墾丁 Ken Ting

Ready for fun, Where's the sun?

Britt and I decided to flee south to warmer climes and escape (with thousands of others) to KenTing, the southermost reach of Taiwanese civilization. Yes, we took the dog.

There is something  unique about Kenting. It truly is a mix of cultures.  The beach bum is alive and well and chillin' down there alongside families of Taiwanese and young adults with pimped-out Toyota Corollas, and then, there is the foreigner crowd as well. There are also the locals: They seem laid back and outwardly happy. They drive helmetless on motorcycles. Some are tanned to deep brown, even in February. They are the ones not wearing a camera.

I wanted to photograph the dog, but I think it says more about the man.

Aside from our own campside feasts, there was plenty of good food to eat from seafood to nightmarket snacks to gelato. Yes, Gelato.  真的! I am reminded of the saying "A Dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman with one eye missing." Can you imagine a beach town with out an ice cream shop? I can't.  Someone in Ken Ting figured that one out it seems.

Jialishuei food vendor

And when I say seafood, I mean fresh seafood.

The seafood resto.

When I say gelato, I mean real delicious gelato. There is even an Gelato master from France behind the glass at Le Pelican.

Late night rush at Le Pelican. The staff is so friendly.

I admire his use of the abundance of local ingredients alongside some exotic ones like Nutella, Nougat, and Pistachio. You will not find Matcha gelato here. Banana Chocolate, Kiwi Banana, Papaya, Passion Fruit, Mango, Lemon.

Spooning

Until recently you could find a lot of things in Ken Ting, but you couldn't find good ice cream. Thanks to the folks at LePelican!

Who is cuter?

Sashimi was cheap and fresh

Isn't she gorgeous?

and Grilled Oysters!

So yes, go for the waves, the sun, the sand, the bikinis the laid back atomosphere, whatever, but don't forget the ice cream.

Keeping Busy

Met Steps

Just in case you were wondering, there have been many delicious comings and goings in my life lately. They've kept me busy, but after a break from writing and a visit to New York, I'm back!

Uncle(?!) Dom and Evan

During my visit to see my new nephew and my family in New York,  I jumped at every chance I had to eat some and drink some things that despite our global economy, you just can't get outside of New York. Or at least, you can't get it in Taiwan.

Coffee, Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Pretzel

     I had really delicious and ingenious pretzel croissant from City Bakery in Manhattan. What a great idea, and a different, but simple take on a classic. What a wonderful croissant! Or was it a heavenly pretzel?

     On that note, City Bakery is the kind of place I admire. They have a simple menu, but everything on it is good, and is done their way. Nothing flashy. That is going to be my philosophy on cooking, I think.

     I stopped by my usual haunt, Madeline's Patisserie on West 23rd. I have fond memories of this place, and it is true that if you just happen across a really nice place by chance, for me at least, I always feel a strong connection to it.  I first found the place in 2007. I was volunteering at the International Center of New York as a language tutor, and stopped in for a coffee before a class. It may have been the lesson I ever gave, I'm not sure. I was an overworked bleary-eyed graduate student then at Queens College, so I stopped in this quaint bakery for a coffee. Wow. The whole class I was thinking about the way that place smelled. So good.

      This time around, I took my mother there. My sister thought their macarons eye- poppingly good, better than even those Laduree ones her husband brings home from his office at the French bank.

Central Park

     It was a really warm afternoon for January. I saw a lot of folks in Central Park, and I seemed to notice a lot moreof bikes on the street than the last time I was around.

     I strolled around the new American wing at the Met. I saw a windowful of black and white cookies, and decided that I need to eat one on the sidewalk and get in people's way while taking pictures, cookie in one hand, camera in the other.

B/W cookie

     The Met has got Washington Crossing the Delaware there now, and it is big. A smaller version hung in the stairwell in my elementary school. I used remember thinking, "What was so special about crossing a river?"

MET Atrium

     That was cool to see the real one. The figures are larger than real people. What really caught my eye were the stunning works of Fu Baoshi 傅抱石. 

     While enjoying the coffee and wifi in that gallery's new atrium, I I found that I wasn't far from Two Red Hens American Bakery.  I stopped in for some cookies, and boy was I glad. Sensational Chocolate Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. I didn't take pictures there because it was too crowded. Afterwards, the cookies were gone before I could get the camera out. Sorry.

I missed my friend Ken. Thanks for the beers.

Another reason to visit Belgium

     My best friend showed me around Hell's Kitchen for some tasty beer and much needed banter.

     It was the week before the Giants won the Super Bowl. There was even a bar called "Brady's" that had covered up its sign with a temporary tarp that read, of course, "Eli's."

Class is in session

    I learned that you can take a cooking class in Manhattan if you're comfortable having the world watch through the windows.

Can't argue with the boss

     It wouldn't be trip to New York without bagels. I met my aunt for Bagels at Bagel Boss of Merrick the next morning.

Chef Vinny at work

     One day (I can't remember which day owing to the Jet lag) my father resumed his old tradition of cooking pancakes for me. He did this for years for me every Saturday. My bedroom happened to be about seven feet from the stove, so the smell of browning butter always crept into my bedroom to beckon me from beneath the sheets.

Rigatoni Porcini Sausage Gorganzola and Cream

     I was so thankful, I whipped up some pasta for him.

     Needless to say, this has all been a great inspiration for me. There's lots of cooking in my near future!

Pineapple Hills

It isn't often that we fall upon happy coincidences in life, so when they roll around, it's best to savor them, like a delicious bite.
A few weeks ago I thought to venture south out of Taiwan, by trusty bike, and found myself pedaling up and down the hilly Changua county road 139  in Western Taiwan. The ribbon of road crowns a ridge that runs north/south parallel to that even bigger ridge to the east: The great spine of the central Mountains of Taiwan so that looking west, a narrow plain stretching to the straight looms in often smoggy air while to the east, a wall of peaks and undulations. The big mountains of Nantou County. Alishan is back there somewhere, and Yushan a bit further east and south (Southeast Asia's tallest peak, mind you).

Looking East into the mountains, tea on the left foreground, pineapples on the right.

But that's all the backdrop. What one sees along the route immediately are quiet rows of quiet houses with quiet people. Is this place really that serene, or I have I been in the city too long?As you climb out of Changhua the wooded hills thin out and Ba Gua ridge turns mostly to numerous small fields of Pineapple. Go further south, deeper into Nantou county and the pineapple country slowly gives way to tea country. Though it was my goal at the outset, I never made it to tea country on this particular day. But I like to think I had a good reason.

Almost ripe

Pineapple cakes seem to have originated in Taiwan and are very popular here as gifts. Around Chinese New Year and the Moon festival is when you're most likely to find them. To me, a lover of rich, sweet desserts, I always kind of wrote them off as really thick fig newtons with pineapple inside, instead of figs.  But of all the ones that I tried, one kind, made at SunnyFields bakery stood out. The crumbly cakey shell was buttery, not bland, and there was a smokiness and a depth of flavor to the pineapple filling that the multitude of others I tried seemed to lack. Really delightful cakes.
“I got to get to that Sunny Fields one day,” I remember saying, after another student gifted me with a box. So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon their compound while pedaling along towards tea country. I was taking pictures of the mountains to the east when I turned left and saw some other day trippers snapping away...

Photo Op

There it was plain as a ziploc bag. A big sign.
Glad to have brought my camera along I popped in, picked up some Pineapple cakes and some free and delicious oolong tea and rested my legs before returning home.

If you have a sweet tooth this place is worth a visit...

The Sunnyfields shop/production center is a mix of old and new... "Where can I park this thing?"

You can get a glimpse into the huge kitchen through a long row of windows. It's a busy place. If the bakers took offense to my squinting and snapping, they bore it well.

There goes the neighborhood

The location of the place is unique, built into an older complex of buildings that likely date back a  hundred years or so, maybe even before Japanese rule. I don't know the period, but they are surely of Chinese design.
They looked similar to the Liu compound my friend Michael and I explored this summer.
So enjoy the pictures, and do try to plan a trip if you are in the area.

I wasn't the only one keen to sneak a peek at the kitchen.

This worker is rolling out the filled dough.

Nice technique, though it must grow tiresome after a while

Pineapple filling, ready to go!

Fresh from the oven

Security!

It's a nice day trip from Taichung City, by bike of by car or motorcycle.

Some fresh local Oolong goes nicely

Web site
CakeSpy Piece