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Some Things Never Get Old...

1/19/2010

I remember back when I used to live in LA, my fiancé and I would oftentimes crave for some good old-fashioned Taiwanese food. And when that happened, we would have to fight through an hour of traffic and starvation after work to somewhat suffice our hunger. Even though we knew LA already offered much better Taiwanese food versus other cities in the states, we still couldn't help but miss the 燒餅油條 (baked buns w/ fried crullers) from 永和 or the 蚵仔麵線 (oyster vermicelli) up in 七段 or the 大腸包小腸 (sausages) outside of Sogo Cashbox...

It just wasn't the same.

So, when we moved back to Taiwan, we wasted no time hitting up all of the above and more. Out of them all, 度小月 (Tu Hsiao Yueh) became one of our favorite local "攤子"（food stands).

There are a few reasons why I think people enjoy 度小月 so much. The food, the decor, the atmosphere, the location(s)... you name it. But, what captures me the most is how it still appeals to the modern customer even after 115 years in business.

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The story goes way back to 1895 with a young fisherman named Hong Yu-tou. During the summer and autumn, fisherman could not go out to sea due to hurricanes. They coined the season as "小月." Thus, in order to make ends meet and "度過" (survive through) the difficult months, Hong knew he had to branch out into other sorts of businesses. Luckily, he remembered an old minced meat recipe he learned from a chef back in his hometown Zhangzhou, Fujian and decided to experiment on his own. Next thing he knew, he came up with an amazing new noodle dish which he carried on shoulder poles and sold throughout the village. Customers would gather around his mobile food stand and watch as he pull together his newfound masterpiece. Hong decided to name his new success: "度小月但仔麵" (Tu Hsiao Yueh Tan Tsai Noodle).

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After a century has passed, the stewed-minced-meat-and-shallots-sauce-with-shrimp-soup-and-oil-noodle recipe still remains a big hit with the locals (and tourists alike). But what used to be bamboo shoulder poles and one simple dish of 但仔麵 have been replaced with four restaurant chains, thick menu booklets, inflated prices, and even its very own branded products. While some may feel 度小月 has fallen victim to today's franchise frenzy, I don't mind and even appreciate the upgrades and changes because the restaurant has remained true to its Taiwanese heritage through its cooking method and food.

And plus, I always get a warm, fuzzy feeling after a 度小月 meal, as if I've been brought back 115 years to a home kitchen in Southern Taiwan!

Although much has changed with 度小月 over the decades, there are still noticeable traces of its century-long history embedded throughout the restaurant: pictures of master Hong at work, old Chinese tunes playing in the background, traditional lantern lighting/decor, and most distinctly, the old-school 攤子 that greets customers as soon as they walk in the door. Just like how it was done a hundred years ago, customers can gather around the storefront kitchen and watch as the cook whips up a hearty bowl of Tan Tsai noodle, now with the options of 米粉 (vermicelli) or 粿條 (pho).

P.S: I always go for the 粿條!

The menu selection has also expanded over the hundred years, with popular new items including 炸蚵仔 (fried oysters), 滷大腸 (stewed pork intestines), 炸蝦捲 (fried shrimp rolls) or 烤虱目魚肚 (grilled fish stomach). Though the menu has gone through considerable transformation, you can taste the time and thought that went into inventing each new dish. Each simple yet complex dish reflects 度小月's continued dedication to delivering the highest quality and most authentic Taiwanese cuisine.

So, the next time you crave for some Taiwanese food, make sure to pay a visit to your local 度小月 for a real, time-warping experience. That is, if you live here. (Sorry!)

As my fiancé simply puts it: "Dude, it's Taiwanese soul food."

度小月
www.iddi.com.tw

台南店
台南市中正路16號
16 Chongcheng Rd, Tainan City
(06) 2231-744

台南中正二店
台南市中正路101號
101 Chongcheng Rd, Tainan City
(06) 2259-554

台北分店
忠孝東路四段216巷8弄12號
12 Lane 8 Alley 216 Sec 4 Chung Hsiao E. Rd, Taipei City
(06) 2259-554

台北中山店
台北中山北路2段180號1F
No.180 2 Zhongshan Rd, Taipei City (02) 2585-1880

7 Comments

Roots, It's Good For You

1/6/2010

5 Comments

It's a new year! Happy Twenty-Ten!!!

But before I move forward to the next year, I'd like to commemorate winter 2009 as being one of the best three weeks of my life. Mainly because of the people (family & close friends), the location (motherland Taiwan) and of course, the food.

Although I probably gained ten pounds this break from all the dishes I've devoured mercilessly, I hold no regret since they were shared with my favorite people. One meal in particular I will never forget, and that is the home cooking of my 84-year-old grandma.
My grandmother was born in the countryside of Fuzhou (which is located on the southeast coast of mainland China), in a small village called Dongmen. In 1939, my grandmother escaped from China to Taiwan. She was literally on a tiny fish boat for 1 month and 4 days. The boat eventually gave out, forcing her to swim the last few miles to shore! While much of China's communism was (is) to blame, my grandmother escaped for love! She had just gotten engaged and her fiance was waiting for her in Formosa. She was twenty-five.

Once the young lovers reunited in Taiwan, they got married within two months and had four children in the years to come. The youngest child and daughter was my mom.

My mother has always told me that growing up, she ate nothing but grandma's cooking. Every meal was a Fujian feast. Being so far away from home and watching her four children grow up in a foreign country must have been difficult for my grandmother. Food was the only way to connect her children to her past and bring them back to their roots.

She probably never imagined it having any effect on her children's children or her grandchildren's children...

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The night before New Years Eve, my mother's side of the family all joined together at my aunt's cozy little apartment. Some met for the first time in ten years while others met for the very first time.

It was my grandmother's idea of gathering the gang up and celebrating 2010 big. She had already started preparing all the ingredients the day before and wanted no one to enter her kitchen. She wanted all of us to sit back and relax while her, the oldest person in the room, did all the work while we reap the benefits.

And like always, we reaped the heck out of the benefits.

One after another the hot dishes came. Seafood and more seafood. It's no wonder since the coastal area of Fuzhou produces 167 varieties of fish and 90 kinds of shellfish. Fried fish, fried shrimp balls, octopus sashimi, steamed scallops, crabs... There was never a dull moment or an empty bowl. Even with 11 hungry adults (one being 8-months pregnant) and 3 kids, we barely cleared the plates nor stopped ourselves from eating.

All the while, I noticed my grandmother watching from the kitchen, a conquering smile on her face as she worked the wok. I'd probably do the same if I cooked half as well as her.

I am now (almost) twenty-five and engaged, yet my life is in no comparison to my grandmother's tough life then. I look at what a wonderful and eventful year 2009 has been for me and how lucky it is that I have good health, loving family, close friends, a roof over my head, a job and the best husband-to-be. I feel humble and proud for all the things my grandmother has given and given up for her husband and children, because ultimately, her sacrifices affected me.

Although we are almost 60 years apart, one thing I fully understand about my grandmother is her cooking, Fujian or not. Over the decades, it has miraculously brought together four generations of sons and daughters.

Cheers to an even better year!