Pineapple Tarts from Taiwan!

Hehs. I was instructed to buy some local food back from Taiwan but I did not managed to go out shopping (BOOOO!!!). And so, I had to accomplish all my missions at the duty free shops. Haha. Yes, I raided the airport at the very last hour at Taiwan before returning to Singapore. HAHAHAHA!

Welllllll........ This was one of the thing that I bought it because I wanted to buy it and not because someone asked me to get it. Hehs. Pineapple tarts! The pineapple tarts in Taiwan is different from the ones we eat during CNY in Singapore. Haha. And I think they were really great.

And, how can I reject one with Mickey and Minne on it? Lol. And with all the sales girl using their life to endorse it. And when one girl told me that it's SO HOT online and it's almost impossible to get it. Lol.

The box is really cute!

And here's the inner packaging. Well, that's Mickey's head isn't it?? Hehs.

Tadang!

Well, I have to say, this is very very different from the pineapple tarts that I have gotta last time. There's a layer of sesame which is pretty fragrant to me. And the pastry is the crispy kind! But it will get really flaky. Another selling point of the tart is supposed to be the pineapple filling. Most of the other fillings have winter melon mixed in. This one is pure pineapple. And we can bite some of the puree.

But then, I find it a tad too sweet. I would really love it more if it's less sweet. Hehs. Not too bad if you ask me. However, it's not something that I would use my life to endorse. Hahahahaha! I think the vigor's pineapple tarts are way better. So, if you ever go Taiwan, look out for the vigor's pastries! They are really goood! Even my parents who don't really eat this kinda of stuffs agreed with me. PLUS, they don't bear to give the tarts away because they want to eat it. Haha. I'll find myself a chance to go back to Taipei and hopefully I'm able to buy them!

Oh by the way, if you are interested in trying this, I bought it at the Tao Yuan Airport T2's duty free shop. I cannot remember the exact shop name, but just turn right and go down once you clear the immigration. It's the first shop that sells Taiwan local food. Haha. I love that shop because I managed to find loads of Pooh Pooh stuffs from there! Ha!

=D

Eateries outside the Cheng Huang Temple at Hsin-chu City

I loveeee this place. For the food, and for the temple of course (I'm a great temple hopping fan.)

You yu gen. Hehs. I loveee this. It's the same soup as shark fins minus the shark fins. Ha. I love the crispy thing and all the ingredients in the soup. Woo. Yum yum yum. Best thing on a cold weather I believe!

Ahh.. I cannot miss this when I come here. Gong Wang Tang! Hehs. Well, I know I know, it's just like our pork balls. BUT! It's so much bigger and bouncier and yummier. Hah. I think the basil leaves contributed a lot to the soup. It's the taiwanese's favorite qiu cheng ta~

My favorite Hsin-chu Mifen! Hehs. Texture, sauce, taste. Woooo! Mama can't cook the same thing even when I brought the same mee hoon back the last time. Ha! So, I have to eat here. LOL!

All were ordered from this corner shop at the back of the photo. Haha. This is what surrounds the temple's door. Hehs.

I have no idea what's the address. I always tell the taxi driver "Uncle, Cheng Huang Miao please."

Ha!

Papaya Milk

Hahaha. It have been myth to boost your bust line. But seriously, does it realllly? No, I don't feel so. Lol.

My first encounter with papaya milk was at Taiwan (the 7-11 version). Back then, I still have the 'turn-off' thoughts because I generally do not like the taste of milk. But boy, the first taste changed my perception of milk, or rather papaya milk immediately.

I tried it out of coercing by the man. You should have seen the facial expression change. Haha. It turned from 'Argh, I'm doing it for you. This is so scary.' to 'A! This is nice!'. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Missed it a lot after I came back to Singapore. BOY! I'm so so so so so happy when I saw this when I was shopping at Cold Storage one day!

It was 3 for $3, so it is $1 per packet, which is $1 for 250 mL of papaya milk. Hmmm. A little expensive, I would say. Well, if you compare it to the ones we got it from Taiwan!! Haha. It's the same brand! Just that the packaging is a little different.

Love the texture. It's a little thicker than the normal milk you will find. And I love the union of papaya and milk. The sugar level was okay for me (considering that I don't really like sweet stuffs). The smell was nice. And the man love it. Haha. What's more, I am imagining that the bust line myth is real. LOL!

Give it a try!

台湾卤肉饭 (Taiwan Braised Pork Rice)

All because there were talks about going to Taiwan in Sept, I thought of my last Taiwan trip in June. Lol. And I think I missed nothing but the food there. Haha. And the first food that actually came up to Ah Dear's mind was the 卤肉饭! Lol. And suddenly, everytime someone talks about Taiwan, the image of the 卤肉饭 will come into my mind automatically! Haha.

The first encounter with the rice was when we ordered bento at the synchrotron. Back then, I had absolutely no idea what I was eating. I just thought it tasted nice. Haha. *Ignore the lack of colors! Great food doesn't mean colors all the time! Hahaha!*

 

And shortly after I ate this, my dear friend told me that I have to eat the 卤肉饭 when I'm in Taiwan. So, haha, I ordered it for dinner! And tadang! This is what I got! Exactly the same thing as what I had for lunch! (It tasted better than the lunch! I think it's from different stores.)

And because it blown my heart away, when Ah Dear met me in Taipei (which is just 1-2 days later), I told him, 卤肉饭 is a must try! Well, because of this, I faced 卤肉饭 almost everyday!! Right after I told him, we had it for dinner near where we stayed.

Before we left Taiwan, we have to have a last bowl.

And before this, we actually had another one as bento. Haha. No photos were taken because the main character was supposed to be the yummy 猪血汤 (Yes, pig blood. Go ahead and gag. Haha. It won't stop me from loving this dish since young. Haha!) Although it did not show the rice, I put this photo to stress how many bowls of 卤肉饭 I actually had for a short 1 week at Taiwan. Lol.

How should I explain the taste? 

I would think that the sauce made the meat really nice. Without the sauce, it is nothing. That's why they called it 卤肉 ma.. And I have absolutely no idea how they cooked it till you cannot really taste the presence of the fats even though you can see it staring right at you. But the stalls who does not cook it well will let you have the gagging experience you have something really fatty (the last photo). The best one I had was the 2nd one at Hsinchu (I wonder where they order from. Hmmm....) and the best Ah Dear had was the one near 牡丹居 (3rd photo).

And something that we had realized was that. The rice (except when you order as bento) is usually sold in very small servings. So, you almost have to order other dishes if you want to eat it. Haha. So, no worries about being overloaded with the meat. And they are usually just ard NT50 (S$2.50). Great taste does not have to come with high price! Haha. Well, it is actually very expensive if you were to include the air tickets. Hehs.

*There's a reason why I came back with extra 2kg after just 1 week in Taiwan. I wonder how the girls there get themselves so fit, or rather, so THIN!*

**Dear, if you are reading it, does it give you more motivation to earn more money and save up and go back there next year with the whole family? Haha.**

胡椒饼 (Hu Jiao Bing/Pepper Pie?!)

Ok, this is such a random post. I know. But seriously, I was looking through my old travel photos and saw this photo again! Slurps slurps.


This is definitely something that my dear and I loves the most from Taipei. Haha. It was oh-so-great. Till now, we would think of it occasionally and we just longed to go back to Taipei for it. Haha!


I cannot be sure about the other places that sells this hu jiao bing. But what I can be sure of is that this shop actually sells super delicious hu jiao bing. The meat is really juicy and succulent. Juice really can come out of it! Plus! The vegetables (that you cannot see from the photo) added a lot of flavor to the peppery taste of the meat. And we cannot forget the crust! It's oh-my-god....... Haha. Heavenly. Slurps slurps.

And what's more, the whole thing was piping hot when we bought it (we went twice on two separate days and they tasted the same!). What can be more perfect than this when you are feeling so cold from the rain? Haha.

Ok, after saying so much and possibly making you salivate, do I have to tell you where we bought it? Lol! It's at Taipei (uh-oh, there's no hu jiao bing in Singapore!). Exact address, I'm not too sure. But we took the MTR to the 国父纪念馆 and came out at the exit 3 (I hope it's the right one!) and then walk away from the bubble tea shop and then towards the traffic light or the 50lan bubble tea shop. Hehs. (By the way, we chance upon this shop! Lol!)

The shop front look like this:

Try their sweet potato if you want! It's uber sweet and terribly soft and nice. ME LOVEEE!


I am quite sure that there are other stalls selling this. And this is definitely not the stall that had been starred on the television before. But me think it is really super duper uber nice and that you have to try it. And please, eat it for me if you are at taipei. =D