Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

My Appics tutorial article is still drafted for two days now, I had fever, mild cough too and I couldn't make an article for the past two days so I decided to just pause and just rest.

Today, I opted to also just focus on another article instead of writing about the Appics tutorial because I need more time for that. So today, let's look into the food trip we had in Taiwan, this is a throwback post.

From hot pots to bubble milk tea, being able to travel to Taipei gave me a different mindset of the city. Whenever I think of Taipei, I imagine food. It is surely filled with food, it was evident why night markets are a thing in that city.

Honestly, I was not ready for the food trip because when my husband said we will go to Taiwan and everything has been prepared for us, because that was a company all expense paid trip, I didn’t mind thinking of anything, I didn’t even know what to expect! It was our first international trip and I have to just let the country surprise me.

Our flight to Taipei was in the morning, flight was not too long as its just a neighboring country but it took us a lot of time at the immigration that the rented van threatened they’ll be charging us of extended hour. Thankfully, it was settled.

Upon reaching our hotel which I had blogged about before, we stayed at Hotel Papa Whale and since check in time was at two in the afternoon, we had to find food first.

What better way to start this trip than trying out an authentic Taiwanese beef noodle soup? My husband's colleagues tagged us along and told us that we must try out the noodle soup in the street restaurants, they said its good! We were excited! It only took us a few walks and then we found these locals dining at different restaurants at the sidestreet, they remind me so much of Colon in Cebu City!

Al fresco dining? No problem!

There were so many locals having lunch and we were looking for a place which will accommodate us, we came in as a pack. Taiwanese are not good with speaking English, they were only communicating through hand signs! It was tough at first, we have to show them what we wanted, but nonetheless, they were accommodating and cheerful.

After a lot of discussions, finger-pointing and hand signals, we were served with this thick noodle soup! I was surprised at how huge the serving was! When we came inside, there were only a few people then our orders were served and I looked at my back, the room was already filled with customers!

This is the most beloved food in Taiwan, its red-braised beef slow cooked in soy sauce, beef broth, vegetables, and Chinese wheat noodles. The noodles were freshly made, I saw one of the workers making them.

Condiments, sauces, chili pastes, are all available. They also give free unlimited complimentary side dishes which we can grab at the entrance, it was not very comfortable going there because there were so many people around. This happened pre-pandemic thus the absence of masks in the photo.

Oh, and they also have bottomless softdrinks! I was truly amazed at that. However, the glass they provide is small so we took advantage of the free drinks when we were about to go. I am trying to recall how the noodle tasted but all I could remember is that the beef was soft, the noodles, although thick, was easy to chew on. I guess I finished the entire bowl!

The first night was intended for exploring Ximending Night Market, this was by far the biggest night market and one of which was the cleanest of all the night markets that we had been to. Our goal was to try the Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodles.

But upon reaching the spot, we were greeted by a very long line which extended up to the end of this street. People here were patiently waiting for their turn. I checked the servers and they were quite fast in putting in the orders and they got a good system so the line moves quickly

However, my husband and I were already hungry that we can't wait any longer so we headed to the end of the street and found this lady making some stuffed pancake. She already got some available so we decided to take a few of the options. I can't recall which flavors we bought though.

But by looking at the options in the photo, I probably ordered sweet potato, peanut and mochi, and taro. They were actually very affordable!

We sat at the benches next to the highway and we just observed the people around walking, we watched the cars' light trails and they traversed the highway and we just thank God for the opportunity to be in a different country, experience their culture and the food. We were really thankful to the husband's company for that trip.

Without us noticing, we already finished the pancakes and we both know we can now survive standing in line for that flour-rice noodle soup! So we went back and gladly, the line was not that long anymore.

Check the next post for the continuation!

xoxo,

momentswithmatti

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