二訪 知味館 Yum's Bistro (2nd visit) Fremont, CA (USA) classic Cantonese at its finest

Don't let the front entrance, and the fact that it is in a random non-descript strip mall within minutes of a residential block fool you....the master chef here is hardcore. Chef Boson Yum (任旋) is seriously a Cantonese culinary treasure in San Francisco Bay Area.

Previous visit can be found here

For those who don't have an "in" with the chef, and would like to try the more off the beaten path items, might want to look at the Chinese specials board. What's interesting is that it is written in shorthand Chinese, although the chef's mastery is all Cantonese in nature

A combination of properly fused flavors, along with classic rustic styles. Try to find something like this at some snotty upscale seafood restaurant in town.

Or if you want to pre-order certain dishes, but don't know what to get, the restaurant now has a separate "private kitchen specials" menu

There is a $200 soup for 10 called 海中宝. While I have no clue what's in it, they say it contains a mix of seafood (likely the dried usual suspects). The rest of the other soup varieties are rustic and really unusual, and I'm sure requiring a lot of time and effort to prepare ahead of time, ditto for the special stuffed duck and the stir fried sticky rice stuffed chicken (where a whole chicken has its meat and bones removed, the cavity stuffed entirely with stir fried sticky rice....cheap ingredients and really time consuming to do with a silly low profit margin, hence the US$38 price tag, but it is ridiculously cheap compared to the $70 to $80 price you pay at Luk Yu Tea House in Central during dinner) .

Every hipster out there knows what omakase is, in other words, "chef, sock it to me baby!"

If you know the chef well enough like some of his regulars, and have developed a personal relationship with him (perhaps a select few), it can be done here too...he will sock you, and do it really well. Even if you order from the white board, you will not be disappointed.

紙包乳鴿 deep fried edible paper wrapped squab

 

 

Roast squab (deep fried actually) is available on the menu. The chef can execute this dish with his hand behind his back and his eyes closed. But repackaging and re-doing this classic, he chose to wrap sliced squab meat, then deep fry it. Well this is technically not like the versions in Hong Kong at the regional Cantonese joints, but still very well executed and unusual.

But that's not all....the chef even made XO sauce to dip this stuff in! After having his XO sauce, you don't want to eat the BS from the imported jars (not even Lee Kum Kee)

自家製XO醬(配紙包鴿) - house made XO sauce for the squab. Top ingredients, freaking awesome 

迷你燉節瓜湯 (蟹肉, 火腿絲, 瑤柱, 蘑菇, 鮮蝦) - mini stewed/double boiled soup embedded inside a Chinese melon. Supreme broth with crab meat, shredded Chinese ham, dried scallop, mushrooms, and fresh shrimp.

The amount of effort into making this miniaturized version of the classic winter melon soup, instead using hairy gourd 節瓜 (sometimes known as hairy melon/squash) was greatly appreciated. Other than the aluminum foil, this was a mini extravaganza from top to bottom.

Next one seemed like a blast to the past (village style) and even more amazingly done than Hakka Restaurant in San Francisco.

XO醬炒豬肚仁 (非常爽!!) - XO sauce stir fried pork stomach

Pork stomach may be a little bit hard to stomach for many, but with the right touches, this is a truly comforting delight. The chef doesn't just pick any ordinary pork stomach, and he has to find a very particular cut that yields the right texture. It is said he once made a pork stomach tip 猪肚尖 (where he had to go through 20 pigs to find a portion for the dish) so don't even ask for it....but it is also said that this particular dish 炒豬肚仁 was even better... The crisp and mild crunch factor, coupled with the wok heat and the savory XO sauce, made this a real winner. I hate celery, but couldn't help eat as many as I could from the dish as it tasted so good.

The next one is a banquet classic

海参鹅掌 - sea cucumber and goose webbed feet with mustard greens

I love it....banquet style dish (and high level execution) in a Cantonese bistro! The chef has done thousands of these dishes when he was executive chef at the various SF Bay Area seafood restaurants in the last 20 years, so if it feels like Fook Yuen, ABC Milpitas, South China Seafood Village, HK Flower Lounge Millbrae, there's a reason (he used to work at these seafood restaurants!)

香芒牛柳粒 - mango beef (dope ass good)

This dish is on the specials board, and is a must order. With Mexican mangoes in season, it was time for some good ol' SE Asian style with Cantonese touches fusion. Tender/superior cuts of cubed steak with an end result that was sweet and sour, but not the Americanized version you are used to. The natural sweetness all came from the mango. You like Vietnamese style Bò lúc lắc (Shaking beef)  with the Maggi sauce flavoring? This is even better...

And finally, what's a dinner at the crab (and lobster) specialist without a crab dish?

賽螃蟹 - Shanghai style stir fried crab with egg whites 2 way (the other way is salt and pepper fried crab)

It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi 慈禧太后 from the Qing Dynasty was craving crab one day, and being in landlocked Beijing had its challenges to procuring live fresh seafood (especially so last minute). The Imperial Chef came up with a solution by stir frying egg whites with some fish, and provided some black vinegar dipping sauce. She loved it to bits and became a royal hit. Then supposedly this dish made its way to Shanghai and the rest is 賽螃蟹 history.

Now here's the funny part... whoever started this trend by taking the 賽螃蟹 has dish, but adding REAL CRAB, is in a way taking the piss. Upscaling a dish that was orginally meant to have no crab (by virtue of geographic location) and changing it into something else.

Koi Palace in Daly City (the other restaurant that has this on the menu), but if the cards are right, you can also get this in similar quality right here. Out of the box, and really delicious. Don't let it get cold though, won't taste as good.

And yes....I was socked real good, till I was socked out.

In the words of the Terminator.... I'LL BE BAAAAAACK!

Yum's Bistro 知味館
4906 Paseo Padre Pkwy
(between Capulet Rd & Deep Creek Rd)
Fremont, CA 94555
Tel: (510)-745-8866

[台北] - Taiwan Storyland Museum 台灣故事館

One of the greatest things about Taiwan is their dedication to cultural preservation. Not just with food, but also life as it was back your parents and grandparents days. Enter Taiwan Storyland Museum 台灣故事館, a place that sort of lets you be a kid again (but at the same time, not).

It is essentially a large basement level recreated to look like...1950s era Taiwan. It's a great place for kids to explore (especially on rainy days) although the price of admission is not cheap.

Interesting enough, some of the initial planning activites for the annual Taipei Beef Noodle Soup Festival for 2009, began at one of the recreated 1950s era classrooms, right in the basement of Storyland museum.

In some ways the mood of this basement reminds me of the basement of the Yokohama Ramen Museum, a re-creation of the past. However this museum is mostly about the visuals, and not very much about the food, which will get a brief mention later.

Re-creation of the street games kids used to play, for a small price of course.

Outside a replica ice cream and iced desserts shoppe

Iced desserts shoppe

Taiwanese James Bond's ladykiller set of wheels

Old movie poster. Taiwanese James Bond? Taiwanese Sean Connery?

Did Taiwanese James Bond have one of these gizmos?

OK enough browsing, time for an old school snack at the re-created shoppe

There were a few snack items to try, but we had free coupon for their signature item Mien Cha 麵茶...and as we were cheap, that's how we rolled.

 

Taiwanese old school, almost oatmeal like, called mien cha 麵茶. Original flavor

Black sesame Mien cha 麵茶. 

Insert "Disney didn't get royalities" joke here

They don't make movies like they used to....

 

Old skool ice cream vendor

Old movie theater's relics.

Taiwan Storyland Museum 台灣故事館

No. 50, Section 1, ZhōngXiào West Rd, Jhongjheng District
Taipei City
02-2388-7158
Website: http://www.taiwanstoryland.com.tw/

[基隆] - 基隆廟口夜市- 天一香肉羹順 Tien Yi Hsiang - the pork rice of legends at Keelung Night Market

On some of the other internet foodie boards, one food geek question commonly asked is "how far would you travel to get your fix of something?". And then people say they'll drive upwards of 2 to 3 hours here for a little bitta this, or fly to Japan just for the weekend and back. If not driving 8 to 9 hours from Northern to Southern California for superior Japanese, Taiwanese, and perhaps regional Chinese food.

But in Taiwan, no matter the duration, a pilgrimage to the culinary delights of the streets is a must. Ignore the weight gain that may occur during the visit, just walk as much of it off, and starve yourself coming home because whatever equivalent you will have back home (if you are visiting from abroad) will likely suck.

The signature item here is misleading....it's not necessarily the pork potage soup 肉羹 as the stall name suggests, but the holy minced stewed pork belly rice, Lou Rou Fan 魯肉飯 . While this dish is not as sexy looking as Hainan Chicken Rice, it can also be a very personal bowl. Some might like it more than others, or others may have a different favorite.

It's a small snack portion, allowing you to sample other things like their signature meat stew soup, yoh doufu (fried stuffed tofu with a delicious thick broth sauce), and absolutely not to be missed, their steamed bamboo shoots that are super sweet and paired with a very interesting mildly spicy orange looking sauce that contains no orange.

It is quite amazing that the founder of this stall is actually the daughter of Mr Wu, who owns

http://beefnoguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/wus-ding-bien-dzuo-91-year-old-shop-in.html

Surely there are better options for minced pork rice (e.g. Formosa Chang) in Taipei city, but in Keelung Night Market it is hard not to pass up on this satisfying place.

天一香肉羹順 (Tien Yi Hsiang) at Keelung Night Market
基隆市仁愛區仁三路31號  Keelung city, Ren Ai district, Ren Shan Rd #31
02 2428 3027 ‎

[南加州- 羅蘭崗] 臭豆腐大王 - The Royalty of SKANK in Rowland Heights, Southern California

Whoa, did GOOGLE open up in Rowland Heights before Mountain View?

A bootleg Chinese version?

Naw...none of that sort. Don't let that GOOGLE looking logo fool you.
It translates to the phonetic pronounciation of FORMOSA.

Oh yes....old school. The great eats of Taiwan, old school classics, right at Formosa. But also right in.... Dynasty Plaza? Identity crisis?

So Google (not Formosa), lists this place as Tofu King. Non Chinese speakers might call this restaurant "Dynasty Plaza" out of confusion. But the locals? It is the King of Stinky Tofu 臭豆腐大王. Try finding this kind of shop in Northern California, I dare you.

"No MSG" in English, "This store does not have MSG" in Chinese....so they do not use it in/on the restaurant? It's like a Confucian mystery. But yes I really think they don't!

Old school basically means, "we don't invest in gimmicky upscale digs and decor", "we do things OUR way, screw you if you don't like it", "the food speaks for itself", etc.

The storefront is really small, maybe 3 tables on the inside with several tables outside. All Chinese menu plastered on the walls, and a separate laminated menu double sided with English.

This place is run by a very friendly older guy owner who we heard speaking Taiwanese (Ming nan yu / Hokkien) to an adjacent table. Seems like a family business on top of that as well.

They have two kinds of fried tofu, the regular one (stinky signature), and one called 一口吃 (one bite), which I assume is bite sized. The waiter explained that the latter was designed for non Taiwanese eaters who basically cannot stand the taste nor smell of the original stinky tofu.

We got one order of their signature stinky tofu to share. Three giant pieces of deep fried goodness that at least to me did not stink that bad. Came with the obligatory chili sauce in the corner, spicy pickled cabbage (Taiwanese kimchi if you will but different) or pao tsai 泡菜, and a small pool of sauce at the bottom. When I took in a bite, and savored in the flavors and textures, it really did remind me of the stinky tofu I had in Taipei night markets (Shihlin 士林 and Lir Hua in Yongho township 樂華). Not oily or greasy at all, with a nice toasty crunch on the outside, and a perfect inside. The stinky tofu they used had a very different texture than other places....here they appear to use freeze dried tofu (commonly used in hot pots to absorb broth and quite delicious), where the interior is chewier and denser. While the 泡菜 could have been  better (unusually sweet and not terribly spicy), the whole combo was excellent.

Their stinky tofu does smell, but it doesn't smell that bad. I've smelt worse. For hardcore skank stink fans, you might need to look elsewhere if skank (scent) is more important, but for a taste of home (if Formosa island is yours) look no further.

A-tsai/A-choy came with some minced pork on top (rou zhou) on top. The pork was a tad bit too salty.

Their Gong Yuan Hao sour plum drink 公園號酸梅湯 is named after a very famous sour plum drink shop in Taipei with over 50 years of history, and was the best rendition I've had in California to date. I wish I could have purchased a bucket to bring home. Extremely refreshing, and sadly not enough to last the 8 hour drive back home.

It turns out this place has a few additional killer moves.

We picked up some frozen goodness to go

Hsin Chu style meatballs (新竹貢丸)

Fuzhou fishballs (福州魚丸)

Pork and cabbage dumplings

and had them at home after the long drive (in our own ice chest of course).

Fantastic, all of them.

Bouncy chewy meatballs, tasted virtually like the kind from the local market in Yongho township. The Fuzhou fishballs were excellent too, especially the juicy soft porky interior. Lovely pork and cabbage dumplings that surpassed even the best dumpling restaurants in NorCal, with a homey taste to boot.

What is it about pork in SoCal? You guys grow better swine?

Apparently this eatery's next best seller is their minced pork rice, of which the owner claims he goes through 5 pig's worth a week. He also relies on no advertising and word of mouth just spreads amongst the Taiwanese community, and gets a lot of visitors from Northern California as well.

I was very amazed at how this man's eatery was able to replicate the flavors of Taiwan, a feat that I practically gave up hope on in Northern California. No wonder why so many Taiwanese expats in NorCal are willing to brave the drive to SoCal to eat the good stuff.

LA may have the smog and Hollywood nitwits, but they sure have San Francisco Bay Area beat in Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese food.  This place is a stellar (yet simple and humble) example that one man and his small pop shop can recreate the flavors of Taiwan. Can we clone him and his shop up in Northern California PLEASE?

(Stinky) Tofu King - 臭豆腐大王
18414 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 964-6250

[台北] - 饒河街夜市 150年山東麻油店 - Rao He Night Market's 150 year old Shandong Sesame Oil shop

(pic by fm4715/魯獅)

Ahh yes, the age old classic question...."if I visit Taiwan, what food items should I buy that I can bring back?" Your luggage space is limited and there are so many possibilities. Surely you don't want to occupy it with beef noodle or oyster omlette flavored potato chips. Dried cured mullet roe 烏魚子(Taiwanese bottarga) and dried noodles? Quality tea from 王德傳? Flavorful organic longan honey? Dried snack goodness? Sure. But what else?

If you have a cooking and kitchen fetish that includes fine oils, why not get something....super old school, fragrant, and quality?

Look no further than this 150+ year old shop in Rao He Night Market 饒河街夜市, known as Shandong Mayoh 山東麻油店.

(pic by fm4715/魯獅)

This small storefront is so easy to miss and ignore. When you're cruising this semi touristy night market for great snackage, buying sesame oil is probably the last thing on your mind. It's not a tapioca milk or bottled tea that you can drink while downing a pepper pork roasted bun, or a skewer of something.

(pic by 莊琇閔 of udn)

 

This shop has been around since 1859, so yes...152 years and counting. Ownership has been passed down to the 4th generation, a 74 ish year old guy named 陳朝進 who took over the reins of the business from his father at age 30. When you have a solid product or two that is your only specialty, passed down the generations, and the method of production basically remains unchanged, it has got to be pretty darn good and consistent.

 

So apparently the current owner Mr Chen had dreams of his own, that he wanted to be a boxer at a young age. After enlisting in the military to try his hand at professional fighting, he learned quickly that he couldn't make a living out of knuckles and punches despite grandma telling him "Doooood, sesame oil is our family life's blood! You can survive via oil!", until he finally gave in, and the rest is history.
 
Everyday, Mr Chen wakes up at 4 am and begins the process of oil extraction from the raw materials that lasts easily 10 hours or more. While technologies and competitors have advanced to the point of using automated machinery from start to finish, he insists on doing everything the old school way because he believes that will result in a better taste and texture.

So the funny truth about the name of the shop...Shandong Sesame Oil Shop. Mr Chen is 100% Taiwanese and is not even of Shandongnese ancestry. The name Shandong was picked due to the fact that region in China produces some top grade 小磨香油 (which is essentially old school grounded sesame oil, versus 胡麻油 which is pressed) and the name stuck.

The making of this wonderous sesame oil begins with washing the sesame seeds (locally grown in Taiwan), removing the outer shell and unwanted particles (otherwise would result in bitterness), stir frying, air drying, grinding into powder, steaming, and then pressing into oil. Before the days of machinery
the pressing process involved basically caveman style hitting with a wooden club. Now the pressing is done by machine.

Apparently locally grown sesame seeds are harder to come by (due to increasingly difficult conditions to grow and longer time to harvest) and other sesame oil manufacturers have been outsourcing sesame seeds from Thailand, Burma, or other parts of Southeast Asia. But this shop continues to use locally grown seeds, and always has.
 

Make no mistake about it, this sesame oil is supreme. Definitely better than many other sesame oils that are store bought and imported from Taiwan.

 

 Don't miss the shop's Camellia oil as well (bitter tea oil / 苦茶油)

 
山東麻油店 (Shandong Sesame Oil Shop)
台北市松山區饒河街84號 (Taipei City, Songshan District, 84 Rao He Street, inside Rao He Night Market)



[北加州矽谷] 陳媽媽家 台灣小吃 - Mama Chen Santa Clara, Silicon Valley, California USA

Back to the USA for a moment. Santa Clara, Northern California, USA to be exact.

This might just be the best Taiwanese restaurant in all of Northern California that perhaps can rival some of the good ones in Southern California.

The general at the helm? A 70+ year old grandma, known as Mama Chen 陳媽媽.

Don't mess with this mama (or grandmama). She may look cute and cuddly, but man, she (and her crew) can cook!!! I've seen her at the restaurant before. Unlike Liang's (or Mama Liang 梁媽媽, a chain in Southern California that has spread to 2 Northern California locations) where Grandma Liang appears to be the only one who really knows how to cook, maybe is really hiding in Taiwan and counting her wealth (from the franchise) while contemplating how many more Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus, and real estate to purchase. Mama Chen is a mom and pop type operation (no branches), and yet so much higher quality, albeit a different style. This is another legend where grandma is basically in retirement, but maintained her passion of cooking and wanting to share that joy (while making a living), so lucky for us in the area, this place exists.

So Mama Chen herself is supposedly a veteran of the Taiwanese/Chinese restaurant business. One of the reasons why her food is so ass kicking is because approximately 20 of those cooking experience years were spent in Southern California Taiwanese restaurants. The other reasons are that the food just rocks.... very simple and at times homey tasting, yet minimal use of MSG (based on not feeling thirsty afterwards at all) if any, pretty authentic tasting given the ingredients and skills available. She apparently did a short chef stint when the Tainan restaurant 台南風味小吃 in Cupertino Village (Northern California) opened circa 1996 , but I never recalled that place being stellar at all.

If you are at Mama Chen later than 5:30 pm on certain days (especially weekends), you'll have to sign your name on the waitlist and then the rest is up to the clock. This place fills up so quickly with locals (ie Taiwanese expat community) craving a fix of the homeland. Given that there are virtually no other good options around, this place is pretty much the best in town (with quality and value to boot!).

One of the absolute best dishes is 攪和攪和 (Mix Mix / Jiaohe Jiaohe) , a savory blend of soy sauce simmered/marinated excellence (lu wei / 滷味)
containing dried tofu strips 豆干 (doh gahn), pig's ear (豬耳朵) that tasted very smooth and like beef tendons, and beef tripe (honeycomb/stomach 牛肚). Topped with scallions and cilantro. This dish tasted like it was cooked to order, as it was nice and warm (not refrigerated and not piping hot). The marinade receipe was perfect, not too salty, just the right soy sauce and herb flavors with complexity. Not as beautiful as the stir fried combo 眷村炒滷味 at 72 Beef Noodles in Taipei http://beefnoguy.blogspot.com/2010/02/72-beef-noodles-taipei-im-so-happy-i.html , but for NorCal this is as great as it gets.

                                
This might just be the fugliest looking Taiwanese oyster omlette 蚵仔煎
I've ever seen. While it looks like barf on a plate, it actually tastes quite good. Instead of griddling or grilling (over charcoal) like they do in Taiwan, this looks like it was pan fried. The diluted ketchupy looking sauce is their house receipe, and is a valiant effort despite the poor visuals. The addition of soy sauce paste added that needed savory flavor to the mix. A little more oysters would have helped. Since Ay-Chung / Ocean Harbor cafe in Milpitas is gone (that made a half decent 蚵仔煎), this will have to do for now. Not sure I can afford the US$18 Singaporean style omlette at Shiok in Menlo Park :-o

                              
For the pittance they charge, something like US$5.75 (oh yeah cash only place), you get a humongous portion of chicken leg rice 雞腿飯. No wonder this place is so busy....it appeals to the El Cheapsadores in us! Pickled mustard greens (suan tsai 酸菜)are awesome, probably the best in town (even better than Formosa Bento House in Redwood City). Even the chicken tasted good.

Ahhh yes, Beef Noodle Soup 牛肉麵. Better than a lot of overpriced and poorly executed Japanese style ramen most of the time. Tsing Jiang Tsai 清江菜, thick wide slurpy noodles, excellently cooked beef shank slices (thick but soft and good chunks of tendon), perfect pickled mustard greens (酸菜), and the crucial element that holds it all together, a deep rich flavorful thick beef broth seasoned with herbs and a little pepper (although with a thick layer of non spicy oil or grease on top...wish they would strain it beforehand, but during cold winter nights this actually helps and adds further punch like true Taiwanese soul food...). Also a shade under the $6 mark, and for a cash only place it cannot get better than this.

Had to come back again earlier tonight, as the need for a fix was so great. To start, a tender crispy juicy appetizer of blanched vegetables or tang tsing tsai
燙清菜. The house veg changes depending on what they stock or in season. Tonight it was A-tsai (A 菜, where A = Taiwanese dialect for duck, a large crunchy leafy green that well, used to be fed to the ducks, but eventually people discovered how great it was!). The best part? The magic soy sauce seasoned broth it was cooked in, and a little bit of rou zhao (stewed minced pork 肉燥) that was done excellently....airy, puffy, and light. Wished they put more pork on the veg! 
 

OK the oyster noodle 蚵仔麵線 wasn't stellar, but this is Northern California where the standards are very low, so it was fun to be able to eat this in half decent quality (and quantity to boot). Flavor wise it was a great effort. I'm trying reaaaaaaalllly hard not to compare this to 宏麵線 (let alone Ay-Chung Xiemending...), but can't help it. KC gourmet is so right.... to be able to properly judge a dish, one should at least have had the real thing in the country of origin to have a baseline. Anyway, a little minced garlic could have gone a long way, and perhaps making the broth smokier via katsuobushi (bonito flakes). Whatever they used still worked to some extent...baby oysters (too few), bamboo shoots, cilantro, some pepper, black vinegar. The noodles were the weak link, pretty much the supermarket variety, unlike the thinner fresher tasting ones in Taipei. But in the end, this was still satisfying.

 Drum roll please.....gua bao 割包, the original version of the steamed bun pork sandwich (sometimes nicknamed Taiwanese hamburger), before the likes of David Chang, Chairman Bao capitalizing on this classic snack. A good rendition, even though this was a very healthy prep of lean pork. Good mustard greens, a little cilantro, shaved peanut powder. Around the $4 mark for two...can't complain. 

Stinky tofu here is not that stinky, more like mildly and briefly annoying.
Oyster noodles looked good but perhaps do not expect the exact replication of Taiwan.

Overall a very solid effort by this retired grandma. Were it not for her, it would be easy to give up hope and settle for extreme mediocrity in the SF Bay Area (or suck it up and drive 8 hours to Southern California for a wider variety of much higher quality Taiwanese....)

Mama Chen 陳媽媽家 台灣小吃

5075 Stevens Creek Blvd

Santa Clara, CA 950510

(408) 249-9888

[台北縣永和市] - 世界豆漿大王 - World Soymilk King in Yongho - The Breakfast of Champions

Sometimes you just want to start, end, or break your day (or night) with a Taiwanese style breakfast. Like dis classic combo of hot soymilk with a carb sandwich (shaobing yohtieo / 燒餅油條). Don't forget to dunk the carb wrap like a donut (or cookie) in the soymilk!

The township of Yongho 永和市 is primarily a residential area with lots of small mom and pop type shops and businesses. Certainly not a foodie destination to say the least. Whatever the local food shops sell, there are places that generally do it better, from oyster pancakes to beef noodles. Even the local night market Lir Hua (樂華) isn't particularly high on the must-eat list (although nice if you are in the area, but certainly not a destination stop).

But if you mention the word (or town) Yongho 永和 to any Taiwanese ex patriot living abroad one thing that will inevitably associate them (similarly to the effect that Din Tai Fung has become the brand name for Xiao Long Bao) is that 永和 goes hand in hand with soy milk 豆漿, or at least 9.9 Taiwanese out of 10 will immediately react and say "oh, 永和豆漿!!". If you live in Yongho, you will probably respond by saying "yeah, WHATEVER clever".

There are a ton of shops in Yongho that sell the good stuff for breakfast. But there is one shop, probably the most famous in the area, that deserves special mention.  The shop is now 55 years old, and pretty much operates around the clock (yes open 24 hours!)

The name is World Soymilk King 世界豆漿大王, and is pretty much the landmark of Yongho breakfast. The Din Tai Fung of breakfast maybe, but of course, not Michelin star, and certainly not a date kind of place.

The history of this place is quite amazing. Apparently two former soliders from Mainland China (Shandong province to be exact) moved to Taipei and missed the breakfast food of their homeland (namely the breakfast stuff) and what started out as literally a street vendor/hawker small business eventually blossomed into a shop. It is also interesting to note that initially not many customers embraced the style of breakfast in the early 50s, but eventually that changed. The owner(s) pretty much started their days at 3 am, soaking the soybeans, and by 5 am started to cook the soymilk, so that they can serve their customers by breakfast time (students and adults on their way to work needing a fix).

Need your fix at 3:15 am right now? No problemo. Why at that hour you can even order some Hong Kong style dim sum too... like 蘿蔔糕, 叉燒包, 燒賣 if you crave it. Even xiao long bao at interesting street vendor quality.... but why bother with that one.


Seriously, you just want to stick with the classics.

Soymilk any style or rice milk (mi jang / 米漿)

Shaobing 燒餅 - roasted flatbread with sesame seeds on top, crunchy multi layer pastry shell thingy. Or request this with yoh tieo 油條 to double your starch pleasure. For those who like sweet starch, there's a kind sweetened with molasses 麥芽甜餅 that's quite delectable too.

There's something about World Soymilk King's signature soymilk flavor that is not present with the competition, and frankly an acquired taste. It has a slightly burnt flavor! Well I do not believe it to be burnt, but more so earthy. I don't think anyone has decyphered the secret to this, but I have to admit I did not like it the first time, but having tried it again for the 2nd or 3rd, it started to grow on me. Sometimes a chilled earthy (re: burnt tasting) version can hit the spot! This is what makes their soymilk unique, and not easily copied by the competition. Let's just say I've had truly burnt soymilk before abroad, and it was stuff that you want to throw away. Not so with the Elvis of Breakfast!


Surely there are other breakfast places in Taipei city that are as popular or even arguably equivalent or better, especially those who work downtown.

However you cannot just dismiss Elvis, who really started it all.
Respect.
 
世界豆漿大王 (World Soymilk King) http://www.soymilk.com.tw/
台北縣永和市永和路二段284號 (Taipei County, Yongho township, Yongho Road, 2nd portion #284)
Tel: 2923-9635