We went on a day tour around the outskirts of Taipei and stopped by at Jinshan after visiting Yeliu Geopark. Ji Bao Li (thanks readers for the correction!) is an old street selling a variety of things and according to our driver, is popular with locals. We visited the place for lunch as it is apparently famous for their duck.
Before I talk about the braised duck, let me make a mention of their eating concept. It is a streetside hawker eating area, and there are two large areas with tables and chairs. I had to walk a short distance to where there are several stalls and make my orders there. Generally, the food is already prepared (like the duck is cut up in serving portions of 1/4 duck) and I just take what I want. The food is affordable. 1/4 braised duck costs about 200NT$ which works out to about $8.50. However, I do not pay at the stalls. I bring my food to the tables, finish eating, and based on the type of plates, I pay.
Back to the braised duck. It is rather bland without the sauce. Maybe it is because I am used to the salty ones back in Singapore? For this one, you truly taste the duck in all its meaty glory because there is not much seasoning used. Sure, by all means dip it into the sauce to enjoy a different flavour but to get the true essence of the duck, try it plain. The meat is also slightly tougher than what I am used to back at home. Personally, I think it is only average.
We ordered some noodles to go with the duck. These were really cheap at NT$60 (S$2.60), and rather tasty too. After the meal, we went on a walk along Yongkang St to check out the other stalls.
The slight drizzle didn’t stop us from exploring this quaint old street and our friendly cab driver even came down to look for us to offer us umbrellas! Here are some of our finds:
Do you have any idea what this uncle is making? It is sweet and has two different kinds of filling – sesame and peanut. If you look at the next picture, you may be able to tell.
Still can’t tell? It’s traditional Dragon Beard Candy (龙须糖 Long Xu Tang). Hubby was ecstatic when he saw this stall. Not surprisingly, he bought a pack of it to bring along. I thought that Dragon Beard Candy would be cloyingly sweet but surprisingly, it was milder than I expected.
There were many stalls selling a variety of rice crackers and traditional biscuits. Initially, we didn’t want to buy any but we were tempted by this stall selling some ball rice crackers. They are the size of golf balls and have different flavours such as seaweed, sesame and peanut. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photographs! I was too busy testing out the flavours.
We saw this stall selling pink guavas and bought a pack to try. They are more fragrant than the ones we are used to (the ones with white flesh) but the seeds of these ones are really tough.
And, they sell mini porcupines at one of the stalls! Do you know what these are? If you do, participate in the little quiz on our facebook page and you may win something at our next giveaway!
