Sure enough that there must be a post about food in Taipei. First of all, we would like to have tried more as here are quite some food choices we have not eaten yet.
Night Markets
Easiest to learn about this is on the numerous night markets. You see what you get to eat, and the according queues. We have visited 2 of them: Ningxia and Raohe Market. Again, we often forgot to take picture before eating. ☺️ We had these:
Pork belly with super crispy skin (Foto upper row 1+2)
Grilled sepia (3) - huge animals, thick meat, only seasoned with salt and pepper and you taste their freshness
Black Pepper Buns (4+5) are round fried buns with pepperish mince meat filling. The dough is very much like puffy pastry for croissants, just without butter
The thin spring onion pancake (lower row 1) with fried egg was extremely crispy but quite oily.
Fried ribs which bones have been removed (no pic)
Pineapple buns (2), are brioche with crumble that look like pineapple peel. They are from Hong Kong but are offered here with different fillings
4 fisch balls on a stick, also from Hong Kong (no pic)
Sweet potato balls (3), crispy in the outside and fluffy inside
A drinks stand offering fruit teas (4)
Foto 5 was a purchase of convenience food from a luxury supermarket
Taiwanesen are crazy about their sausages (no pic), they are grilled and sold on a stick. We got these from the in-laws' dinner.
Oh wow, no wonder why some booths are awarded by Michelin.
Taiwanese Cuisine
Taiwan‘s cuisine adopts all tastes from the mainland regions from where the people came from. Further, it is influenced by the colonial time by Japan. Not only as a travel destination, Japan is most Taiwanese favorite destination / country. For this, one does not wonder that there are so many Japanese restaurants. We had a very good one.
And this was a dinner at a Taiwanese restaurant. The dishes and the Cantonese cuisine are very much alike.
Richness of fruits in Taiwan
After the new year's eve dinner at the in-laws (I didn't take pictures due to politeness 🙂), they served sweets with tea most of which were fruits. They had many Buddha Head fruits which we have not tried before. They are sweet, soft and delicious but have many big cores like the ones from Lychees. Then there were also cherry tomatoes which astonished us. They were so sweet, had extremely thin skin. That's why they were enjoyed as fruits, too.
Taiwan is located between tropical and subtropical latitudes, it' areas extend from flat coastal areas to steep peaks. Blessed with such geographical location, the island provide optimal growth conditions for all trees, bushes and vines. Around 50 fruit types are growing on the island, around 10 types are on the market every season, including apples which needed to be imported earlier why they were less affordable before they are provided by their own country.
Tea
Taiwan is famous for their highland Oolong tea. Who uses to drink tea knows how expensive Oolong can be. It grows on 500 to 1,500 metres high on the mountain Ali - Alishan, one of 18 of a mountain range. Though, only that Alishan is the origin doesn't neccessarily mean high quality. The height of the plants, hand pick, when to harvest and selection of leafs are the criteria for quality and thus price.
We had tea tasting in a nice tea house, not on the touristy Maokong. We had Alishan and white tea. It was a beautiful atmosphere, how the teas were prepared. The treats that came with the teas were remarkable - delicious and beautiful.
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