Christmas shoppers are now hitting Taipei's many department stores and their food courts.
An indication of the quality of food on offer at Kyoto Teppanyaki Shop, located on the basement floor of the Dayeh Takashimaya Department Store, is the throng of patient shoppers waiting to have their fill. During the weekend, patrons often queue up to one hour to get a seat.
The restaurant's boss, Luo Zhong-liang (
PHOTO, DEREK LEE, TAIPEI TIMES
The restaurant's homemade black pepper sauce which takes four days to prepare is a winning recipe. For the sauce, Luo rejects the use of monosodium glutamate and salt. Rather, he uses ingredients such as chicken bones, onions and beef to produce the sauce's rich flavor. Luo boasted that the proprietors of many first-class teppanyaki restaurants in Taiwan do not expend the same amount of effort as he does to produce the sauce. The restaurant also uses homemade soy sauce which takes up to six days to prepare. Luo refused to reveal the soy sauce's secret ingredients, but would did say that more than 10 Chinese herbs are added to produce a distinctive taste.
Seven chefs man the hot plates cooking the 27 dishes offered on the menu. Each of the chefs has at least 14 years of experience in cooking teppanyaki and being able to talk to your chef from a close distance is one of the unique pleasures of eating a teppanyaki meal.
The chef will usually serve sauteed bean sprouts with soy sauce as the first course. A bowl of white rice and a small serving of fish soup with seaweed follow, just in time to accompany the main dish, be it sirloin or tenderloin steak, mutton, chicken or cod.
A tip to teppanyaki lovers is that the steak can be served in thin slices. The dish is served with shreds of onion dipped in a slightly sweet Japanese sauce. The sliced steak and onion is a delicious combination.
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