nanamoose

Wok Hijack in Shanghai

My wok-fingers are getting restless. Let me try to hijack this wok here from this young man.

“Hello mister, can you please let me use your wok for a second?” Man shakes his head profusely and refuses to hand me his wok. I try a second and third time to no avail. Ah… I know, money will do the trick. I stick an RMB100 bill down his short and he gladly stood aside.

What do we have here, some shredded pork, some green veggies, dried chilies, salt, sugar, soy sauce and some Chinese wine – Great! I can make my caramelized pork dish! I start cooking but a crowd is starting to gather around me. They must have come to see if I can actually cook. Of course I can! And I am going to let everyone taste for themselves. Oh and the wok owner too. Crowd seems to like it. Phew!

Good, job done. Time to meet my foodie friend at the Yu Gardens for some Nanxiang Xiaolongbaos!

臺灣三明治的美 Breakfast at Mei Er Mei

Taiwan foods mosaic
Originally uploaded by nanamoose.

現在的人那麼會吃，但不住臺灣卻又認識美而美的人是少之又少。譬如跟香港人說起臺灣他們的第一反映總是牛肉面啦，鴨舌啦，夜市裏的小吃啦，很少人會跟你說起臺灣的三明治。

如果有人問我最好吃的三明治在那裏我會毫不遲疑的告訴你: 在臺灣!

我個人覺得，如果連越南的三明治都可以闖出名堂的話那麼臺灣的美而美簡直可以說是天堂美食了！我從小就愛美而美， 愛它熱騰騰的感覺，愛它裏面的肉鬆，愛它的煎蛋，還愛它的奶茶 （雖然茶味淡得更像糖水）。美而美對我而言就像是陪伴我多年的老朋友，對它的喜好是參了感情的。 但感情以外，美而美的好吃是無可置疑的。雖然在國外生活了多年, 我卻一直無法對外國的三明治產生興趣。可能是我天生比較喜歡熱食的緣故吧，冷冰冰的三明治，就算是Pret A Manger 所謂新鮮的我都還是看不順眼。跟我一樣喜愛熱食的朋友， 尤其如果你喜歡香港茶餐廳裏的腿蛋治，那你一定會更喜歡美而美。這裏的三明治全是現做的，隨你的喜好可以加煎蛋，培根（即煙肉），青瓜，cheese, 還有美而美獨有的beef patty（裏面有胡蘿蔔及蔥絲）。

現在臺灣“美而美型”的早餐店很多，我所謂的美而美也就不是每家都叫美而美了，不過因為美而美是老字型，大家叫習慣罷了。要找美而美型的早餐店很簡單，隨便鑚個巷就找到了。它們的標誌大多是紅色橙色條紋的， 名字也多是“X”而美，而且家家都好吃。不過注意哦，美而美是只有早上營業的。

這次拜訪的其他臺北最愛 （全為連鎖店，請查清最靠近你的分店）：

1.50嵐的紅茶拿鐵 （林鳳營）（在你喝不到Nana 奶茶時的唯一替代品）
2.君悅排骨
3.鬍鬚張的魯肉飯

Funnily enough, despite how everyone in Hong Kong raves about food in Taiwan, no one has ever mentioned the lovely sandwiches there before.

I grew up on sandwiches from Mei Er Mei (or its numerous other forms whether Mai Er Mei or something else) every morning when I lived in Hsinchu, so admittedly my love for these sandwiches contains a tinge of nostalgia. However, I assure you that nostalgia aside, these sandwiches are the BEST in the world, especially if you’re a lover for hot and freshly prepared foods and egg and spam sandwiches at Cha Chaan Tangs in Hong Kong.

Sandwiches and burgers from Mei Er Mei are made fresh when you order, with your choice of ingredients ranging from fried eggs, meat floss, cucumber, Kraft cheese to Taiwanese beef patties containing shreds of carrot and spring onions. Order your sandwich with a Mei Er Mei milk tea, quite watery and tastes more like sugar and water, yet just so good when you have them with Mei Er Mei sandwiches.

Like Starbucks in the States, there are Mei Er Meis round every street corner so you will have no excuse not to find one. Mei Er Mei-esque sandwich shops all have red and orange-lined shop signs and are open only for breakfast.

Other favourites in Taipei I went to (all chains, check for your nearest branch):

1.Ceylon Latte at “50 Lan” (the closest you can get to the authentic Nana Tea)
2.Spare Ribs Rice at Jun Yue
3.Braised Meat Rice at Beard Zhang