Jiu Fen Eats

Word has it that Jiu Fen, north of Taipei rains 11 out of 12 months a year and I guess we were in luck. Jiu Fen Old Street is famous for its alleys and shops and for being located on top of a hill, chilly temperatures for a weekend getaway from hot Taipei in Summer!

rain rain rain

Torrential rains that averaged the day's temperature at a freezing 9 degrees when all I was prepared for was 15 degrees. Fog that plagued most part of Jiu Fen and made photo taking cumbersome. Not to include the throngs of tourists that got offloaded into the already narrow streets every now and then. Shopping within the area became problematic when shelter is not their greatest strength - imagine raindrops trickling down your neck every now and then.

jiu fen

The doorway into Jiu Fen.

ah xin souvenirs

The only souvenir shop that has quite a huge variety of snacks ranging from mochi to nuts to jellies. One of the stops by tourist groups.

parrot

The lovely parrot that caught my attention! Poor fella was terrorized by the crowds.

samples

Pre-packaged mochi that came in so many flavours - if only the expiry dates were not so close! We had a taste of the fruit jellies here and on hindsight, should have bought them! Penny wise pound foolish move by purchasing them elsewhere cheaper.

zhang chef

The stop that snitched the most out of our wallets. 张师傅 for handmade pastries, tarts and...nuts!

nom

Gifts of freshly made pineapple cakes - a clear indication how much splurging was done at the shop!

fresh pineapple cake

Piping hot pineapple tart - buttery crisp crust with a mildly sweet pineapple jam within. Anything fresh off the oven is a good friend of mine.

thick and thin

Amongst the pile of damage done, bought them in two thickness.

packaging

Somewhat poetic packaging.

golden

All that glitters is gold.

pineapple cake boxes

Little boxes of yum.

pineapple tart box

Which we promptly devoured on the train to Taichung and Hualien. I would have kept them for CNY if possible.

pineapple tart

Unlike Kee Wah, this is not so sweet. The buttery fragrance gets stronger as the days go by and for now, I am a bigger fan of taiwanese pineapple cakes to hongkong's!

peanut candy

Peanut candy (NTD 80) that was not too sweet, the priciest of the lot we bought!

hot and cold

Chewy taro balls alert! This is one of the two stalls in Jiu Fen.


another stall

Very old school indeed, from the outlook to the making of the balls to decor of the place.

kneaded on the spot

Chef hard at work with such a huge mass of sweet potato dough.

old school

Something oldish about this shot that I like!

old in everything

Get what I been by downright oldschool? Tables and chairs even!

yum

Ginger soup with balls (NTD 20)

hearty ginger soup

Perfect antidote for rainy weather and even winter! Ginger soup warms the tum greatly and their balls come in various flavours - yam, black sesame and sweet potato. Love how substantial these taste; very chewy but the fibres of their root vegetable origins can be tasted too! It is a mystery why this is not as crowded as

lanterns

Here's another called Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan just further into the street.

crowds

Packed with tourists.

yam ball stall

The mess of balls!

ah po yu yuan

Claiming authenticity, this was alot sweeter and less chewy than the first stall. Preference goes to the other stall!

yammy

Chockfuls of bland tasting glutinous balls.

one of the many

Time for some fishballs as this was possibly the next most famous Jiu Fen eat!
traditional stall

Spot 古早? Traditional olden ways of making a particular dish, this is exceptionally popular amongst the street eats throughout Taiwan.

fishballs

Famous given the numerous snaps that the owner put up, I am assuming they are celebrities.

crowds

Hordes of people crowd the shop, so much so we had to head upstairs.

order

Get thrust a menu and make your way downstairs to pay.

wall full of posters

Bowled over by the owner's narcissism. Tons of self taken photos.

sparse

Mismatched tables on the second floor.

a mix of everything

A bowl of everything - five different flavoured fishballs and tung hoon (NTD 70). Not the most memorable of fish balls, these had too much flour.

mushroom ball

 貢丸湯 (NTD 50) comprised of just 3 pork balls! These mushroom infused pork balls were still better than their famed fish balls. At least these had a bite!

fresh icecream popiah

Simply too stuffed to make an attempt on their popiah icecream.

chef at work

Watching them prepare the dessert was quite therapeutic!

shave that peanut block

I wonder how many icecream popiahs have to be made for that entire peanut candy block to be shaved down to its last bit.

piles of

A sweet take on our usual savoury delight.

The trip to Jiu Fen was fulfilling though the rain did mar the experience quite a bit. The night view would have been gorgeous for phototaking!

Comments

  1. Chloe spotted! hahaha

    My vote for 芋圆 still goes to the one near 九份小学, up a stairway away from the alleys of sovenieur shops haha.

    Did you get any goodies from 李仪饼店 right opposite the road near the alley entrance? Their 太阳饼s and 咖哩酥s are awesome!

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  2. I love Taiwanese pineapple shortcakes too! Sunnyhills pineapple shortcakes are very good. Go get them from Raffles Hotel! Yums!

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  3. Did you get Chia Te's pineapple cakes? Heard they're pretty good!

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  4. haa nope! cldnt track them down! :(

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