Danshui 淡水 area is supposedly one of the must visit riversides in Taipei. I personally think Taiwan has too many food markets and they confuse me to no ends – but since my friend told me this is one of the rarer day time must-visit areas, I was happy to oblige. If you have been here before you will remember the super-hard boiled eggs and also the Turkish guy making his stretchy ice-cream. The benefit of coming here is that it is open at day time and is not just a night market. Quite touristy though.
If you walk along this Middle-Entrance to Dan Shui market -
One will find this popular stall on the left hand side somewhere with a long queue outside the shop. If you ask around, some shop owners will be able to point out where 阿給 Ah Gei is.
阿給 – Ah Gei
Don’t expect this to make any sense in English by default, and this is not a typical item in Taiwan either. Somehow this shop managed to create a Fried Tofu filled with stir-fried Vermicelli (冬粉), then filled it up with Fish Cake and dunk it in Master Stock and Sweet Chili sauce. I like this a real lot but others might find it quirky, but this is still my diary-blog ! ~ 9/10
可口魚丸 – Shark fishballs with Dried Shallots & Minced Pork
This is very Chinese Fujian province influenced if you ask me, but this looked less rounded in shape than the Fujian version. Enjoyable too but not as flavour=some as the best Fujian versions in China. ~ 7/10
Price: TWD $30
Food: ♕♕♕ 1/2 to ♕♕♕♕♕
Ease of Access: 4/5
Opening Hours:
06:00am to 19:00pm
Address: 新北市淡水區真理街6-4號
Ph: 02-26213004
Thanks for this writeup! Danshui brings back some memories for me, I first visited 11 years ago, and still remember my first Ah Gei. This is a very interesting local specialty, unlike anything else I've had. It is said the name came from Japanese word abura-age and the TW name is basically the phonetic pronounciation. Kind of like Tien Bu La (sweet not spicy) but has nothing to do with Edo style tempura. It's also neat that TW band 五月天 also has a reference to Danshui in the song 志明與春嬌. Other than the Iron Eggs, and Fuzhou Fish ball soup, my other fond memory of Danshui are the black bean tofu custard desserts.
ReplyDeleteDear Beef No Guy,
ReplyDeleteSorry it took me long to reply as I am majorly lacking stable wi-fi right now !
Thanks for explaining how the name 'Age' came about, I must say I have been twice and still haven't worked it out! I sort of like Tien Bu La too and I find the naming of it pretty funny when related to Tempura hehe !
Unfortunately I don't recall having the black bean tofu custard, I will take note of that and try it out if I can !! Thanks for sharing information as always : )