she, the epicuriousgirl.

The Alishan Forest Railway (阿里山森林鐵路) is a small, red choo-choo train that brings you up the winding track, passing by some 49 tunnels and 77 bridges. The journey takes about 3½ hours and is quite interesting as the porter cum guide gives quite a detailed description and explanation of the sights we pass by.

As Alishan’s main draw is it’s famed sunrise, we spent the night exploring the “town centre”, only a short walk away from our guest house which had a local post office, shops selling local products, restaurants, 7-11 and even a Starbucks Coffee!

Our first stop was at this shop – Sunrise (日出商店). Quite liked the look of this place, had a warm, cosy feel to it. It sold quite a bit of local products, mainly on local tea etc. But it was the fresh mochi that caught our eyes. I am a huge fan of yam (taro) so ended up choosing the black sugar one. It was once again, wonderfully soft and chewy. They had quite a variety of fillings, but I barely remember them now. Still the same goes for our group… everyone grabbed one and everyone shared.

As we walked further in search for our dinner, we stumbled upon this stall selling wild boar meat (烤山猪肉). The meat was sliced into pieces and seared over the hot plate before being served with garlic and lime. It was sinfully good! We “comforted” ourselves that the wild version was leaner, therefore we could have more pieces, Lol.

This grass jelly (烧仙草) stall ended up being one of the most visited spots of ours at Alishan, second only to the 7-11 store. The grass jelly drink is piping hot, and served with jelly bits like our local sago beads, with peanuts. The thick gooey concoction was comforting and tummy warming that I could slurp away at it the whole night if I had to. We did “tapao” (takeaway) some but it quickly solidified in the cold weather to the usual grass jelly cubes we were used to.

Our dinner was arranged for at this nearby restaurant, 山宾美味餐厅. It’s a tiny set up but with the wooden tones and timber finishes, it gave us this lodge cabin feel, which was homey and comforting. Plonked ourselves at the table and waited as the waitresses busied away. Very soon, our dishes were served one after the other and seriously, we had too much food! But it was oh so good, and made for one of the most memorable dinners, together with the brilliant company.

The cute paper bowls served. The steamed freshwater fish is a species local only to Alishan. It was smooth and sweet tasting.

Ma Po Tofu and Stir-fried cabbage. The tofu was a good accompaniment for the yummylicious Taiwanese short grain rice. And as for the cabbage, I do think that it’s sweeter and crunchier!

Stir fried mushrooms with clams and deep fried village chicken. I practically polished off the entire plate of mushrooms by myself coz I am the biggest mushroom fan. So fresh you can eat them raw! The chicken was well flavoured and luckily, smaller than usual! Lol. We were getting quite stuffed now!

To top it off, we had this huge hot pot bubbling away full of ingredients – meat, mushrooms, meatballs, clams, cuttlefish, corncobs, greens, tofu etc etc. All in all, quite a satisfying food and we had no complains about the quality of the dishes. Until now, my friends and I still reminisce about this dinner.

More coming up in Part 2…

To get to Alishan Mountain (阿里山), one has to take a 3 hour train ride from Taipei to Chiayi (嘉義) to board the Alishan Forest Railway.

The trains in Taiwan are quite convenient and comfortable. There’s always a food cart and in some coaches, drinking water is readily available. Pre-packed lunchboxes, or known as “Bian Dang” (便當) are quite common along train stations and we decided to get one from the train attendant’s cart to share. At NT80 each, it’s quite a good deal with two stir-fried vegetables, one whole braised egg, a pork chop and some fried goodies.

So Chiayi was our transit stop and we had about 2 hours to spare before having to board the next train. Definitely had to go explore the food!

Walking down the street, this fresh mochi shop caught our eye. Now, Taiwanese fresh mochi looks like ice-cream, and comes in various flavours. We were not too sure what to expect so we decided to get a few flavours to share. We had the yam/taro, green tea, red bean and mango. The skin was wonderfully thin and soft whereas the inside was more like cream cake, spongy and sweet. Most of them like the mango one best but my heart lies with the green tea. Heh.

Further down the street, we were passing by this small, nondescript restaurant when two Taiwanese locals came out and recommended us the place. So in we went to try some local dishes. Ordered the quintessential pork stew rice (鹵肉饭), which uses shredded meat with three different parts–skin, fat and lean meat–evenly proportioned and served with a small bowl of rice. Bittergourd soup, stir-fried squid with greens and an oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) completed the meal. Simple fare maybe, but warms us up with the homecooked factor. the owner and chef was this friendly old man who was rather chatty and keen to know our Alishan itinerary.

Guide books will not fail to mention that the specialty of Chiayi – Turkey Rice (火雞肉飯). Basically it’s something like our economy rice, rice served with meat and vegetables. The turkey meat strips are drizzled with their special gravy (made of chicken oil!) to enhance the flavour of the meal. It seems that the pickled daikon radish slice is also a permanent ingredient in a plate of Turkey Rice.

While on the way back to the train station we passed by this man selling these small round cakes with filling in them – red bean, milk, peanut or vegetable. We chose the former 3 as we wanted something sweet as dessert. Costs NT20 for 3 pieces. I personally think that it would have tasted better if we had it as soon as we bought it as it would have remained hot and soft. But by the time we tried any, it was already an hour since we bought them and was on the cold side.

It was only after arriving at the train station to leave for Alishan that we spotted a food guide with map at the tourist centre for Chiayi. However we wouldn’t have much of an opportunity to try the recommended restaurants as our time in Chiayi was quite limited. I’d have like to have more time to explore Chiayi a bit more as it looked quite interesting and busy. Another time… maybe.

As street food is so abundant in Taiwan, we didn’t walk in to many restaurants to try their offerings, not even the spicy steamboat (麻辣火锅) they are so famous for. But lucky the friend I was bunking at did insist on going out for dinner a couple times with me so all is not lost.

One of the restaurants we went to was Yi Ping (一品花雕雞) for their “Fa Tiew Kai” or Chinese Wine Chicken. They have quite a few house specialties but what they really emphasized on is service. From the moment you are seated, the table’s assigned waiter will introduce himself and also their menu, even explaining and teaching you how to cook (for those hotpot dishes) or the best way to eat the ordered items.

We started off with the Clam Hotpot (沙蜆鍋), where fresh clams are cooked right in front of your eyes. the waiter tells you how long to count as soon as the clams start opening to fish it out so that you taste the freshest, just cooked clam flesh. the stock was very fresh tasting after the quick boil through.

My friend was most excited to let me try the Ribs Hotpot (澳門骨煲), where the bone marrow is the highlight of the dish. The waiter once again explained the steps on eating the dish, starting with sipping the soup after it boils a little. A tad oily, in my opinion. But plays an essential part in sipping the bone marrow where we have to pour in into the bone to soften the bone marrow. Then, insert a straw in and have a little fun poking around to mix the marrow and soup well before slurping it all up! Imagine this creamy, rich paste gliding down your throat… Mhmm. But must admit it’s all a bit too rich for me… still it was quite an interesting way to eat marrow.

The house special, Chinese Wine Chicken (花雕雞) is also served in a hot pot to keep it continuously hot. Fresh greens are only added once the hotpot has been served to make sure they are not overcooked. We also ordered Stir Fried Angled Gourd (金银絲瓜). Cooked with salted egg, just the way I like it. Yum.

Overall, it was an enjoyable dinner… good company, and an attentive waiter with a great sense of humour… This is really quite a popular restaurant as I keep seeing people streaming in, a true testament to its good food and excellent service. They also have a hall of fame featuring asian artistes that have eaten there.

*****

Another place my friend was excited about showing me was this particular dish called Ginger Duck (姜母鸭), which I thought was just duck cooked with ginger… certainly wasn’t expecting this hotpot soup of ginger, duck and other medicinal herbs. most widely consumed during the cooler days, esp. during winter as it warms up the body and expels any wind etc.

The place we went to, 现辛炭烧姜母鸭 had seats ala Vietnamese style, i.e. sitting low on stools. The ceramic hotpot is placed on charcoal stoves, burning slowly but steadily. In addition to the duck, one can add other ingredients into the soup such as leafy greens, meatballs etc etc. I am not the biggest fan of ginger, hence I depended very much on the fermented tofu (豆腐乳) dip for flavour. the soup got more intense the more it boiled and ginger lovers will totally enjoy this meal.

also ordered a side serving of dry tossed mee sua (面線). this was so good! didn’t need any other accompaniments in order for me to slurp it all down.

*****

breakfast eateries like these are common in taipei. they serve all kinds of burgers, toast, crepes, sandwiches etc with your usual breakfast drinks such as soya milk, tea, coffee and such. the menu is really quite extensive to the point of being impressive.

a cheese & ham crepe foldover, with a slice of toast in it and a thai style chicken burger, with egg. the chicken patty had a hint of sweet & sour, which is as thai as it gets in taipei apparently.

another crepe and french toast wrap thingy. and a beef crepe sandwich. both tasted delectable. simple but satisfying.

*****

our last proper meal in taipei was eaten at this place. serving mostly japanese fusion sets, we ended up choosing rather similar stuff. for every set, they give a bowl of sesame topped rice, two side dishes, salad and miso soup.

one of the recommended sets is the Le Cordon Blue stuffed Pork Strip (篮带猪排). Instead of using only cheese & ham, they also added in creamy corn and some nori seaweed. Doesn’t do much for the taste, in my opinion.

Deep fried tofu, topped with bonito flakes and Loin Roll with pork & cheese. I thought the latter tasted better than the cordon blue pork strip. for the pork strips, a special dipping bowl and sauce is given. one had to pound the sesame in the bowl into powder first before adding the sauce and dipping the meat in.

According to the menu, this is the “Well-Chosen Beef Chaffing Pot” (严选牛肉火锅). Weird name for a mini hotpot. But basically, it’s just a mini steamboat with the meat of your choice, fish balls etc, tofu, mushrooms and vegetables etc. there are 3 soup bases available but I only remember two – clear or miso soup.

overall, the food here is served fast and tastes ok, with no surprises. but rice, side dishes & miso soup for the sets are unlimited and can be refilled. so quite value for money.

*****

this was from 行运茶水滩, somewhere near Taipei 101. we were attracted by the mutton hotpot they featured in the posters but it was the stir-fried beef flat noodles that tasted better. the hotpot was frankly, disappointing and bland. my friend was a little turned off by the hairy skin on the meat (Lol!) but I was more concerned over the fact that we fished out an winged insect and a ladybug from the soup. Hmm.. hygiene in question.

Next up, other food adventures around Taiwan…