Fu Hang Dou Jiang (Taipei, Taiwan)

Fu Hang Dou Jiang 阜杭豆漿
Hua Shan Market, 2F
No. 108, Zhongxiao E. Rd., Sec. 1
Taipei, Taiwan
Dining date: 2/8/14

I’ve only had Taiwanese-style breakfast a few times in Los Angeles. It’s a heavy carb-laden meal centered around various iterations of fried and baked dough with soymilk (presumably power-packed with enough calories to get through the day or, in our case, to lunch). It’s a unique meal and, from what I heard from multiple friends, a must-try while in town.

One of the most famous breakfast spots in Taipei is this one located in a very unassuming market food court. We first attempted to come here on a Friday and found this restaurant closed on the second floor of a very quiet market (we ended up going to another notable breakfast spot in the vicinity – Yong He Dou Jiang Da Wang). We came again on the next day; the scene was unmistakably different as we walked up the stairs from the train station.

An extraordinary line wrapped around the market covering a good part of two city blocks, then snaked its way up to the second floor food court. Bracing ourselves from the cold with a latte from the across-the-street Starbucks, we waited a full hour until it was our turn in line. Apparently, this was the place to be.

The end of the line featured a great glimpse of the food in various stages of preparation – always something I admire. Don’t look too long though; at the service counter, orders are taken and delivered very quickly in a very organized chaos.

sao bing youtiao (thin flatbread with Chinese doughnut and egg)

All wrapped up, there were both crispy and chewy textures in this doughy ‘sandwich.’ The egg added just that much more richness to each bite.

dan bing (thin flatbread with egg and scallions)

Layers of the thin dough and thin egg were balanced nicely and I liked the fresh bite of the scallions.

hou sao bing (thick flatbread)

Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, scallions provided the bulk of the flavor within each bite.

fan tuan (glutinous rice roll with Chinese doughnut, pork, preserved vegetables)

Sticky rice smothered a mixture of pork, vegetable and fried dough for some of the most savory bites of the morning. Great textures between the rice and Chinese doughnut youtiao.

dou jiang (salty soy milk soup)

The heartiest ‘soy milk’ I’ve ever had, it was a salty, savory soy soup with chunks of silky tofu, scallions and pieces of fried youtiao. It was delicious and soul-satisfying, with a myriad of textures.

warm soymilk and cold soymilk

The staple liquid in the Taiwanese breakfast diet, we got one hot and one cold. These were both sweetened and made for nice sips with our breakfast.

It was fun to get the complete breakfast experience in Taipei. The highlight for me was definitely the savory soy soup (seriously delicious), but the sao bing weren’t too shabby either.