Lao Dong Beef Noodle-Taipei

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Why the hell do they only have tissues for napkins in Taiwan? You need like a whole pack t get you through the meal

Beef Noodle Soup has to be the national dish of Taiwan, I mean, there is a festival devoted to it. Sure we all know about Baos (via Momofuku and a Korean perspective at that) but Beef Noodle Soup is what you need to get before leaving here. I already tried Yong Kang but just like 'cue in the South, there are different styles and variations to Beef Noodle Soup in Taiwan.
Lao Dong Beef Noodle is another notable place to get Beef Noodle Soup, specifically the one in the Banciao District. Though they have a couple of locations, it is still a popular place and quality does not suffer at all. One thing that makes their beef noodle soup stand out is that they do it with tomatoes in the broth. Since my family is not crazy like me and cannot handle so much Beef Noodle Soup in repetition, they ordered a variation, that was the basic beef broth with rice noodles, tripe and fried tofu.

I like these little cases that these places have that have xiao chi that are all nicely lined up and you can just take what you want and bring it back to your table and chow down. I guess the little fat kid in my thinks of it as a mini buffet. I cannot say how long it has been sitting in the case, but it looked and tasted fresh enough and I generally stick to tofu or seaweed choices.

Beef Noodle Soup remix-rice noodles, tripe and tofu

The rice noodle soup was beefy but not as rich as the one at Yong Kang Beef Noodle. the tripe was cooked right and the fried tofu acts like a sponge, and soaks up the broth resulting in beef-sopped tofu with each bite. Great bowl of noodles-but not beef noodle soup.

I got their notable tomato based beef noodle soup. First taste, you notice that it is sweeter and the beefiness of the broth is cut by this sweetness factor. Yong Kang beef broth is intense this broth is a bit more soothing but the addition of the tomatoes is a great layer of flavor to the noodle soup. The noodles here I thought were more "q"/chewy and i preferred the noodles here rather than the ones at Yong Kang. the beef pieces, soup braised were still flavorful and soft at the same time. Though I still prefer the Beef Noodle at Yong Kang, I would not say no to this one either. I can appreciate the variation on this style of Beef Noodle soup and I could not stop thinking how they say in every great Italian chef, there is a Chinese guy inside, this bowl of noodles flipped that one around.

Lao Dong Beef Noodle
No 4, Lane 421 Wenhua Road Section 1
Banciao, Taipei

Prince Katsu: Taiwan

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Does Prince Katsu share any lineage with Burger King?

I remember when this place first opened in the Breeze Center back when I came to Taiwan in like the 9th grade. The lines for this little Katsu place was ridiculous. It was like the line to Space Mountain, there was those stupid barriers and every few feet, there was a sign telling you how long you have to wait.

Thankfully, the lines have easily died down and there is not longer retarded waits for a sandwich. I have despite my Asian heritage, I have a very low tolerance and impatience for lines. Shake Shack is the closest I will make an exception, and even then, 10 minutes is about my wait time tolerance.

Prince Katsu I would suspect do great in the US because it revolves around all things fried and then stuffed into a sandwich. The most popular is the tonkatsu, the pork one and after so many years of not eating here, I wanted to see if things have changed and if it was still good.

The sandwich is a neat little package and almost reminds me of eating a cafeteria style sandwich, in its uniformed and modular appearance. The tonkatsu is still tasty and juicy and not greasy, a sign of a true master of the fried arts. The cabbage is crisp and crunchy and the addition of raw onions give it a nice spicy zing. Though people moved on to line up for newer things, Prince Katsu holds its own and still produces a tasty sandwich. This by the way, like most fried foods would most definitely, be great late night drunk food. Prince Katsu, look into this, you can thank me later for this idea with payment of a tasty sandwich or two.

Mos Burger

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Eating Mos Burger before getting on a plane is easily yield better results than eating White Castle before getting on the plane: sorry people I sat next to on a flight back from Chicago

One thing I am surprised when Western friends come back from Asia is their immediate love for Mos Burger. One of my friends that did a stint in Japan eyes would light up when he would talk about late night debauchery and talking about how Mos Burger was the perfect way to end the night. Though it is no Uncle Chang, this Japanese fast food chain is all over Taiwan and has been a staple final eat that I get at the Taoyuan Airport. What sets Mos Burger apart is not just their superior service and ridiculously comfortable seating, but their burgers that replace the buns with rice cakes. Though they do have a respectable “regular” burger it is the rice patty burgers that you have to get.

I got a promotional burger that was filled with pork, ginger, scallions all in between 2 slabs of rice. It came with a side a fries and a drink which I went with iced black tea. There is pseudo-table service in which you grab a number and the food is brought out to you. Your burger is made to order and nothing is left sitting under heat lamps and simply put, fast food done right. 

It comes out piping hot and you would think that a “bun” made of just rice would taste bad and have questionable structural issues but surprisingly does not. The rice is actually pretty good and tender and firm enough to be eaten as a handheld treat. The pork was sliced into pieces and they went heavy on the ginger but overall, it was good and the addition of radish it added a nice crunch. The Fries were fine, good enough to finish. The burger reminds me of a Chinese lunch platter that was transformed into handheld food.

Though I started hitting up Mos Burger for pure novelty factors, I would not hesitate to eat here on a consistent basis. I mean, after I ate through everything else and was still hungry; sure I would hit up Mos Burger.

  

Oyster Omelet: 蚵仔煎

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Always ask for extra oysters 

Making of a big omelet...or just high cholesterol

Taiwanese food unfortunately gets muddle with Chinese food and to those that have not travelled in Taiwan extensively, it can seem like there is no difference. However that is like saying that Chinese food is all the same from Shanghai to Fuzhou. Taiwanese is has its own distinct style and dishes that are distinctly Taiwanese. The Oyster Omelet is probably the most recognized and distinct Taiwanese food there is.

The Oyster Omelet from a casual observer is a simple dish; it is an Omelet that is made with oysters, what is so hard about that? But like all the foods I talk about, it is obviously more complex than that and something that, and it able to hit so many senses and textures all in one plate. I do not know if it is just Tainan pride but again, all my relatives and people in Tainan will say with scary affirmation, that Tainan is the place to go to get the best oyster omelets. The oysters come from the South and the ones in places like Taipei, get their oysters shipped up there. I know better than to question it, it is like questioning the best barbeque in the South, and you keep your Yankee mouth shut and just agree that wherever you are.

In Tainan there is a street that is just all food stalls and they are some of Tainan and Taiwan’s greatest hits from gua bao, to wa gue and of course the oyster omelet. The omelets are made to order and I was able to take pictures of the whole process but I can guarantee that I can try to replicate it in my kitchen, but there is no way in hell I can make it taste the same. 

Step 1 Oysters

Step 2 Eggs

Step 3 Sprouts

Step 4 Taiwanese Bok Choy and slurry stuff

The omelet making process has a bit of free style action going on. Oysters, Taiwanese bok choy, sprouts get some flat griddle action and then three eggs get throw on top of it. It is not really mixed in; it is just thrown on to make a somewhat circular disk. The difference is that now, like so many other Asian or Taiwanese dishes, a slurry of starch in thrown in. the result is that it creates a pancake like structure and literally glues all the separate components together. It cooks, gets a quick flip, thrown on a plate which by the way, the whole cooking process takes maybe 2-3 minutes tops and dosed in a reddish sauce. The sauce is another great distinction between each place. The sauce like in a simple Bolognese can make or break the dish. It is a combination of sweet, salty and hint of chilies to it and everyone has a different recipe, variations and result color. I do know the majority of them have at least aged soy and ketchup (Asian kind of course) in them. 

Win

The result is an omelet like no other that can be compared to anything found in the West. Jacque Pepin, most likely looks at this with utter confusion. However, the taste is nothing that you would expect. The sweet salty sauce is a great contradiction to the briny oysters and the crunchy bok choy. The egg imparts richness to the dish and the addition of the starch batter gives it lightness as well as a gooey interior but still has bits of crispy bits. The sauce though, is something that is magical. The country is filled with starchy, gooey, jiggly, jelly foods and this sauce makes it all taste awesome.

Eel Noodles in Tainan

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: eating noodles outside always taste better

In Taiwan, my trip itinerary is usually the same, spend a couple of days in Taipei and then take the high speed train down to Tainan. I do not think that there has been a time that after my Aunt picks us up at the train station that we had not gotten food, regardless of what time it is and that first stop is a bowl of eel noodles. 

Eel noodles is a popular dish which though you can get it in Taipei, it is more of a thing down south in Tainan and of course, it taste better down here. Though it is seems something as simple as just a bowl of noodles and eel it is much more than that. The eel is painstakingly deboned and stir fried and the noodles are a special kind of noodles, called yi-mein which is wheat based noodle that is characteristically chewy. The noodles are important in this dish and it is not eel noodles without this kind of noodles. It all swims in “broth” or more like starchy, sweet gravy. For future travelers, everything in Tainan is sweeter, sauces, soups you name it, it is going to be sweet. Noodles after Jump!

Ode to Stinky Tofu

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Wear Laundry day clothes when eating stinky tofu

In Taiwan there are many sights and smells, however there is none like the smell of stinky tofu. It is like a fine bloomy cheese, the smell will straight up kick your ass. It will seep into every pore and the smell will linger in your mouth for the rest of the day. Heck, I had moments the next morning when i burped and I would still taste it. Yet, I will take the chance of smelling like a pair of old sweaty socks and suck it up, like a true fan and order some stinky tofu. What is stinky tofu? Basically, it is tofu that has been fermented and through the magic of fermentation, it gives it a offputting odor to say the least.

One of my favorite stinky tofu vendors is this one on Tainan. You can literally be like Toucan Sam and "follow your nose" to the tofu and with a industrial fan connected to this cart, the smell is just intense. Most vendors rock masks but as you can see, these people mean business, no masks for them and these folks just sell the tofu, that is it.
Stinky tofu is generally fried which not only makes it tasty, I mean, anything fried is good but it also deodorizes the tofu a bit. The tofu is served with a bunch of pickled cabbage on top and hot sauce on the side. Quick tip, Hot sauce is needed and should be abused.

So the question is how does it taste? Texturally, fried tofu is great, it has a great crispy exterior and the tofu is still firm yet yielding. The flavor? It sharp, sour and almost meaty yet the smell does not match its bite. It almost tastes pickled and the mixture of sour sweet pickled cabbage and hot sauce is additive. Surprisingly, it did not really have much of a sulfuric taste to it at all, at least at this vendor which good stinky tofu should not have. For first time eaters, fried stinky tofu should be the way to go and this is a great street snack and after drinking food. Fried and it being tofu, it just soaks up all that alcohol, it was made for an after drinking treat. This is the only food I think that me and vegans can get behind and I am okay with that. Oh and tangent, if you ever decide to become a vegetarian or vegan, Taiwan is the place to go, where they actually have great tasting vegetable dishes that actually taste good. 

Exhaust fan to waft its magical scent

Dan Tai Fung Redux

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: ...what can't be shoved into a soup dumpling?

Like usual, all my trips back to Taiwan involves a trip to Din Tai Fung. I am going to get some hisses for it being a "chain" but I do not care. It ain't no Crapplebees. Check my previous posts for my usual orderings at Din Tai Fung but the amount of times I have been here, there are still many dishes I have yet to try.

Mini soup dumplings kind of like pelmeni

One of this is mini soup dumplings which are a weekend and I want to say Saturday only offering. These mini dumplings are like their regular soup dumplings but miniaturized, like Honey I Shrunk the Kids kind of deal. The positives of getting this is:
 
1. you can down a whole soup dumpling down in one bite without destroying the roof of your mouth.
2. Miniature things are awesome and somehow taste better
3. You get a side of chicken soup

Of course any Asian knows that no meal is not complete without some kind of hot liquid. It is just a light flavorful chicken broth.

The other soup dumpling that you will not be getting anywhere else is one filled with shrimp and winter melon. The melon gives a emerald glow to the it. I attempted to take a picture of the innards but it looks like a hot mess. However, this is a special soup dumpling where the "soup" part is all from the melon. Chinese winter melon releases a lot of liquid and creates it own broth and makes for a unique soup dumpling. More after the jump!

Mochi Making in the Market in Tainan

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: There is always something to eat at the Market

My kind of snack

After I finished running in the morning in Tainan (which i found out is not typical, and quite dangerous) I would wander around and follow random people until I eventually and most likely reached a market. I never get tired at looking at fruit which I will normally buy and the fish and meat options which I can unfortunately not purchase. However if I learned anything from traveling and watching way too much travel television there is always something ready made and good to eat at any market.

Bag o' jelly

At this particular market, there was two floors and the upper level was quieter and had all the ready made foods you could want from a lady selling just jelly, mochi and jello-like substances. There was enough jello to make Bill Cosby start blubbering something. One of the interesting stands was a couple selling wheels of radish cakes and tofu and making fresh mochi.
 

Huge radish cake

Mochi, although a Japanese thing is pretty much everywhere in Asia, we love that chewy, wiggly texture. this wife was facinating as she was pinching, rolling and stuffing balls of mochi to order. A machine could not do it as precisely and artfully as she was turning them out. the mochi was stuffed and coated ground peanuts and stuffed with ground sesame and had a combination crunchy, chewy and supple. The best part is? 10 NT per mochi (1US=33NT).

Step One

Step 2

Step 3

Fin/Get in muy Belly

CoCo Curry

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Japanese Curry goes well with everything

I have been on a short holiday hiatus with work, baking and end of the year garbage has left me updating the blog at the bottom of the priorities list. However, the New Year is over and we are still standing, the Mayans were wrong, I have eaten my weight in gingerbread, it is time to put on the stretchy pants and get back into food blogging and with the weather so cold and actually being winter, I have been on the search for Japanese Curry Omelet rice in the city like the curry omelet rice at CoCo Curry in Taiwan.

Curry is something that is associated often with Indian food and is a turn off for many with the amount of spices that go into curries and the after effects of some curries making the porcelain throne worthy seating to do the morning crossword puzzle. However, Japanese curry is generally a lot milder, sweeter and thicker and has more gravy like consistency. Taiwan is an outlet for Japanese food and one of the more successful chains in Taiwan is CoCo Curry. Unlike chains found in the United States, the quality here is a lot better in service and food. Coco Curry as you can tell by the name specializes in Japanese curries. The curries can be eaten with rice, noodles, soups and you can do the whole build your own curry dish but here, I go straight for the curry omelet rice. 

I like curry but uhhh...Ill try this combo another time...

 Basically, curry omelet rice is a dish that consists of omelet rice that is smothered in curry. Omelet rice or omuraisu if you want to pretend to understand Japanese, is a mound of rice that is covered with a plain egg omelet like a blanket and proving that an egg on top of anything, even plain rice is just plain awesome. During my Taiwan visit, I went to CoCo Curry a couple of times allowing me to get my curry rice fix and try various types and styles.

The classic or the most simple one is the curry omelet rice that is served with either fried pieces of pork or chicken karaage. The combination of curry, rice, egg and tender fried meat makes this a great tasting meal. The curry as I stated, is mild and slightly sweet. Although I order it spicy, the spiciness is not really that strong and will not have you reaching for a glass of water. The egg omelet is cooked as I prefer and call Frenchie-style meaning that there is a slight runniness to it and adds a creaminess and richness to the dish while still maintaining a fluffiness to it. Also, in fulfilling the categories of “crazy shit Asians put in food combinations” I like the addition of cheese. And to shock the foodie Nazis and all, I am pretty sure it is good old American, singles type of cheese. The cheese is sandwiched inbetween the rice and omelet and melts ever so perfectly and there is something comforting about eating spoonfuls of curry and rice and pulling away melty cheese strands. It adds an extra bit of savory goodness. Food after the jump!

Donut Quest: Taiwan Dispatch

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Why does food taste better when shaped as animals?

The Donut Quest has been going and this time, it went abroad. Donuts are not all made equally and thankfully, Dunkin Donuts does not reign all over…yet. One of the chain donut shops in Taiwan that is popular is Mr. Donut. Originally from Japan, I remember back in the late 90s when the first Mr. Donut opened up in Taiwan and remembered the line that snaked out the door. Now there are a number of Mr. Donuts in Taiwan and will mostly likely find on the any mall in Taipei.

Since there is no Thanksgiving in Taiwan, they got started early on the Christmas spirit and they had some Christmas themed donuts, such as their donut holes. 

You have to give it to them for presentation; these things looked like a box of chocolates. The little donut holes are all colorfully decorated and various coatings. One thing to mention is that though they do yeasted and cake donuts, they also do mocha donuts which give them a chewiness and difference in flavor or I at least think it is different. Each of these donut holes were colorfully decorated and had that odd pastel coloring too them and like all things from Asia, they looked cute and I am surprised it had no Sanrio characters donning it. Donuts after the jump!

Dazzling Cafe

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Waitresses dressed in French maid outfits is not attractive, it’s kind of creepy

Cafes are all wildly popular in Taiwan and can be found in malls, streets and random alleys. These cafes are perfect places for one to come, order a coffee and waste the afternoon away either working on that “book” or to catch up with friends. However, there is one café that is so popular that you cannot really sit around and talk for the whole afternoon, because of the people that are lining up to get in and that is Dazzling Cafe that has multiple locations in Taipei, all of them to my knowledge, constantly busy. Luckily, while wandering the Shin Kong A11, we walked by it and noticed that no one was waiting and decided to go for it and go in, with a preface that everyone had to order a drink and that we could only stay for an hour and a half, sure we can play this game.

Dazzling Café is the most effeminate café and is trying to give off a classy Audrey Hepburn feel, like a breakfast at Tiffany’s but in reality it is like a between Barbie playhouse with a side of Asian knockoff that a good copyright lawyer maybe able to make a buck or two off of possible copyright infringement. The door knob is an oversized diamond ring and the staff is dressed in maid and butler outfits that are similar to the outfits that is typical of any Anime series. The café has 4 colors: black, white, raincoat yellow and an absurd pink splashes just to emphasize the feminine nature of the café, to a point I thought I was going to get cooties.

However, the color scheme and theme of the place is not what has made this place so popular, has been the honey toast box that has made it so popular. The Honey toast box is a square Pullman loaf that is hollowed out, and stuffed with sweet stuff, ranging from custards, fruits and ice creams. The innards of the loaf are toasted with butter and sugar making a faux French toast but not heavy. Think of it as a sweet bread bowl or in this case, a box. 

Though I could probably destroy a whole one on my own, you generally order one for the table so we went with the “Party in your Mouth” honey toast. It had strawberries, custard, ice cream and topped with a raspberry macaron and if not sugary enough, a side of honey. Everyone is required to order a drink so I went with an affogato, but it was not called an affagato. It was most certainly not served like any affagato I had in the past, as the scoop of ice cream was served in a martini glass with chocolate syrup and nuts. It’s okay; I can hear the wincing and hissing from all the Italians reading this. Despite the over the top presentation, it was a perfection respectable affagato because it is kind of hard to mess up a scoop of gelato/ice cream with espresso. 

Affagato

The ‘Party in Your Mouth” toast looks impressive when it comes to the table and like most foods in Taiwan, the picture of it in the menu looks like what you get. You kind of have to look at it for a second and figure out how you are going to take this down, or if you stare at it blankly enough, a kind waitress will do it for you and the way she does it, is most likely the best way to eat it. Break down one of the walls, take a piece of the toast, shmear some custard or whatever on it and proceed. Overall, it was not bad. The outer walls of the toast were pretty dry and dull. The addition of custard, ice cream, fruit and other add on made it edible, the macaron was one note and nothing impressive. It kind of baffles me the long waits to this place because the food or the honey toast box is just okay. Honey Toast After the Jump!

Best Dan Dan Noodles in Taipei, Period.

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Walking into random underground malls can be good

Sometimes it takes a little bit of effort and patience to get a near perfect bowl of noodles. My favorite place to eat in Taipei, is a small little place that is in my opinion, the best dan dan noodles and red oil wontons. I almost regret talking about this place because I want to be greedy and have this place all to myself…and the lines of people that are also waiting for these amazing noodles. Getting there is a bit of a find; it is located in an underground mall by the Zhongxiao Dunhua station. You will walk by this place at least once and in fact, those living in Taipei may have already walked by it multiple times without even knowing it. Even if you do find the stairs that lead to these awesome noodles, awkward hesitation may get the best of you and most likely you will walk away. There is no sign at first that awe inspired noodles are here, there are random clothing shop, some weird looking coffee bar, a random dull stall, all giving off signs of unwelcomed uneasiness and your conscience is screaming for you to retreat and find food elsewhere but you must hold your ground and if you show up there after 11:30 from Tuesday to Sunday, get in line. 

In the end of this uninviting underground mall is a noodle counter and has about 15 seats where people are waiting patiently for food. A man, his wife and daughter are all painstakingly and methodically preparing food. The space is the size of a newly grad kitchen and in fact, maybe even smaller. The noodle counter has exactly 3 burners and a crock pot of pork chops and eggs in soy that has been stewing for who knows how long. Jump for the food!

Ba Bao Bing: Shaved Ice Goodness

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Since Ba Bao Bing is mainly water, it’s like low fat right?

It is no secret that I like all frozen desserts, especially ice cream. Actually, that is not true; I am not really a fan of sno-cones. The syrup distribution is never right so you end up eating half a chunk of ice like a special person and then finally when you reach the bottom, you get the syrup, but by then, you have brain freeze and a frozen jaw. However, in Taiwan, I am all about shaved ice here. Shaved ice is way different than a dumb sno-cone because not only it is finely shaved; there is also the addition of toppings and syrups, so you get a better distribution of awesome icy sweetness.

Ba bao Bing as it is called is popular like this place that is located on Yong Kang St. of the former home of Ice Monster. Here we got the mixed fruit shaved ice with mango ice cream. We also got a extra scoop of raspberry ice cream because so dumbass lady snagged our order like a greedy little—well, you get the picture, I profited from her greediness. The shaved ice is like a sundae but since you are eating shaved ice, which is well, water it does not weigh you down as much as an ice cream sundae. This shaved ice was topped with strawberries, kiwi and mango, and of course, condensed milk is a must. Shaved Ice after the Jump!

1010 Hunan Pop Cuisine

Om Nomz Hero Note to Self: Pain never felt so good when eating chilies

Thousand yr old eggs and roasted chilies

Taiwan has a mix of Asian cuisines and one of my favorite places to go is 1010 Hunan Pop at the top of Eliste bookstore that as the name suggest, does Hunan food. Hunan food is similar to Szechuan food in their heavy use of peppers but they go easier on the chili oil and have a lot more dishes that are not chili focused. The resulting combination has the positive effect of not completely “paying for it”, the next morning or later in the evening. If you do not understand the previous sentence, then you clearly have not eaten overly spicy foods, actual spiced Thai food or got Indian food spiced the non-Gringo friendly way.  

Lychee drink, much needed

To start off, I got a lychee drink which had indeed fresh lychee, lime zest and crushed ice. It was sweet and tart and something that would be a nice cool down from peppery dishes. The menu here as well as at a lot of popular places do a Top Ten list or specifically mark the most popular dishes that people order, which I find is a plus because it narrows down the choices and allows me to bypass asking the server what is good here. To start off, we got the thousand year old duck egg with roasted chili peppers. It is a simple looking dish but the combination of that funk thousand years out egg and mellow heat from the roasted chilies wakes up the taste buds. 

Dong-An Chicken

The Dong-An Chicken, which is fun to say had chicken, chilies, sweet peppers and a good amount of ginger. This was a well balanced dish of hitting both sweet and sour. The chilies in this dish were quite tame but the ginger added a nice bite. One of the non-spicy dishes was the egg custard with clam. Think of it as a savory flan that was light and eggy with clams and a nice relief to onslaught of chilies. 

egg custard and clams

Pretending to be healthy, we ordered water spinach that was cooked with garlic. Sautéed vegetables here are extreme good here and are light, tasty and fully embrace the “breathe of the wok” flavor and something that cannot be recreated, even if you have a well seasoned wok and an insane burner. 

Water Spinach and garlic

The hottest dish and by far my favorite was the stinky tofu, intestines and chilies casserole. This was a hell broth that brought you to a sweat and thankful for those disposable wet towels that accompany many meals. There was a lot of funk going on in this dish from the intestines to the stewed stinky tofu. Stinky tofu has a distinct odor and the stinky factor and taste is usually tamed when it is fried but stewed like this, celebrates fermentation and unleashes an unapologetic, funky, tantalizing odor. The chilies in this dish were varied, from the dried to the fresh. The chilies had varied effects from heat, mouth numbing and sinus clearing. I have never used any controlled substances in my life, but the effect from eating extreme heat and chilies is something that is indescribable, a limbo state like Inception in which it totters on the euphoric and masochism. The best part is after we finished all the tofu and intestines, which was good; I continued to eat the chilies and leftover sauce. 

Stinky tofu, intestines and chilies

The final dish was the fish heads with green chilies or when you look at the dish, green chilies with fish heads because the amount of chilies in this dish was not like the way you garnish with a sprig of parsley. The fish heads were smothered with chilies, like they took a page out of the Curtis LeMay Dresden doctrine and carpet bombed the chilies onto this dish. The heats from the chilies were cut from a good amount of vinegar. Unfortunately, fish heads are not popular here in the United States but besides the usual Japanese method of grill it with some mirin, fish head with chilies is one of my favorite ways to eat it. Oh and future warning to all those dining with me, I automatically call a cheek, you if I do not get a cheek piece, there will be problems. 

Fish head with green chilies

Ending the meal was a simple dessert of almond jello and pineapple, which were fresh pineapples. Taiwan is a great place to travel in which you can try varieties of Chinese food styles all in one place and done very well. Also although I did not have it this time, you cannot miss out on the ribs which get a heavy dose of cumin seeds and plus, you get a glove to keep your hands sticky free!