beef noodle soup
 

I love niu ro mian (beef noodle soup). Few scents in this world are as intrusive; just thinking about the smell takes me back to my childhood days, when the savory odor would drift from my mom's kitchen and overwhelm my olfactory. To me, eating niu ro mian brings about the same timeless, ubiquitous excitement of a new package of pop rocks, yet I approach each bowl much the way I handle a Philly cheesesteak: by cautiously inspecting for authenticity. I will venture to say that I am less discriminating to taste and odor when I face dive into a girl's crotch than when suspending my nose above a vat of beefy goodness.

Niu ro mian has been around in Chinese cuisine forever, but apparently it did not become a popular tradition until Kuomintang folks brought it to Taiwan, where many variations were born. In fact, it's so popular now that a whole two-month festival is dedicated to the dish. There is a niu ro mian cooking competition and an entire two-day convention in November. I would not miss it for the world.

http://www.chezwang.com/photos/ll03.jpg

A few days ago I went to Lao Dong, which made it onto the last year's list of Taipei's top 20 beef noodle shops. It looks good, don't it? Unfortunately, it was marginal. First, the soup was nearly flavorless. I mean, it tasted like beef stock, but very plain: not salty, spicy, oily, garlicky. Secondly, they used plain-jane machine cut flour noodles (think Ramen!). They get a :thumbsdn: from this diner.

:rotflol:

I assume you've seen the Japanese film "Tampopo"? I know it's not Taiwan or China, but the film speaks to the universal truth of good noodle soup.

move it to the top of your queue.

That film! It's pretty funny how they make food their main theme, heheh.

Tampopo is a great movie. And yes, it's true that there is roughly no etiquette whatsoever in asian cultures (at least taiwanese/chinese). Do not be polite at a Chinese dinner table - shoveling noodles into your mouth at a grotesque pace is considered complimentary of the host/chef.

A good Taiwanese movie that involves food is "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman." Great story.

Oh yeah, I loved that movie.

Another beauty. This one from Chuan Wei Nio Rou Mian in Kaohsiung. Sichuan style = hot as a motherfucker. I'll let the photo speak for itself.

http://www.chezwang.com/photos/chuanwei-NRM.jpg

I started to sweat the moment our waitress plunked down the fuming vat before me. Five bites into it, I could no longer feel my tongue. Taiwanese people love this kind of self-torment: customers kept filing into the shop - perhaps a hardware store or an antiques dealer in a past life, with shelving cleared away to make room for a dozen small tables - and entirely disregarded the lack of air conditioning or any sort of fan.

But oh man oh man was it delicious. Finished the entire bowl, every last drop. Good flavor, excellent noodles. The soup had just enough sweetness to make the searing pain of Sichuan red pepper tolerable, delicious even. I will return.

Personally, I start tear-ing up when I eat anything hot. Heheh...

For me, the enjoyment of the hothothot stuff is because it feels soooo goooood







when it stops. :p


yar. *gasp* pass th' rum!

Avast! I likes it when first me eyebrows begin ta sweat, and then I feels a wee trickle of sweat run into my ear. Arrrg! Tis hot.

yeah think about the poor bastard sitting next to me on the five-hour bus ride back to Taipei. :fart: :whofart: :vomit: :greenface: :repuke:

So what's good to eat in Singapore? When's a good time to drop by for a visit? I'm trying to draw up some travel plans for the Chinese New Year (friend would like to come from Europe and meet me somewhere in Asia).

Everything's closed on the 3 days of Chinese New Year here. Won't be much to see during the public holidays. However, Chinatown will be pretty crowded and there should be a lot of lanterns to see. Hmmm, I think Singapore's a pretty blah place to visit. It's just a city with the usual city stuff (ie. shopping). I think when I first came here, I thought the greatest thing about it was that it was so clean. But I guess it's pretty nice to come down here to relax.

As for eating, you can go to any hawker center (which has a lot of food stalls) and try the stuff out. Chicken rice, laksa, rojak, char kway teow, satay and BBQ stingray would be a start. My friend recommends going to the East Coast Food Centre. =)

(I usually avoid anything hot and spicy since I'll get a stomache. But just about everything here is hot and spicy... Singaporeans love their chilli. Sigh...)