[台北] - 西門町 老天祿 Lao Tien Lu (Xiemending) - soy sauce simmered snack heaven

Located in the trendy and always fun Xiementing District 西門町 of Taipei City is one of the most famous soy sauce marinated snack shops called Lao Tien Lu 老天祿.

This is a must visit and if you are willing, a must try. They have quite an interesting background, as the company was originally located in Shanghai. The establishment of the Taipei location was the doing of then 12 year old Mr Chai, who apprenticed with his elder siblings when LTL was based in Shanghai and at the time offered tea cakes and snacks, as well as their signature product line of marinated eats (lou wei 滷味‎), where all items are first marinated in soy sauce and herbs of upwards of 14+ kinds then steamed/simmered, and served hot or in the case of LTL, cold). Around the time of WWII (1949) he fled to Taiwan and built the business there from scratch, with the knowledge of his apprenticeship. The business moved a few times, and Mr Chai's most devasting loss was the great fire of 1966 that burnt down literally all of Xiementing, destroying everything he built. Fortunately with the help of investors the business returned 5 years later and has settled down ever since.

While you can find packaged snacks and Chinese style sweets, everyone comes here for the marinated animal parts. Everything is marinated to sell the same day, so you won't get yesterday's today.

14 spices and Chinese herbs, soy sauce goes into the marination, then simmered, and refrigerated to seal in the juices.

Choose from

-duck tongue (best seller)

-duck wing

-duck feet

-duck gizzard

-duck heart

-intestines

-chicken wing

-chicken feet

-chicken gizzard

-chicken neck

-chicken thigh

-chicken liver

-pork trotter tendon

-several tofu variants

-a vegan (tofu) version of chicken gizzard

-marinated duck egg

-rice cake with blood (of either pork or bird, not sure)

Probably not as many Japanese tourists at this place, but an overwhelming number of Hong Kong visitors flock here.

It turns out that LTL's soy sauce marinated small bites are the darlings of mondo Hong Kong pop and movie stars, including megastar Andy Lau (who in the legendary Infernal Affairs movie dranks quite a few Hong Kong Milk Teas) Caveat, the pictures of Andy Lau inside LTL (posted around the store) were arguably taken during the 1980s or early 1990s.

Gotta give LTL credit for still using the imagery of pop stars via old photos as endorsement.

When it rains, it pours inside

Chicken feet

Pig trotter tendons

Dried marinated tofu

Duck tongues (including the connector parts!) signature bestseller

Website: http://www.laotienlu.com.tw/

老天祿滷味‎ (Lao Tien Lu Marinated Eats)
台北市萬華區武昌街二段55號‎ (Taipei City, Wanhua District, Muchang St 2nd portion, #55)
02-2361-5588‎

[基隆] - 三兄弟豆腐花 - Three Brothers Tofu Fa chain shop (Keelung Night Market) Taipei county

This dessert shoppe is purely reserved for when you are almost done for the evening and you want to end it on a sweet but light note, and there's like no froyo or cupcakes to be found in the area, so put on yo A$N hardcore schweet hat.

OK for this particular dessert shop, you have to get out of Taipei City. Like 30 to 40 mins drive or cab ride costing you NT$1000 or about US$30. You can also take the train from Taipei of course.

Transportation is a bit high to get to Keelung 基隆 (where you want to hit up Keelung Miao Kao Night Market 基隆廟口夜市 for its oh...200++ food stalls) and the best seafood by the north coast, but it is worth it.

Keelung's famous dessert shop is called Sahm Shung Dee Dou Hwa 三兄弟豆腐花, or 3 Brothers Tofu Custard Specialty shop. They have about 12 other locations, but you only want to go to the flagship store in Keelung which has been around since 1975 as a pushcart vendor then expanded years later into a storefront. The Shihlin branch I visited once was not up to snuff.

The three brothers are not related at all by blood. In fact they are 3 famous ingredients, or condiments rather, to accompany the tofu custard.

1) Taro root 芋頭 (pictured above and below appear to be di gua 地瓜 or sweet potato, sorry didn't see any taro lying around to be photographed...)

2) Lotus seed 蓮子 (like a big ass but sweet chickpea, as pictured in the background above)

3) Fun Yuan 粉圓, like the tapioca from your bobba tea shop, but smooth light, floury, and more importantly fresh as hell and not made from dried packaged kind.

No matter how late in the day this place hits the spot with its light delicious and sweet natural flavors.

A simple cold (with ice) tofu custard with cooked peanuts

Tons of variety here. The menu is fairly straightforward. Pick either

a) tofu custard with your choice of topping (then hot or cold which is with additional ice)

b) Tapioca with your choice of topping

c) pairing of taro and lotus seed with whatever you want

d) any combination of a, b, c with choice of topping

e) new offerings like mixed fruit with ice cream made from local fresh Taiwanese fruit

f) yaki mochi (Taiwanese style) with grounded peanuts and other yummy stuff.

g) too many others I can't remember

Pretty sure that even late into the night like 1 am to 3 am, this place is still packed or at least busy. It is a great place to take shelter during the rainy season as most of Keelung's night market stalls are outdoors.

三兄弟豆腐花 3 Brothers Tofu Fa (flagship store)
基隆市仁愛區愛四路26號 Keelung City, Ren Ai District, Ai Si Rd #26
(02)-2427-3911

波的多紅燒牛肉麵薯片 Beef Noodle Soup flavored potato chips

If there are "beef and potatoes in butter" flavored potato chips from Hokkaido, shoyu ramen potato chips as limited offerings in Japan, why not Taiwanese style spicy beef noodle soup potato chips?

Available at most local Taiwanese supermarkets, including Welcome (24 hours), some convenience stores.

Look for 波的多紅燒牛肉麵. The chips I recall are kind of like American Ruffles in texture, but it's the flavoring/seasoning. Perhaps it is the kind used in instant beef noodle soup packages, but hell it tastes good, all the way down to the spice!

There is also a 蚵仔煎 (oyster omlette) flavor that's also quite surreal in flavor. And strangely does taste almost like the real thing (including the nori powder that elevates the flavor)!

The company that makes these chips is located in Taichung.

波的多 紅燒牛肉麵薯片