2012-07-13 Day 15 @ Taiwan

The five of us (MomM, UnclePing, Octopus, Buddha Boy and myself) drove approximately an hour from home to Yilan County 宜蘭縣 and met up with LittleSam, BigPole and BigPole's mom (let's call her BigPoleMom).  Our main purpose to Yilan County 宜蘭縣 was to try the famous Cherry Valley Duck 櫻桃鴨 at Silks Place Hotel 蘭城晶英酒店.

BigPole's place was only two blocks away from the hotel.  Since we had some time to kill, LittleSam quickly went out and picked up boxes of Sanshing Green Onion Xiaolongbao 三星蔥小籠包 from the famous 正好鮮肉小籠包.  To make the long story short, this is the original 正常鮮肉小籠包, but because owner's brother decided to trademark the name and opened up his own chain, the original location was forced to change its name to 正好鮮肉小籠包.  Nonetheless, the locals still regard this original joint as its old name.

I was kind of skeptical when all the buns were stacked side by side and/or on-top one another...come on, how good would that be?  Well, I was proven wrong.  Yes, the bun was not bursting with soup like Long's Noodle House 小龍記麵家 in Vancouver, but it was juicy.  The wrap...well, the picture speaks for itself.  FYI, Octopus and I are not fans of green onions, but Sanshing Green Onions 三星蔥 had this distinct sweetness that was very different than the common household scallions...hard to explain in words, you got to be there to try it!

With only two reservation times for lunch, we opted for the first slot at 11:30am because the first seating has no mandatory 10% "service charge" (I think they meant "gratuities").  The restaurant, Red Lantern 紅樓 had a tasteful classic Chinese decor.  We were seated in a corner of a large room that could be closed off as a private room.

Cherry Valley Duck 櫻桃谷品種北鴨 (known as 櫻桃鴨 for short), a specie originated in China, was introduced to England and widely farmed in Cherry Valley.  In the recent years, this popular specie was brought to Taiwan and was successfully raised in Sanshing Township 三星鄉 of Yilan County 宜蘭縣 due to its landscape and weather.

To have the Cherry Valley Duck Five Ways 櫻桃鴨五吃, we must make the reservation at least three days ahead.  While the chef was cutting up the duck, our server was giving us the background history of the specie.  Our server also introduced each of the five duck courses.

First course served was Cherry Valley Duck Sushi 櫻桃鴨壽司, the table's favorite.  A combination of sushi rice, cheese, house-blend of yellow mustard and a slice of VERY crispy duck skin...oh boy, we can't go back to the normal stuff now...

Next was a common course, the Duck Wrap 片皮鴨, but done in an abnormal style.  The wrap was made with both chopped and juiced Sanshing Green Onions 三星蔥 in the dough.  Now, we're not surprised that the same scallion was also used to accompany the duck inside the wrap, but what wow'd us was there were two versions: fresh and deep-fried...interesting huh?  The sauce used was just simple sweet bean sauce 甜麵醬, not some idiotic foolish hoisin sauce 海鮮醬 used locally...if you truly know Chinese cuisine and know peking duck, you'll know what I mean...

Our third course was the Duck Lettuce Wrap 生菜片鴨絲.  The dish looks pretty ordinary huh?  But noooooo...the stir-fry had julienne cuts of apple, shitake mushrooms, water chestnuts and etc...another innovative approach to a classic dish.

The Duck Stew 慢火白菜燉鴨湯 was the fourth course.  The duck bones were tossed into a 10-hour slow-cooked chicken broth.  Napa cabbage was also used to add sweetness.

 

Our final duck course was a Hakka classic, Mochi Duck 滋粑櫻桃鴨.  Simply put, this was a pan-fried flattened glutinous rice cake filled with diced duck breast and dried radish 菜脯.  Love the idea but didn't do too well at the table.

With eight people at the table, a five-way duck wouldn't be enough, so Buddha Boy and I went crazy with the menu...LOL!  The large order of Stir-fried Sanshing Green Onion 清炒三星蔥 was demolished pretty quickly at the table...even Octopus and I, who are not fans of scallions, went at it like two crazy ladies!!!  :p

Couldn't remember the name on the menu, but this was some kind of cold dish with slices of pork liver and julienne cuts of apple.  No one liked the dish.  The pork liver was too "porky", almost to a gamy level.  I decided to play around with the flavors and requested for some lime...and it worked...well, at least the "porkiness" was less noticeable...hahahaha!

This dish of Datong Tea-Flavored Bamboo Shoot 大同玉蘭茶筍 was another favorite of the table.  The type of oolong tea 烏龍茶 used here was a specialty of Yilan County 宜蘭縣, farmed in the Datong Township 大同鄉.  The deep-fried bamboo chunks were crispy and very aromatic.

Another wow'd dish was the Luodong Deep-Fried Preserved Egg with Crispy Garlic 羅東避風塘皮蛋, or, as I call it, BFT Century Eggs (some of you may regard it as Typhoon-Sheltered Century Eggs).  Very interesting dish and Buddha Boy loved it!!!  Well, when you combine deep-fried garlic and deep-fried century egg...you've won his heart...hahahaha!

Of course, we ordered a lot...but I'm not gonna go into details of each because the rest was not too memorable.

After a meal at the hotel, we headed to Sanshing Township 三星鄉 for some more food...wahahahahaha!!!  Unfortunately, the famous Deep-Fried Pork Nugget 卜肉 ("bu-rou") was too over-hyped.

Also in the Sanshing Township 三星鄉 was the Sanshing Green Onion Culture Centre 三星蔥文化館...yes, this scallion is so popular in Taiwan that the farmer's association started a cultural centre to showcase all the related products.  We even tried the Sanshing Green Onion Ice Cream 三星蔥冰淇淋...yea...ice cream...

So far, globally, limited locations of cold springs were found in only two countries, Italy and Taiwan.  The most popular one in Taiwan is Su-Ao Cold Spring 蘇澳冷泉 (官方網站) located in Su-Ao Township 蘇澳鎮, the south-eastern part of Yilan County 宜蘭縣.  Because not everyone in the group was prepare for the visit, we bought four 40-minute cold/hot private room sessions for each group of two (MomM & UnclePing, BigPole & LittleSam, BigPoleMom & Octopus, Buddha Boy & I).

After the spring-baths, we drove upwards towards Taipei City 台北市 and stopped at another popular township in Yilan County 宜蘭縣, the Jiaosi Township 礁溪鄉.  Jiaosi Township 礁溪鄉 is famous for its hot spring, but of course, we're not here for that.  First and foremost, we needed food!!!  BigPole and LittleSam took us to 樂山溫泉拉麵, a ramen shop that was also featured on Super Taste 時尚玩家.  The broth and the ramen was pretty good, but the sides were pretty disappointing.  What was cool about this place was there's an outside sitting area where you can soak your feet in the hot spring while you eat...good for winter, not so much for summer...hahahahaha!

Since we're in Jiaosi Township 礁溪鄉, we gotta find a place to try the Doctor Fish 溫泉魚療 (aka. Spa Fish 溫泉魚).  Located right across from the ramen shop was a coffee shop that features a pool of nibble fish.  With only $80TWD (approximately $2.70CAD) per adult and no time limit, Octopus, Buddha Boy and I sat there for a good hour (maybe more?) to feed the fishes.  Buddha Boy's feet attracted a lot of attention, from the fishes AND the spectators...hahahaha!  Yup, my husband gave the fishes a buffet feast!!!  Hahahahaha!