For many in Taipei, Tien Hsiang Lo is a synonym for Hangchow cuisine, which, to many gourmands, is also a synonym for unique and exquisite delicacies. The original Tien Hsiang Lo restaurant in Hangchow dates back more than 100 years.
After the Chinese Civil War, in 1949, the main chefs of this famed restaurant fled to Hong Kong where they established the equally famous Hong Kong Tien Hsiang Lo. Thirteen years ago Stanley Yen (嚴長壽), president of Taipei's five-star Ritz Landis, dispatched chefs to Hong Kong with a mission to learn classic Hangchow cuisine from the chefs of the original Tien Hsiang Lo. Under a cooperative agreement, they returned to set up their own Tien Hsiang Lo in Taipei. The two restaurants are widely recognized as offering the best Hangchow cuisine in the world.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF RITZ LANDIS,TAIPEI
Hangchow cuisine can be summed up with the phrase "southern ingredients, northern style" (南菜北烹). This means that the varieties of fish, shrimp, and other crustaceans in Hangchow's much-celebrated historic West Lake are prepared in northern-style, sweet and sour-based flavors. Hangchow cuisine can be traced to 800 years ago, when the Sung dynasty moved its capital from the north to Hangchow, fleeing foreign invaders. The royal chefs, who had been accustomed to northern cuisine, had to make use of local materials. Hangchow style is, therefore, a kind of ancient imperial cuisine.
Sauted shrimp with long-ching tea leaves (龍井蝦仁) is a delightful representative Hangchow dish. Instead of using vegetables, the chefs saute the shrimp with freshly pickled long-ching tea leaves. The shrimp come out white and tender, while the tea leaves add an elegant presentation and delicate taste.
Madame Sung's fish soup (宋嫂魚湯) is a typical "southern ingredients, northern style" dish, according to Yang Kuang-tsung (楊光宗), sous chef of the hotel. This southern version of sour and spicy soup adds more vegetables and has abundant boneless fresh-water fish, mushrooms, egg yolk, bamboo shoots and a dash of Shaoshing wine.
One distinct plus about Tien Hsiang Lo is that dishes are presented in individual portions, which allows diners to sample a variety of flavors without having to order more food than one person can eat.
Autumn is also the best season to feast on giant fresh-water crabs, another Hangchow delicacy.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
Mongolian influencer Anudari Daarya looks effortlessly glamorous and carefree in her social media posts — but the classically trained pianist’s road to acceptance as a transgender artist has been anything but easy. She is one of a growing number of Mongolian LGBTQ youth challenging stereotypes and fighting for acceptance through media representation in the socially conservative country. LGBTQ Mongolians often hide their identities from their employers and colleagues for fear of discrimination, with a survey by the non-profit LGBT Centre Mongolia showing that only 20 percent of people felt comfortable coming out at work. Daarya, 25, said she has faced discrimination since she
RSS