Is Taiwan's Stinky Tofu like Blue Cheese?!

klyngiant (39)in #travel • 7 years ago (edited)

After a pretty long flight we finally landed in Taipei, Taiwan and headed straight to Miaoli city where we would stay for a few days.

We decided to do some sightseeing by scooter and ended up at the Miaoli Morning Market where we stocked up on local fresh vegetables and fish. I was not used to seeing all those clean streets, even in the busy city center. It’s something that I would love to see here in South Africa.

The next day, we went to Wenshui by bus and saw rows and rows of dried pig’s liver, the so called ancient traditional Hakka delicacy.

After a whole day of walking around and exploring, we started to get hungry and walked into a shack-like restaurant at the side of the road , and ordered some “interesting” chicken, called Urnroasted Chicken. I looked around while waiting for the dish coming. Surprisingly, I spotted several eight-legged creatures dangling from the roof…..Eish~~ My horrifying memory of getting bitten by that creature, suddenly came to my mind. Finally, the urnroasted chicken arrived at our table…...It’s a damn big whole chicken with HEAD and FEET still attached. I was handed a pair of gloves while we were still stunned with mouth open.The lady told us that we had to wear the gloves and tear the hot chicken apart before we could munch the whole thing. Although, those spiders were still spinning on the webs above my head; however, the hunger overcome my fear successfully. After some cheap kungfu moves, the chicken finally scattered nicely and gracefully in the square tin container. Yum ~~ It’s so juicy!

After few days, the weather started to change from sunny to pouring rain. We then decided to spoil ourselves with some natural hot spring in Taian. The misty scenery made me felt like we were in the Jurassic Park which was hidden in a green forest covered in mist, and just waiting for some unknown creature to jump out from the heavy mist. After all, the hot spring was a great idea and it was so relaxing. I could just watch the drizzle, and float in the hot water; or, felt my wobbly bits trembling and shaking under the strong water jets.

My journey so far was so relaxing and peaceful. After I didn’t remember how many days passed, I was very lucky to witness Pilgrimage Activity at Yuqin temple back in Miaoli City. I tried to get a closer look without disturbing anyone.

We journeyed further by train enjoying the sights of mountains, the ocean and rice fields all the way to Hualian. We spent some time taking photos of the famous colorful cartoon characters before heading of to get some Hualian steamed dumplings/buns.

After hanging around at the pool in the hotel, we started to get claustrophobic in the hotel and called a taxi to take us to the beach. The driver was excited when we told him what we wanted to see and he agreed to be our tour guide taking us to Qixingtan beach, Cingshui Cliffs, Taroko Gorge and Changchun Shrine. The tour was pretty rushed as we started a bit late and the sun was already starting to set. Nonetheless, we still managed to reach the Changchun Shrine in the mountains.

When it got dark we asked our taxi driver to dropped us off at Hualian Tungtamen Night Market. The market was full of people and varieties of food, games, gadgets, live music and craft beer. While we walked past all the vendors I kept on getting some odd smell but I couldn't really figure out what it was.

After I came back with a jar of craft beer, my lovely wife offered me some fried tofu with soya, garlic and chilli sauce. I never smelt anything until I took a big bite.... Oh my goodness! That's the smell I sniffed all the way!!!.... I still can’t describe it. Stinky feet,nehhhhh!!! But, it’s definitely not the same as blue cheese. Eish~ The smell was stuck in my nose, even now. After realizing what it was, I tried to chew it quickly and swallowed it down with some beer. (check the video for more surprises)

What a surprising and unforgettable stinky tofu experience! Hopefully, it won't be the only thing that I remembered in the whole trip. Mmmm…...where did I travel these days!!!!!!!???????