Beef noodles: a soup noodle with big chunks of half fatty and half lean beef in a beef broth. One of the quintessential parts of Taiwanese food culture.

Hot pot: it’s the idea of taking a pot of boiling water or soup and cooking meat and vegetables in it. Pretty much anything goes here: any kind of meat, vegetable, mushroom, etc.

Stir fried morning glory: not a vegetable that’s common in Canada/USA, but can be found in Asian supermarkets. It looks and feels like green onion with a slightly thicker skin, but tastes like spinach and has a nice crunch.

Szechuan style spicy wontons: the wonton is very similar to other kinds of wontons (ground pork and shrimp in a dough wrapper). In this case, it’s got a spicy, yet savoury sauce that slightly numbs the tongue.

Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings): similar to a wonton as far as its filling goes (it can be pure pork, pure shrimp, or mixed) with a key difference in that it contains hot soup. They originated from Shanghai, but it’s made its way into mainstream Taiwanese cuisine.

Shaoxing drunken chicken: it’s essentially chicken that has been steamed and marinated in a brine of shaoxing wine and chicken broth.

Bubble tea: yet another famous part of Taiwanese cuisine. The original variant was a milk tea with tapioca pearls, but now it’s evolved and comes in many flavours, from any kind of tea to a fruit slushie, with either tapioca pearls or fruit jellies (or even ice cream!)

Grilled giant prawns: Prawns a pretty regular thing in a lot of places, but at the local Shilin nightmarket, they are fished out and cooked only when ordered – so they are guaranteed fresh. These prawns are also HUGE. The three in the photo were around half a pound in total.

Oyster pancake: a popular food at the night markets, it’s essentially an omelette (with added starch for thickness) with oysters inside, with a savoury sauce poured on top.

Popcorn chicken: can be summarized as Taiwan’s take on fried chicken. It’s got Chinese style seasonings such as five-spice, and Thai basil. It can be found at many street vendors and night markets.

Kaoliang wine: this wine is made from fermented sorghum. It’s got a nice strong kick, and not so much a wide flavour profile. This alcohol is a big export of the Taiwanese island of Kinmen

Three cup chicken: named after the three key ingredients for the sauce: rice wine, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The chicken is cooked in the skillet.

Mango shaved ice: mango chunks with mango ice cream on top of mango flavoured shaved ice. It tastes exactly like what one would imagine. The little purple and orange balls are made of taro and potato/sweet potato flour and are nice and chewy.

Of all the food I miss, I’d say it’s the beef noodles. That’s the one thing I have the strongest craving for and unfortunately for me, there aren’t any that I like where I live. To see other parts of my trip to Taipei, click here.

Hakata Style Ramen

The soup in this ramen is made from boiling bones at high temperature, which transfers the pork fat, meat, and flavours into the soup. The noodle is also thinner and straighter than the typical style of ramen. We went to a ramen shop called Ichiran (一蘭), which is a well known chain of ramen shops. Each person sat at a booth regardless or whether they were a party or not.

Motsunabe

It is essentially a type of hot pot with a specific type of ingredients. In this case, our hot pot had pieces of pork/beef organs (probably intestines) cooked in the soup with chives, and various veggies.

Beef Heart and Horse Sashimi

I don’t think this is a food local to Fukuoka, but it is still different enough to be worth mentioning. Despite being beef heart, I thought it tasted like beef. The taste didn’t change just because the meat was from the cow’s heart. As for the horse sashimi, hose meat definitely isn’t as flavourful as beef, and is a bit chewy. After trying so many kinds of meat from different animals, it is clear to me why beef is the popular choice.

Pokemon Center Fukuoka

Not really related to food, but I came across this while walking around the mall inside the train station. Lots and lots of Pokemon plushies. In the picture, there are even Pikachu’s wearing Japan’s 2014 World Cup jersey!

Link to album here: here

After learning from a colleague that a factory outlet existed in Metzingen, I organized a trip there with a few of my friends from Bosch. I was told that this place would have lots of brand name items at really reduced prices. I guess that is similar to the factory outlets in the United States. But even at the reduced prices, the items are still quite pricey. I suppose that this is good for people who really want their brand name clothes. Unfortunately, I only bought a t-shirt since I couldn’t find anything else I liked here. But a friend of mine did manage to buy a pair of shoes for 35 euro when its original price was 180 euro.

Not satisfied with my shopping experience in Metzingen, I decided to continue shopping in Stuttgart. The people that I were with were pretty much done shopping for the day, so I went on my own. Going places alone just gives me so much freedom. It feels quite nice. Being tired already from walking so much in Metzingen, I finished shopping in Stuttgart an hour and a half later. On my way home, I found something that I had been searching for for the past little while.

I found a place that serves Chinese Dim Sum and Hot Pot. This is like a taste of home. Looks like I’m going to have to go here soon, even if it is quite expensive for a restaurant (14 euro). Judging from the restaurant’s banner, it doesn’t look like westernized Chinese food either! Fantastic surprise for me.