfection. I guess if you were to eat them as-is (not heated up), the texture might be a tad chewy. But when steamed for a while, they exudes more fragrance - must be from the braising spices used! Less chewy, more moist and soft but still good.

Braised duck wings at Lau Tian Lu-老天祿滷味.
台北市武昌街二段55號
WuChang Street, Section 2, #55, Taipei
In Ximending vicinity

Retrace my journey:
Tamsui, Taipei Country, Taiwan - Part One
Tamsui, Taipei Country, Taiwan - Part Two


Tag: taiwan eating, ximending, taipei, braised duck wings

Food and beverage signboards and funny English

Can't help but disrupt the food installments with this. A food signboard along famous street GongYi Road 公益路 in Taichung city.

A place for drinking tea. It's healthy, convenient, and errrmmmm....spotted it?

Next, the procedure for a 100NT (3USD) haircut.

Hope you can make sense out of this...


Hope you can really make sense out of this

We could. It just took us a while because we spent more time chuckling. :D

This is not an April Fool's Joke.

Street food in Tamsui Taipei - Part Two

"Must-eat" street food and snacks in Tamsui, are no more secret. There is even a travel snippet on that. It is therefore not my great discovery but instead a pursuit of what is evident. I try to accomplish most of them. Why not all ? Because there are some snacks I simply do not like (iron eggs, is one example)

Iron eggs (鐵蛋 pronounced TieDan) - these are eggs which have been repeatedly stewed in a mix of spices and air dried. The resulting eggs are dark brown, chewy to the point of almost as hard as iron, thus the name.

Signboard writes..."hot and spicy flavor, garlic flavor, black pepper flavor..."...gosh...

Now for the curious minds - why are they repeatedly stewed ? Act of purpose or matter of coincidence ? This should be a discovery or invention by act of business astute, in my opinion. The story starts from the tea eggs that are common street (convenience) food in Taiwan - do you think heaps of eggs can be sold out every day ? What do you think happen to those which are un-sold ? Those un-sold are continuously being cooked, re-cooked; stewed, re-stewed (together with fresh batch of eggs) till the point of being sooooo.....hard. Since those eggs could be repeatedly stewed till hard yet still edible(note: edible does not equal "nice-to-eat"), why not turn them into snacks that can be packaged (stored) after being air-dried. This way, the "older" eggs are not wasted, while you still can cook and stew fresh ones to entice different customers. Brrrrr...

Danshui or Tamsui fish balls (淡水魚丸) are very famous. They are made of fish paste and the fishballs are stuffed with meat and garlic, served in a soup.

Served in a light broth/soup flavored by pepper and sprinkles of celery bits


Meat filling in the fishball

Sounds and looks like Fuchow fishballs 福州鱼丸? Well, it's kinda different. These Tamsui fish balls are more chewy (sotong or cuttlefish ball texture, if you ask me) compared to Fuchow fishballs that are usually more springy. I read somewhere that the Tamsui fish paste has got shark's meat paste mixed into it !!! Is it why the texture is so much different from those fishballs I've had back in Singapore? Frankly, I prefer those in SE Asia. But since we are already here in Tamsui, we should just do ourselves justice of having more fishballs. This was taken at another store (picture of stall, below).

You can order some rice vermicelli or bee hoon and enjoy with those fishballs

Then, there is the word "A-Gei (阿給)" that keeps popping up along signboards on the street.

Ok, initially I thought it's a name of some famous food stall (oh, I so stupid!) but only when I returned from my trip, then I realized it actually meant deep fried tofu in Japanese!!!! OH IS IT??! Alright, we missed on that A-Gei (阿給) - they are deep fried tofu that are stuffed with flavored crystal noodles and sealed with fish paste (surimi). Hmmm...kinda like Yong Tau Foo, isn't it ? And only today, when I kept rolling that name in my tongue A-Gei...A-Gei, I thought of Japanese Agedashi Tofu...(OK, how do you pronounce "Agedashi"....does the first two syllabus sound like A-Gei?

Fish crisps (魚酥) - fish snacks that are light crispy with a texture comparible to shrimp crackers. Available in original and spicy flavours.

Again, reminded me of those round crispy fish snacks in SE Asia. They taste almost the same!



Tag: taiwan eating, tamsui, street food

Vegetables, flowering vegetables or flowers

I do not know if they are flowers or vegetables. Indeed, they were used as flower decorations but they look a lot like...lettuce to me??? HELP ?



Nonetheless, they are colorful and lovely as decorations.

Taken at Puli Winery, Nantou, Taiwan

Food elevator

This (picture) should jolly well work in Luk Yu Teahouse, Hong Kong. You can argue about holding on to dim-sum traditions but the heavy loads of dim sum over the waiters'/waitresses' shoulders, need to be lightened, especially when they have to climb steep stairs to serve the customers. If you have not seen them, read about them here.

A FOOD ELEVATOR...to the rescue.

I know that is no new invention but it just surprises me when an old store -老店 can embrace that.

Using a food elevator when your eatery establishment has two or more storeys will certainly make operations more efficient.

How it works?
1. You order your food after you are seated (assuming you are not seated on the ground floor)
2. They will take down your orders on a chit and you are given a number
3. They "drop" your orders (somehow, but I don't know how) to the kitchen which will then prepare your food
4. When ready, the dishes will be place on trays and up the elevator they go
5. Your order number is called
6. You collect your food at the food elevator/station

Photo was taken at A-Gei -阿給老店 in Tamsui, Taiwan.

Tag: taiwan eating, tamsui, street food

Welcome to the world of pots!

What goes around, comes around...
What goes into a pot comes in a pot

A claypot of smooth Cantonese congee


A stainless steel tripod-hotpot in Tripod King. For once, you can "have your cake and eat it too"


Cast iron pot (import from Japan) that dwells into the art and science of hotpot/steamboat cooking and eating. Try Yuans to experience it.


Served right at your dining table, cooked in front of you...a warm pot of clams cooked with ginger, scallions, szechuan peppercorns. You get to see your clams from start(closed shells) to finish(opened shells, ready to eat!). And remember, never allow the clams to overcook. Once the shells open, you can dish the clams aside and slowly enjoy the soup during the meal


One tasty pot, multi-eats. A sizzling pot of Huadiao Wine Chicken 花雕鸡 where you start "interactive eating" from the last few minutes of finished cooking. You will hear the pot sizzle, meaning the chicken is ready to be savoured. Uniquely, the gravy essence of this Huadiao Wine Chicken is not wasted since the pot is kept warm under a table stove. Thereafter, you can order additional sides such as cabbage, rice noodles, beancurd skin to add into the pot of Huadiao Wine Chicken when there is only gravy remaining. Wipe the pot clean, till the last stain. Eat till you drop and till the last drop.


A pot of mushroom broth that cooks everything mushrooms. Healthy and nutritious.


A serving of Japanese curry stone-hotpot feeds one individual well. Very well. It's for you only, don't have to share.


Ending off with claypot rice, topped with juicy succulent chicken drizzled with premium dark soy sauce - 煲仔饭

Tag: claypots, hotpots