Go up the mountain to find "Taiwan's number one noodles"
There is no public transport from Taipei that can lead to the Shi-ding hill area in New Taipei, all you can do is take a taxi to get here. I happened to know about this place through a friend who lives in Taipei. Since I decided to go on Monday and my Taiwanese friend is still in school, he couldn't come along, all he gave me was the name of the noodle shop in Chinese and the address in Chinese. But he also enthusiastically bookmarked this place in Google Maps for me to find it easier.
On the way, the driver named Wei Li suddenly told us to get off the bus at a slope, which made us confused because this place did not seem like the destination. "Get off here, this place is great for taking pictures!" - the driver urged again, making my lover and I laugh. But the scenery before our eyes was really beautiful, I couldn't believe that we had just left Taipei for 30 minutes.
The view ahead was Thousand Island Lake - I had never known about its existence. Sun Moon Lake was probably the only lake in Taiwan that I had ever heard of. True to its name, the small islands grew up like mushrooms in the middle of the lake. At that moment, I wished I could fly to capture this majestic scene.
But the main purpose of the trip was the noodles that lay ahead. After many detours and another half hour in the car, we arrived at our destination.
"This is the most famous noodle shop in the area, maybe the most famous in Taiwan! You guys must be really good foodies" - Wei Li bragged to us, but I just laughed because I know I'm not much of a foodie. It was curiosity that made me come all the way here.
The shop is located on a slope from the main road. The crowd is not too busy, but considering the difficult-to-find location, the noodles must be really good to make the locals drive all the way here to try it. We were the only two foreigners in the shop. The driver even rushed in before us to order a bowl of noodles for his lunch. "Here, people only come from Taipei or neighboring provinces to eat. I rarely hear of people from Vietnam or other countries wanting to come here to eat," Wei Li explained.
Hsu Noodles is the name of the restaurant, named after the owner. Coming here, diners not only enjoy delicious food but also participate in the basic steps to make the famous noodles. Although I did not directly participate, I was quite excited to see diners kneading the dough or beating the dough into noodles. But the most important step, kneading the dough to achieve the perfect balance of flavors, still belongs to the sifu (noodle master).
To get the finished noodles, sifu must go through 9 steps that are both elaborate and time-consuming: from mixing flour with salt water and the previous day's fermentation dough, kneading the dough by stepping on it, cutting the dough, stretching the dough, weaving the dough and then stretching the dough again, drying, cutting the noodles and rolling them into bundles, and finally boiling the noodles and soaking them in cold water for 10 minutes.
There are two main ways to enjoy the noodles at Hsu Noodles: in a bowl or Nagashi Soumen (noodles scooped out from the spring water running through a bamboo tube). The Nagashi Soumen method is common in many prefectures in Japan, but this is a rare place that incorporates the art of serving into Taiwanese noodles. A Nagashi Soumen meal will set you back NT$250, but you will get a lot of fresh noodles from the spring water.
Hsu Noodles has three main noodles in three different colors: white (original), light green made from green tea, and a lovely light pink made from fermented rice. All are natural colors so I felt comfortable trying them.
Here, if you order a bowl of noodles, don’t expect huge portions, with huge meat and fish toppings. MSG is the soul of the dish and other ingredients like eggs and seaweed are just to enhance the flavor of the noodles. I ordered a portion of XO sauce noodles for 80 NTD, my first impression was that the portion of noodles was quite small but when I put it in my mouth, the noodles melted on my tongue.
Unable to resist, I had to order another serving. So the journey to find the best mountain noodles was complete, I felt happy to discover many beautiful cultural features on this trip to Taiwan.
Keelung Port Cuisine
Keelung is a port city near Taipei, in northern Taiwan. It is famous for its natural deep-water harbor surrounded by mountains. But Keelung is more famous for its bustling night markets. Right at Zhengbin Port, you can enjoy fresh seafood at the most affordable prices.
However, my favorite place is Miaokou Night Market, where all the culinary essence of the city converges. This is probably the most famous night market in Taiwan because it has a lot of delicious food from the Japanese period. As soon as I stepped into the street, I felt like all my efforts to lose weight would be swallowed up by the maze of tastes before me.
Not only famous for its fresh seafood, Miaokou Night Market also offers you a choice of fast food and countless other delicious dishes. Perhaps you have heard of the snack called “small sausage in big sausage” or “Taiwanese sausage”?! Head to stall 43-1 in the market to taste the chewy, chewy pork sausage wrapped in glutinous rice sausage.
Shenji Paopao Shaved Ice is a dish that was invented in 1976 and since then, the stall selling this dish - Shenji Paopao Ice has also become a famous destination for food lovers. The secret to its popularity is the ingredients that include ice cream mixed with different flavors and shaved ice. Even in winter, people waiting for their turn to buy this shaved ice still form a long line in front of the stall.
If you are looking for something traditional yet unique, I recommend trying Bainian Wujia Ding Bian Cuo. This is a Fuzhou snack made from steamed rice flour, served with meatballs, mushrooms, shrimp and more.
Taipei with delicious dishes that will explode your taste buds
In 2011, I read an interesting article by CNN about the most sinful cities in Asia. In Christianity, the 7 greatest sins of man are: pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy, sloth. The article compared 7 Asian cities to these 7 cities of sin. Let me skip those sins, but Taipei is the city associated with gluttony because there are more than 20 streets here that cater to the local taste buds.
Initially, these neighborhoods were created to serve the locals. As tourism developed, tourists were the lucky ones to get to know the culinary culture of Taipei through the night markets. It can be seen that many of the shops with signs have been established for decades in the night markets in Taipei. These shops are often small, always keeping the original flavor even though the owners have passed through many generations. It cannot be denied that the fact that more tourists visit Taipei has created new names, new and tempting milk tea shops, but the old shops still have charm that is not affected by trends.
Ximending Night Market is home to many of these long-standing shops. Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle is famous for its crab-like noodles, thick and cheap from NT$70. Be sure to add chili sauce for an extra kick. The restaurant's chili sauce is so famous that they sell large bottles for customers to take home and mix with a variety of dishes such as meat, rice, and noodles.
Bitter melon milk is a very unique dish, it sounds bitter but this drink has a sweet taste and a slightly bitter aftertaste. There are many shops selling bitter melon milk in Ximending but you should explore the most famous original shop at 21 Hanzhong Street, the price for a large cup is 100 NTD and 85 NTD for a small cup.
Stinky tofu can be found everywhere, but the best one I've tried is on Emei Road, near Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle, for only NT$50/portion.
I arrived in Shilin on the last night of my trip. After enjoying the traditional Taiwanese delicacies, I started to crave something a little more exotic, maybe not called “authentic” but no less delicious.
Taipei's Shilin Night Market is one of the largest night markets in Taiwan and also one of the most famous nightlife spots in Taipei. Located in the Shilin District, just 70 meters from MRT Jiantan Station, this maze consists of two main sections: the merchandise area and the food area, consisting of the underground B1 food area and the above-ground food area along the western edge of the market.
Area B1 only sells popular specialties, you can come here to try fried oysters with eggs, stinky tofu and many other classic Taiwanese dishes. But the area on the ground outside the market is the most contemporary food area that makes diners crave the most. Beefsteak covered with melted cheese is a dish that doesn't sound Taiwanese at all, but that doesn't make it any less worth experiencing. This dish at Shilin is only 350 NTD, served in a portable box to eat while walking, completely in the style of Taiwanese street food.
Grilled Enoki Mushrooms are another dish that always has a long queue. The giant mushrooms are grilled at a street stall in Shilin Market, and each portion starts at NT$150, but the taste is rich and the mushrooms are fresh and crunchy. The X factor that makes the mushrooms special is the coating of various flavors such as seaweed, wasabi, pepper, lemon, mustard, and chili to stimulate the taste buds.
Fruit juice with tapioca pearls is a modern and Taiwanese drink. Each cup is only 90 NTD, but it is delicious and unique enough for milk tea lovers who still love tapioca pearls but want to be healthy and beautiful.
