What is that grey cake? (or brown, can’t tell)
“What is that grey cake? (or brown, can’t tell)”
That’s some kind of taro cake. We have a similar cake in Cantonese. The vender said that this may be also tossed in soup, deep fried, in hot pot, etc… as is, somewhat bland.
I actually feel high when I’m in this particular market. The hum and buzz and the swirl of life is extremely comfortable for some reason.
Anyone know what this vegetable is? Never seen before.
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I have never seen that vegetable before… it kinda looks like some giant napa cabbage florets o_O
Oh and are those the Taiwanese pineapples?
Deep fried or pan fried individually will be better, after slicing them. Not a big taro fan.
Oh a friend told me that vegetable is… 湖南娃娃菜 ? Or Hunan baby vegetable?
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Happy New Year of the Rat, everyone!!!
Celebrated the Eve of Year of the Rat at Mitsui Cuisine, in Taipei. The Mitsui Taiwan group runs a few other respected restaurants in town, as well as the impressive Aquatic Centre seafood complex. Also being a Japanese group, they do seafood right.
Excellent red from Provenance suggested by the sommelier, Chateau Les Mesclances Romane. A medium bodied vibrant choice that paired well with the seafood and the beef.
We ordered two different prix fixe menus and shared family style.
Abalone Salad. 2 x Sashimi assortments. The standout Chutoro was out of this world. Marbled like the finest beef, mouth feel and flavor that can only be compared to the choicest Kobe. Three slices each was rich enough, though we both lusted for more.
Firefly Squid. Not one of my favorites, three little squid-lies were fine for me.
Platter of Canapés type bites. Wife enjoyed the Cured Roe bites. We shared the remainder.
Hairy Crab. No mystery how this crustacean got it’s name. Messy, but the delicious Crab Butter was worth the extra effort.
Broiled fish. Very juicy and tender. The grill man knows his craft.
Grilled King Crab. The hint of char overwhelms the pure crabby sweetness, to me.
King Crab in Miso Soup. Better, but I may just be crabbed out, a month into our own Dungeness season.
A5 Wagyu, perfect medium rare.
Sweet Rice with Shitake and Chestnut.
Nigiri sampler to end the mains. Somewhat unusual sequencing.
Dessert of Wax Apple, Grapes and Cheesecake.
Parting gift of good luck Red Envelope (no crisp nt$100 notes within). 
A delicious delightful meal with attentive gracious service, pretty presentations and well prepared/sourced ingredients. Although not a fan of higher end dining, I would gladly return for a special occasion or with good friends.
Ok. Now back to our usual program of street food and local hole in the walls. 
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Confirmed, grown in Taiwan.
Regarding the unusual vegetable, the vender did say that it is called Taiwan Baby Vegetable. Wonder if it’s the same as the Hunan baby vegetable? Seems a rather generic blanket description.
We also do a similar “nian gao” (New Year’s cake) here in Penang as our populace is also majority Hokkien/Fujianese like the Taiwanese. But instead of plastic, we used local banana leaves to line the moulds of the containers used for steaming the glutinous rice flour/sugar mix.
These are how “nian gao” in Penang looked like:
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Way cool. I’m fan of leaf wrapped products. Imparts a pleasant natural essence.
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As I feared, the situation will get worse before it gets better.
We stocked up on masks here in Taipei today. Who know, may not have any inventory left when we come home in two weeks.
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LOL McDo!! Why?
BTW, it’s not in the Taiwan CNY thread anymore. You left?
Nah, still in Taipei for another delicious week. We noshed all New Year’s Day, really good Sichuan lunch, more Gee Pi, and the most famous street noodle in Taipei.
Took our nightly walk around Da’an, not hungry at all. Wife HAD to get some stuff (offal) from a street cart. I opted for M’d cause I didn’t really want to eat anything. 
Afternoon Intestine Noodle nosh. They supposedly started the genre at their cart many years ago. They now dish out of a “brick n mortar” storefront. I really didn’t appreciate this dish the first few times. Yesterday, I finally “got” it.
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What was the “yellow” thing in your bowl?
Watched that, yummy!!
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Various reviews on this place seemed to describe the noodles as “silken-soft” and “very smooth” in texture, whilst the gloopy soup has its umami flavours from katsuobushi, almost similar to that used as a base for most Japanese soups.
Bits of salt-cured pig’s intestines provide burst of salty richness, and minced garlic, chili sauce and vinegar were added to undercut the richness of the gravy. So, the “yellow” stuff were either the minced garlic part or the seeds from the chili sauce.
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Bingo! Yellow seeds from chile.
Noodles done this style was an acquired taste for me. Pretty much the opposite of al dente, soft flaccid noodles in a starchy gloopy blob.
After a half dozen+ tries, it finally tasted good yesterday. Not something I’d queue up for, but wife enjoys it. Yesterday’s lineup was “only” about 25 people. Have seen the line stretch +100 on many (most) occasions. No thanks.
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Miscellaneous street food.
Happened by this stand with Goose, Chicken and HUGE lobes of Goose Liver. Had to have some Liver, as well as what turned out to be lightly Smoked Goose.
Nice sidewalk snack.
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Some Thai, a change of pace. Nice Single Malt to start.
Papaya Salad. Tod Mun Goong (Thai deep fried Shrimp Balls). Chicken Cutlet.
Goose Web in clay pot.
Tom Yum Soup. Very nice, spicy with Lemongrass.
Steamed Fish with loads of Garlic.
Two types of desserts with red beans, taro, etc… unusual to me, tasty.
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The Glenlivit looks like you seriously punished it. 
I had help. 
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