2022
Hi all,
Long story short, I need suggestions for food that's most authentic compare to your hometown, and available in NYC.
I'm not sure if I can call myself a foodie, but I sure do like to eat. Food often bonds to memory. When I miss home, I would cook or go to restaurants those provides authentic Taiwanese cuisines as a way of grieving/healing. Also, food represents culture of a country. When I'm short on budget for travel, I would research online to see what foreign cuisines available that's been described as authentic, and travel via subway to have a short dining adventure. I have some Japanese, Korean, and Thai places available.
Take my trip to Lisboa for example, I was surprised by how similar Portugal dishes were compared to Taiwan. We both have a lot of seafood and pork cuisines with similar spices. The rice soup dishes I had feels like congee, and they even had pork blood that Taiwanese also uses in some dishes. During my 5 days stay, I fell in love with Pasteis de Belem. The pastel de nata (egg tart) there are crispy at top the of creme, smaller but taller, lower on sweetness level with a hint of salt. This is one thing I haven't been able to find in NY. Now let's talk about my home, Taiwan, which might be your next destination.
Due to history and location, Taiwanese cuisine is mainly influenced by southeast China, mainland China and Japan. Composed of pork, chicken, seafood, rice, vegetable, soy, sugar and fruit sometimes. The most famous Taiwanese food in recent years is Bubble Tea. Or Gua Bao, originally from Fuzhou, China and introduced to the US by Eddie Huang the author of Fresh Off Boat. A different example is a dish created for diplomatic event then commonly seen in the US nowadays, the General Tso's Chicken. These three examples have a common element, sugar, which I assume sweetened its way into Taiwan's mass cane sugar production history since 1600s.
Here are few Taiwanese spots I go to for my home craving.
- Imperial Taiwanese Gourmet 北港台菜: Signature dishes: *Minced pork with chili bean and leek 蒼蠅頭 - minced pork fried with garlic, chili bean paste, leek or chive and some sugar. It's called "Flies' Head" in Chinese because of its black and green color combination. Strong chive smell, sweet and a little bit spiciness to help appetite. It goes perfect with white rice. *Fried Intestine by Chef Lin 林師傅炒大腸 - I don't think this is on menu. Stir-fried intestine that's has great texture. It has certain amount of fat, which makes the smells good but unhealthy. I would recommend 3-4 ppl to share one order. Other recommendations would be “3 Cups Chicken” 三杯雞 and “Fried Squid” 炒花枝.
Flies's Head
- Taiwan Pork Chop House 武昌排骨: Traditional pork chop place. Fried pork chop or chicken leg over rice sided with Chinese sauerkraut. It’s not a fancy restaurant, but this is what Taiwanese home style cooking looks like, or used to be like. What I like the best here are their 排骨湯 Spare Rib Soup. Well balanced meaty taste freshened up by ginger. The best during winter time.
Pork chop over rice
- Yeh's Bakery: Seems like a regular Asian baked goods shop but with some not-so-common traditional pastries. If you ever had mooncake, here you can get the petite version. 蛋黃酥 Egg Yolk pastry and 綠豆椪 Mung Bean and Meat pastry here are the closest to home for me. If you can’t accept beans as sweets mentally or physically, they do have pretty good pineapple cake too, which is another thing Taiwan is famous for.
Pastries
These three are the most authentic Taiwanese spots I would recommend others.
Here I would like your clues on finding authentic dishes. Cuisines you found in NYC those taste just like home. And try to focus just on food itself. There is no need for friendly service, bizarre decor, fancy presentation. or even a table as long as it tastes AUTHENTIC.
