If Las Vegas is sin city for gambling and uhm...riding horses at the Mustang Ranch, then Taiwan is the sin city for fine and not so fine dining. Even the orniest meanest looking street vendor or hole in the wall restaurant is sooooooooooo good it's not even funny.
Almost 5 years ago on a very cold night before leaving the fine city on a plane ride back home, we came here for dinner. Located somewhere near the shopping district (not too far away from Sogo) was 長白小館 (Chang Bai Xiao Guan).
長白, or "long white" literal translation, is named after the Baekdu Mountains bordering between China and North Korea, where you probably don't want to take a vacation during winter. Perhaps long white, refers to the snow capped mountains and land, for long periods of time during the winter months...
But there is something special about NorthEastern cuisine....sour (fermented) cabbage, a main staple preserved veggie of the diet, and of course, copious pork belly slices to keep one's body temp optimal, and ensure that a dude's testes does not integrate or assimilate into his body entirely from the frigid temperatures (they're supposed to hang for a reason).
Oh yes, 酸菜白肉鍋 (sour cabbage pork belly slice hot pot) It's Chang Bai restaurant's signature dish. Some of you might be wondering, where's the sour cabbage?
It's underneath the mondo layer of pork belly slices. They are very rich in flavor, but you don't get that filling or disgusted feeling afterwards. Why? The secret is in the sour fermented cabbage that numbs the fattiness, and makes your stomach feel warm and fuzzy inside.
The fermented cabbage must taste like ass, you will think. Actually no...it's a very mild and refreshing taste, unlike other versions where it's heavier than sauerkraut or as pungent as stinky tofu (or kimchi). This is unlike any other sour cabbage you will have abroad.
Similar to Lin Tung Fong in Taipei, there is a shelf filled with small plates of mostly cold/room temp appetizers. All self help, and to be charged to your tab. A few of these will kick off the bacon hot pot goodness palooza.
Chang Bai (restaurant, in Taipei) is a fine example of specialized regional Chinese cuisine, multiple versions and wide varieties all over the island. A shop over 30 years old and still kicking ass, and keeping people's bellies warm and happy during the colder months of the year.
長白小館 Chang Bai Xiao Guan
台北市大安區光復南路240巷53號 (Taipei City, Da An District, Guang Fu S Road, Alley 240, #53)
Tel: 02-2751-3525
can't say boil pork fat looks good but I'm sure it tastes good
ReplyDeleteI like those 酸菜鍋 in Taiwan. I am wondering if its related to Chiu Chow cuisine in a way too? It seems like the HK Chiu Chow restaurants don't use as much 酸菜 in comparison?
ReplyDeleteI ask too many questions in life, don't I? :S
@HK Epicurus, there are several variations of 酸菜. The NE Chinese (Dongbei) version uses napa cabbage or equivalent, and is also found in Beijing and Islamic Chinese type lamb hotpots, either as a cold appetizer or a dish you put inside the broth. Then there's pickled mustard greens also called 酸菜, served on the side for dishes like beef noodles in soup or a condiment for a Taiwanese rice bento (e.g. fried chicken leg, pork chop). Hakka Taiwanese use a particular kind of mustard green that they call Fu Tsai, grown in Hsin Chu and Miao Li county of Taipei, where they cure/salt and pickle them in bottles, then served in dishes like Hakka style pork belly. It is more pungent and bitter than the Hakka Cantonese prep of mui choy kaw yuk (where the preserved greens are sweeter), if you know what I mean.
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