September 2022 | The Thirsty Pig

Happy Mooncake eating festival day, Shanghai

Sep 11, 2022

Happy Mooncake eating festival day. 中秋節Also known as Mid Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are big and heavy to eat. Usually I can only eat a small portion of one, this year about 1/4. Today we decided to have pan fried dumplings - Sheng Jian Bao 生煎包 I call these the big brother to the more famous steak pork dumplings Xiao long bao XLB 小籠包. The Sheng Jian Bao are much larger, juicier, and have a thicker skin. When I lived in Shanghai there was a Sheng Jian Bao stall a few minutes away. Used to grab a few of these for breakfast on the weekends. In Shanghai, there was a famous chain called Little Yangs that featured Sheng Jian Baos, and they were really good. There are a few places in LA that have sheng Jian Bao, but I believe the best ones are from Kang Kang in temple city. If you have never tried it, I strongly recommend it. . . . .

Multi

Vege Paradise, unknown

Sep 9, 2022

Vegetarian meal at Vege Paradise.

Taiwanese

ACME Breakfast CLUB, Taipei

Sep 2, 2022

Breakfast from Pine & Crane. Taiwanese breakfast is one of my favorite meals. Similar to a western breakfast, it features hearty foods with eggs, rice, and fried pastries. Had the Chive and egg pocket. I don’t remember seeing this in Taiwan as a breakfast item. But I know it is popular in China, too. The thousand layer pancake with egg and chili sauce was surprisingly good. I expected a pan fried and thinner pancake with the egg, called a Dan Bing 蛋餅. I would assume they pre-make the thousand layer pancake, and the Dan bing requires fresh made pancakes. I believe this leans more toward a China version as well. Regardless, I did like it pre-sauced, even though it wasn’t what I expected. And lastly, my favorite Fan Tuan, basically a Taiwanese rice ball. This was the most Taiwanese item visually, taste, and texture. It had the pork floss, preserved veggies, and egg. But the egg, which they included, was a hard-boiled soy egg. I asked for a fried egg, like how it is done in Taiwan. But they said no substitutions. I remember when I was living in Taipei and almost every morning I’d get one of these fan tuans 飯糰 with a fried egg. Anyways. Would I return? Yes. I want to try the other things. Would I recommend this place? Maybe for a few select items. . . . . . .