Da’an District, Taipei City｜川妹子

Excellent food. Every dish was perfect.

After meeting a friend from China, she recommended her favorite restaurant. She claimed that the chef went to Sichuan （四川）to master his cooking techniques to create authentic dishes. After living inTaiwan for awhile, I have been duped quite a few times, so I was hopeful but skeptical about her claims. We ordered quite a few dishes. 1. I really loved the shredded potatoes 土豆絲。It wasn’t spicy despite the 1 chili rating. It was fragrant, but it did lack salt. After talking to the chef, we realized that he was catering to the Taiwanese palate, and that if we go back next time, we have to specify that we want the authentic version. 辣土豆絲。 2. The Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁 was delicious! Even though it had a tonne of chilies, it was only slightly spicy. They used a combination of dried, red yand green chilies which gave it a fragrant smell, and just a touch of Szechuan peppercorn oil. 3. The Chili Beef 水煮牛肉 was definitely the best. It was spicy enough to enjoy all the subtle nuances of the other spices they used to cook it. It wasn’t as spicy as the ones we usually have in China. However, they did a good job balancing the taste to cater to the local taste buds without sacrificing flavor. 4. We ordered the pickled beans and mung bean claypot dish 酸豆粉絲 which was also one of my favorites. The plethora of garlic and chilies were delicious and I loved the super sour and salty tang of their picked beans. It reminds me of hot and sour soup, the ones we used to eat back in America. 5. The kids ordered shrimp fried rice and pork fried rice. Both were very well fried with wok hey flavors in every bite. 6. My friend ordered the 回鍋肉. It was a delicious mish mash of beef tendon, and meat. It was definitely a lot saltier, but great with white rice, which we ordered so we could eat with it. 7. Last, we ordered the Chuan Wei hot and sour 川味酸辣麵 It was spicier and saltier, however there was sugar in the sauce which made for an almost sweet and sour flavor. I wasn’t a big fan of it though quite delicious. The noodles were well cooked and had a nice al dente texture.

Enjoying the tingling on my tongue!