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A Delectable Tour of Taiwan

A Delectable Tour of Taiwan

We start off in Taipei, at the bubbly Ximending, where we tried to blend in with our new lens-less glasses (left-right: Jade Zhan, Stephanie Guo, Michelle Wu, and Caroline Lanlan Sercombe). We didn't eat on the plane from Sydney because we were too excited about Taiwanese food. So as soon as we dropped off our luggage, we were out the door in search for food and soon found ourselves around a hotpot.

Now at our second stop—the southern city of Kaohsiung. It’s dancer Betty Wang's Birthday and a perfect opportunity to visit the local bakery. We also had hotpot in Kaohsiung. If you haven’t had hotpot yet, you must—you boil the food yourself and eat it straight out of the water. Taiwan’s hotpots are usually all-you-can-eat. We’ll be talking about the famous Taiwan bubble tea more later, but this is where it all begun—a couple refreshing cups from Taiwan’s first bubble tea chain.

Around 7pm we arrived at the night market. This “snowflake ice” is amazing—better than ice cream! And, with red beans, a little healthier. The next two pictures are taken at the same Chiayi night market. Here is a crepe stand and what I call an “extreme corn dog.” Wouldn’t it be nice if they sold ramen noodle rolled corn dogs in New York?

On our way back to our hotel we picked up some fresh bell cakes—recommended by fellow dancer and Taiwanese native Yu-hsin Chang. (with dancer-blogger Jade Zhan)

Now we're in Taichung and of course, a visit to Fengchia is inevitable. One of the biggest night markets in Taiwan, it's also my favorite because of its wide variety of snacks, like these bear paw sandwiches. Taiwanese bear paw sandwiches are not to be confused with the Western bear claw pastries, or actual bear paws—a delicacy in some parts of China.

We bought these egg puddings to go, mostly because they're cute. Tainan is home to the original “coffin bread”—thick toast, hollowed and stuffed with anything from pineapple to chicken. We searched online for the original coffin restaurant, and biked there following iPod directions. Then, Taiwei Wang and I got an inside look at how it’s made.

Here is a cute bakery cafe we came across. Notice the little sprout in a pot at center.

Check out this adorable menu from a snack stand at the night market—actually made of play dough. It almost looks eatable, too. Yummy drinks! Generally all classified as bubble milk tea, they are actually various combinations of jello, tapioca, tea, milk, and sugar.

Fish-shaped cakes. This invention actually comes from Japan. Normally these are stuffed with red bean paste, but in Taiwan you can get them with ham and cheese. Oh, Taiwan… we’re going to miss you. We’ll see you next year!

Although Taiwan is a small island, each city has its distinct cuisine. So as we toured Taiwan with our performance, we also got a tour of the local delicacies. Here are some of the highlights.

Cindy Liu

Principal Dancer

April 25, 2013

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