The Original Din Tai Fung

I almost forgot... I had a chance to drop by the original Ding Tai Fung really quickly before I left Taiwan. They specialize in a type of bao called xiao long bao. Xiao long bao have a small amount of soup inside the bao so when you bite into it the soup juice squirts into your mouth. They're very yummy.

Din Tai Fung is famous because they supposedly used water with healing properties to make their baos. This is of course BS, but it's a selling point. Each bao is individualled wrapped a specific number of times so they all have the same number of folds.

How to eat the xiao long baos... I never knew this even after eating at their branch in the United States.

If you're too lazy to read the instructions above I tried to make a video on how to eat them.

The regular xiao long bao and I think the best dish they have.

Shrimp and Pork

Crab - I didn't like this one.

Making the xiao long baos

In my opinion the food is good, pretty darn good, but not that good to warrent the high prices. The prices in Taipei compared to the branch in Arcadia were about the same.

I don't think you have to go all the way to Taipei for Din Tai Fung. There's a branch in Arcadia (near Los Angeles) and they pretty much taste the same.

Taipei Foods

Man, I've been lagging. Sorry for not being able to update in a timely manner. Getting a constant Internet connection has been difficult, plus I'd rather be out than blogging. =P

Some quick nightmarket pictures before we get to the food.

Bad picture but here's a shot of a night market in Taipei.

Nightmarket shot again... so crowded.

Puppies for sale at a nightmarket.

Ok now on to some of the foods of Taipei

Some meat wrapped in a bread thing... it was really good and I think around $1 USD or less.

Burger flavored chips?????? They tasted more like pickles to me.

Apple Sidra. I used it to wash down the burger flavored chips.

You can get these baos at the Shida night market. They are really, really good. Look for the long line. Grab a number and wait for them to call it. Then tell them how many you want.

I got 12 for 72 NT, that's a tiny bit more than $2 USD. So good, so cheap. Mmm, so yummy. I need to go back.

deep fried mushrooms from Danshui

Eggs I think... can't remember anymore.

Corn Dog

Taiwanese Sausage

Egg thing

Street Vendor food

I don't know what these are called but I got the peanut filling one.

Here's the peanut filling. It was really good.

Some desserts

Donuts at the nightmarket???? Doooooonuts...... mmmmmmm.....

Some peanut spread in bread, it was simliar to peanut butter.

Street vendor cart at a night market. You pick what you want and they deep fry it for you.

Deep fried chicken from the cart above. They were really good, but I think they made me sick.

Bread, it's pronounced Man-toe.

Onion Bread

Egg drop and Corn soup, and Hot and Sour soup.

Potstickers.... oh I love these.

Dumplings

Ok, so it's not Taiwanese food, but every time I see the old fashioned McDonald's Apple pie I have to get it. Deep Fried goodness; they don't make them like they used to back in the States.

Bao..... really cheap, really good. There are different flavors, I got pork (on the right)

They called it some pork wrap. I call it bacon on a toothpick. A small snack from the Wulai park.

Seaweed Flavored Lays Potato Chips

Taiwanese Sausage, Mmmmmm.

Some xiao long bao from a street vendor. Cheap and yummy.

Stinky Tofu... I'm not really a fan of it. It's supposed to be better than it smells, but it smells like sewage.

Apparently in Asia they don't drink Gatorade, they drink Pro Sweat. It was good.

I know it's hard to read but it says: Lactic Acid Milk.

Um... asparagus juice anyone? Yeck!

Cheap Dinner, this cost me $1 USD.

Peanut Flavored Ice Cream... it's really good actually.

Taipei Signs

English on clothing is trendy so often you'll find clothes that are .... uh, well, like: Your Father Si HOT HOT HOT! If I didn't have to lug my stuff around different cities and countries I'd have bought this shirt.

Make Clothes **T Sex! -- I can only guess what word is under his strap.

I wish back home in the USA we had signs like this. Note the cute looking poo, and click the image to enlarge it. Note the English text along the bottom: According to blah blah blah, dog owners will get NT $1200 to NT 6000 if they let their dogs shit anywhere.

Flash the toilet...

Hungary?

I was told by a local this sign exists because people were indeed getting their trousers caught in the escalator.

Trash is treasure? Ok, if you say so... but if that were really the case you'd think there would be more trash cans in Taiwan. Trash cans are really hard to find! It's annoying. I'd end up carrying all my trash to the MRT (subway) station.

Actually in Taiwan Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way but at least they're trying.... well not really. Cross the street is always an adventure in itself.

That's right, eat at Uncle Vince's place. I would have but Uncle Vince's lazy ass was closed.

On a more serious note.... you can click the picture to enlarge it. The sign says we are Taiwanese, not Chinese. Apparently the fight for the identify of the Taiwanese people is still alive.