Our second day was always going to be a cracker! We were invited to the official opening of the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Centre. The exhibition is touted as a “gourmet cuisine carnival bringing out the essence of Taiwan’s food culture”. We are seated with the media pack and excited to see the Vice President of Taiwan, Chen Chien-Jen, arrive to deliver a speech. 11.7 million attended the expo last year and this year the number was expected to reach well over 12 million during the four-day event. Countries invited include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Italy, Russia, Canada, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mainland China, Korea and the Philippines.
Apart from the main pavilion which houses dishes from all areas including China’s eight major cuisines, Taiwanese Cuisine, aboriginal cuisine, Hakka-style cuisine and new immigrant dishes, there are two culinary classrooms where would-be chefs can learn how to make Taiwanese favourites such as salted egg yolk pumpkin, winter melon bubble tea and cold noodles. This area also features live cooking performances with popular chefs from various regions.
We make our way around the pavilion tasting all kinds of delicacies, some we are familiar with and others that are way out of the norm, such as stinky tofu!! This is one dish I definitely won’t be revisiting but you can’t come to Taiwan without trying it for yourself – if you are game. The culinary exhibition may not be on when you are visiting Taipei, but don’t worry, all of the wonderful, unusual and interesting dishes are available on the street or at night markets year-round.
Our second highlight of the day is dinner at the famous Michelin Din Tai Fung restaurant. Described as “the world’s tastiest dumplings” we were thrilled to be able to experience the original in Taipei. As if that wasn’t enough, we were also introduced to the original owner’s son Yang Ji-hua who is now CEO. Mr. Yang goes to the restaurant every night, 7 days a week. He told us, interpreted through his Head Waiter, “if my staff are working so hard, I should be there to support them. They work for me – how can I take a day off”
Din Tai Fung was founded in Taipei in 1972 and today has 119 branches in 14 countries including Australia, USA, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.
The chefs work non-stop from opening to closing, rolling, stuffing, folding and steaming and diners can watch them through the glass wall as they work. Each dumpling is folded a meticulous 18 times, and watching the nimble fingers of the chef you have no doubt he has been doing this for a long time. In fact, each chef trains for 2-3 years to work in this restaurant as they have to learn each and every part of the process. There are 30 chefs working at one time and after 1 hour they rotate so they don’t get too tired or sore (rolling out the dumplings looks like hard work).
Our last stop for the evening is the Raohe Street Night Market. Stall after stall of the most incredible food. We aren’t hungry but our eyes are wide just taking in everything that is available to eat!
Tomorrow we head south to Hualien.
The writer was a guest of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau/Taiwan Visitors Association
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