Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day! It's Mark Wiens I'm in Taipei Taiwan and this is a fantastic City If you love to eat today, the plan is we're gonna go to two main restaurants that specialize in a different type of soup. The first place we're going to is this legendary restaurant that makes 40 ceramic pots of chicken soup using a whole chicken and the secret special recipe over all burners all at the same time. It's really an impressive site and then after that we're gonna go to a special Hot Pot restaurant which is again a special iconic sea dish. Oh, it's really going to be some delicious especially focused on soup and some really legendary iconic restaurants and foods.

And I'm going to share all of the Taiwanese food with you. You're not going to want to miss any of it coming up right now in this video. Thanks! The restaurant number one that we're going to today is located on a really nice Shady tree-lined Boulevard and it's called Ji Yuan It's a legendary restaurant they actually serve Taiwanese Sichuan food. kind of a fusion between the two.

It is an old school restaurant. They are extremely famous for their legendary iconic chicken soup, but this is going to be a chicken soup like no other. This is the restaurant We have arrived this window here greeting you. There must be like 50 pots going all at once.

That is the legendary chicken soup. Through the small cracks you can actually smell the aroma of that chicken soup. Oh it's gonna be so good. That's what we came to eat.

This is such an impressive display of chicken. you can feel that steam. but this is the beginning process. They're about to make another batch.

38 to 40 pots all going at once. It's like racks of chickens. It's an entire flock of chickens just all laid out in their pots. for the soup.

Incredible. That's an incredible amount of heat that's coming from 38 chicken soups going right now. They boil for over 10 hours I Believe there's chicken. there's Chinese ham.

there's Pig Trotters I Believe that might bring out the collagen and make it milky as well as the chicken. and then also dry scallops in the recipe as well to make the dish more complex in that flavor. A whole flock of chickens each in their individual ceramic bowls. And here's the stock over here.

More meat Parts in there, boiling away and that's gonna. They're just gonna be feeding that stock into the chicken ceramic pots. These are the the batch that's going to be served for lunch and they're all reserved. You got to make a reservation, the kitchen is upstairs and then you come downstairs to the basement where the dining room is.

Had to reserve a table here because this place is very popular. All the chicken soups are like fully reserved but we got a table here. The menu is fantastic. Here we go all the variations of the the chicken soup and you can get it with different additions that come on the inside of your kind of like a hot pot, almost of that chicken soup, that clay ceramic pot.

We're gonna go for the original which includes the whole chicken, all of that milky broth. and then they also have other side dishes as well dumplings, some stir-fried dishes, and the Kung Pao chicken is also a famous dish here that we have to try. This restaurant has been here for almost 40 years and you can just feel that nothing much has changed since it opened and it legendary restaurant uh it was featured in The Michelin Guide. You can just feel that it's also has a lot of loyal loyal fans loyal customers here as well.

Oh that's the the scallion pancake. all that comes to your table. It's extremely pulls off the lid. it's just bubbling lava hot right off those burners.

The whole chicken is submerged below there can Immediately as you lifted that lid that was like straight up the most chicken steam bath I've ever experienced in my life. The main part of that broth, This is a look at that collagen. Wow, that's some of the milkiest broth. It's so rich and thick and we've got an entire chicken, possibly a rooster in here.

You can see the quality of this chicken if you pick it up. it actually just look at that. It just falls apart. The legs literally just collapse and fall off the belly.

It's that tender. it's been boiling for 12 hours. Absolutely iconic dish. All the chicken is on there.

You can see how tender it is and they immediately just start serving up that broth. Wow, that's aromatic and you can see it's thick as well. Okay, no more talking though. We have to try that soup.

I Cannot wait to try it. It's unbelievably fragrant. Here we go. The first taste.

oh that's these scorchingly hot. Oh wow. Okay, that's a healing broth. Oh, it's so milky.

It's so creamy but non-dairy That's just the collagen. The richness of all those ingredients I mean all of the fat of the chicken has come out been released into that? Liquid Plus The ham plus the possible Trotters All the collagen has just come together in this harmony. Foreign. That's that's like the most chicken condensed flavor I Think you could possibly have I think I'm gonna grab it with the Chopsticks and you're gonna see how this thigh and Wing is just gonna literally lifts off.

Oh look at that. Oh oh that's the most tender falling apart tender chicken you've ever seen. Oh, you gotta get it to your mouth fast before it just collapses on you because it's okay. Oh, it's got all that bone just slid up.

Did you see that bone? It just totally just slid out and back into the pool. The pool. Oh wow, it's just like chicken that's just been absorbed into itself and then reboiled and then reabsorbed into itself until the flavor just magnifies. can actually feel the stickiness on your lips almost immediately instantaneously.

And the chicken actually has an incredible texture. Even though it boils for so long, it's not mushy at all. Could we call this the most chicken-y chicken dish ever? Wall And then don't forget to keep shipping that broth. Unbelievable how hot it stays.

Oh I Think that that collagen? Actually it. It settles on the top of your bowl and that keeps the heat. Within Oh man. it's almost impossible to pick up that chicken because it just collapses it just literally.

The bones are just completely clean. Oh, those are the pork bones in there too to make it even more rich and buttery and creamy that collagen the side dishes as well. This one is fried string beans, but a totally different version. I've never seen one like this before.

They're almost like dehydrated. Almost looks like, well, there are kind of like dehydrated, kind of leathery and texture. That's really good. That's a totally different kind of string bean experience.

And then another dish we got is the Kung Pao chicken. Nice chilies on here. nice gooey sauce and with that gooey sauce, you know it's going to be perfect with rice. Really good, a little bit sweet and a little bit sour.

and Dish has that kind of soy sauce glaze. and the dry chilies. And another one of their signature dishes is this kind of pancake, which you actually take some of the pork with green onions on the bottom and then you can put it into it and then just kind of wrap it up. Oh, that's really all.

The texture of that pancake is wonderful. kind of buttery, oily and Flaky and then the pork is a little bit sweet, kind of like a little bit sweet and sour. fat. I mean the food is all good, All great quality, but nothing compared to that chicken soup we need to refill.

Wow, you gotta. You gotta really remember that even though it's been 15 minutes since it came to our table and still scorching hot down there. Yeah, that litter of fat and collagen just seals it in. and then the clay ceramic pot just keeps it hot.

So When you say the word, usually when your soup is about halfway done, they'll whisk it off to the kitchen, they load it back up with the broth. They probably add in some more broth or some more liquid. Then they put in cabbage as well as tofu and the tofu is actually known to be frozen, but then when they boil it, it becomes more spongy and soft. It's like a whole new dish.

Now Oh here it comes. Oh cabbage and tofu. So this is round two. All right.

So now we have a like a completely new dish. Yeah and I guess it is a common thing to have the tofu Frozen to then that gives it a totally different texture and you can feel how wobbly it is and even almost kind of see the layers of the tofu. Wow. Again, don't be deceived into thinking that it's cooled down still flaming hot on fire.

Well, that tofu is incredible too. It really is spongy and it's really absorbed all that chicken broth. Yeah, so if you take that tofu, you can actually see all those those layers of it. Squeeze it.

you can just see how it just totally absorbs that broth. The Chinese cabbage I think the cathered judges a little bit of sweetness as well. What a meal And what a restaurant! Outstanding! But we have a little bit of time before the next place opens. Uh, which is going to be an evening restaurant which is going to be another version of a unique, a very unique style Taiwanese hot pot.

But we have a little bit of time so we're gonna stop for a place where they serve Taiwanese steamed and fried buns. Laughs! And this place is extremely popular. As they're making a fresh batch, people are just lining up and waiting for that that fresh batch of steamed buns. And we got here right at the right time.

Uncle's putting in a fresh batch right now. He cleans out that skillet, then he has all the dumplings already made and he's so fast. he just takes that entire tray of dumplings and just rapidly sets them into the hot pan griddle. Uh, just so like evenly spaced out and then he floods it out with water so those are going to steam and kind of boil all at the same time.

I'll wait probably 10 minutes or so until we see the next process where they kind of like sear the bottom of them to toast them on the bottom. It's all about timing. as soon as that water and liquid dries up and just enough so they don't burn, but just turn golden brown on the bottom and create that kind of thin crispy crust on the bottom. Yeah, four seconds and it was and it would just expertise.

This is. and that's a batch. Fresh. Oh oh, that feels oh, that's a dumpling.

Steam. Oh, and another batch of the other batch is ready. I Wasn't sure if we were gonna get in on this batch, but we got like the last few from this batch. served hot and fresh and the line just never ends and they just gotta keep on making more and more constantly.

But we got three different versions. These are so beautiful. Perfectly. Oh, it's kind of like fluffy and the way they make it is I Mean they just kind of put a little bit of oil at the bottom so that creates the crust, but then they really just kind of flood it out.

They flood out the whole pan until it steams and boils and then fries on the bottom. There's three different flavors. I'm not totally sure which one this is. Let's just bite it.

This one is the chives. oh chives and glass noodles that are so good it's still fluffy bread. It's like a Boucher but then you've got that crispy crushed on the bottom with the chives, which are so fragrant. Really tasty, really fresh and hot.

We got the next one. Perfect. Oh nice cabbage and carrots and glass noodles. So this one is also the vegetarian one.

It's not vegetarian, but it's vegetable. There's a little bit of shrimp in there to give it some flavor. The Cabbage actually remains quite nice and crisp. It doesn't overcook so it's still crisp in there.

And then we got one more. It's got to be the meat. All that texture. The Fluffy Bun the pork meatball on the inside I Think it's green onions chopped up in there because it's like delicious juicy minced pork.

Fatty and oily. And a little bit of soup in there as well. Fantastic, Awesome snack that was really tasty. You have to eat them when they're hot and fresh right out of the steamer.

That was a great afternoon snack before the next meal. This is the place right here on the corner. It's always busy on this really busy intersection here, but now we are on our way to the next place Oh you step into this restaurant and you can immediately smell the fumes of Ginger Oh that just awakens The Taste Buds And this place. We got here right as they're open.

Certainly they're not full yet but they said all the tables are reserved. it's going to be packed. pack very soon. These are all like different parcel.

Duck, some vegetables, some mushrooms, um duck meatballs. They are famous for their Ginger duck pot. It's a hot pot with Duck and Ginger. It's kind of a medicinal soup.

so this is a type of version of Taiwanese hot pot but a very specialized version. so we already had chicken. Now it's time for duck. In order to prepare the Ginger Duck pot, they actually have some of the cooked duck.

They put that into a pan, that yellow liquid is actually pure ginger juice and then some other sauces and some of the stock all goes in and then they boil it in the ceramic pot. they heat it up, they boil before they transfer it to your table. Okay okay so we're sitting down for a Taiwanese Ginger duck pot and so this is fully loaded. There's meatballs in here.

There is some of the the duck Parts in here too if someone duck bones and duck joints and some meat as well but then they also give you some on the side. It looks like more of the fresh ingredients are are on the side and you boil yourself like a hot pot and then there's some bean curd in here and that's all simmering over charcoal. I Love this place! Let's just try a little bit of that broth first to get the flavor. I Can oh that.

Ginger it smells so good with that. Ginger Oh man, you taste the ginger and then it has a sweetness and that sesame oil in there gives it an immediate kind of nuttiness as well. Well, that's kind of oily, but really flavorful. So everything is here is already fully cooked.

we can just start digging in and you can kind of serve yourself a bowl of this hot broth with the meatballs with the mushrooms with the Bean Curd in here. Oh yeah, duck bones and joints which you kind of carefully picked out. I'll try I'll try the duck first, but we also have some dipping sauces people. Wow, that duck almost tastes like red meat.

Whoa. So good. So like what do you call it when it kind of like is braised for so long that it turns tender but not mushy. That's what happened with this duck.

The ginger is absorbed into it and then there's a few dipping sauces that we can try as well for for dipping ingredients. In almost looks like a mustard, but it's a fermented soybean sauce. Wow, oh that's really good. It tastes like a like a sweet miso, almost an extra.

Dimension an extra saltiness. That's really good. Okay and then we got some of the chilies, chilies and just soy sauce. I think I Love the flavor, the aroma of the smoke as well and the charcoal.

Let's try the duck meatball for meatballs. Fantastic! Oh, it's really spongy and really should just absorb that Ginger broth. And then we got the Bean Curd as well. Foreign.

This is the vermicelli vermicelli. Oh a little bit of sesame oil and shallot oil fried shallots on it that's really fragrant with those fried shallots and really really tender as well. Oh man this is. This is also just fun.

I mean it's really casual. really kind of like a street food environment. like. Come here with a family and friends, big groups and just sit around the fire, sit around the charcoal with the hot pot stage.

I Think we're ready to add a special ingredient some of the rice wine into the boiling soup and usually they put the whole bottle. Oh that's gonna add a new dimension I Think let's go all in. Oh that smells so good. I mean I Thought it was the oils and the medicinal herbs that are the warming part, but this might be the secret warming part.

I Think we're almost ready to actually start cooking some of the side ingredients because we have a nice broth base. Now we're ready to start strips of ginger in here too! I'm gonna try that Ginger that Ginger is what's powering the whole pot. I Mean, along with that duck, Oh yeah, you can really taste that rice wine as well. Well, that's good.

That gives it a totally kind of different feel to it. kind of Mellows out the oil and then you've got that kind of Sweetness from the rice wine as well. Okay, so this is some of the duck heart they said to cook it in. Oh, these are beauties.

Really clean we can do because you don't want to overcook the duck heart. So you said to just put it in this spoon strainer and just kind of leave it for about two minutes or so. Yeah! I Think that's good. That heart could go for a little dip with some of the chili.

A little chili and maybe some of the soybean paste as well is so good. Oh, it's so tender and juicy. Ashley Wow, it doesn't even have an iron unit or anything. It's just really clean.

Not a bloody taste at all. You know you want to chase that with some of that hot broth too. Yeah, that's a combination right there. If you take some of the heart, then you chase with a little bit of that hot broth that's real.

Really, really good. that's really hot. These are rice cake with blood blood rice cakes. Let's add this in.

Let's add all of these in. I Mean some of these seasonal veggies? Throw that in. Um, and I think that vegetable is ready. Let's dig back in and grab some of the vegetable.

There's still more of that bean curd. A lot of goodies down here. Lots and lots of things. So flaming hot because that oil is like burning oil.

Hmm, that's really good in crisp and it just kind of like retains or what does it? do? it? You gotta know like some of that oil just sticks through that Loop especially on the right side. Well, I Really like it with the rice one. I Guess there's another dimension of flavor. What a meal.

The blood rice cubes should be done down there. Let's try one of these. There's rice held together by Blood I Think it's pork blood. Oh, that's a nice kind of gooey and sticky.

It feels like very glutinous. You don't really actually taste that much of the bug. it's kind of holding that Rice together in a little brownie shape. This is a really unique unlike any other.

Taiwanese Hot Pot Experience Combination of ingredients, flavor and even kind of the experience here. Really local. Really a cool place. now that we are wrapping up now that we finished with dinner, this place is packed and getting busier and busier.

Almost all the tables are full. It's really like a loud environment. I Love it! Absolutely a great part of Taiwanese culture. Hot Pot is always fun, but this is definitely a unique hot pot.

and I kind of turned into a chicken versus duck today. It's been another great day of food in Taipei And also don't miss this entire Taiwanese food series. There's going to be a few videos in this series. A lot of delicious Taiwanese Food and that's gonna wrap it up for this skirt today.

I Want to say a huge thank you for watching? Please remember to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below I'd love to hear from you if you're not already subscribed. Make sure you subscribe right now because there's going to be a lot more food videos that you are not going to want to miss. Thanks again for watching Good Knife from Taipei Taiwan and I will see you on the next video.

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