Last Thursday, Greg took Beth, Natalie, and myself out to eat at Fang’s Restaurant. The kids and I had been treated to a meal there, courtesy of our realtors, when looking for apartments when we first arrived in Taiwan. The goal this time was to treat our culinary arts student, Beth, to a nice, authentic Chinese meal.
Our meal included steamed kale and Chinese peppers with preserved pork, shrimp and pork dumplings, black mushrooms cooked with cabbage and onions, sweet and sour pork, grilled shrimp with a vinaigrette, Chinese noodles in chicken broth. There was a steady supply of a pleasing warm tea. Dessert was a light, tapioca like, sweet bean soup. This was just a sampling of the dishes on the menu.
We all ate with chop sticks, occasionally aided by the soup spoons. The ‘dinner’ plates are about the size of a teacup saucer, so only a very small amount fits at a time. Thus, serving plates were continually being passed and no one is very sure how much they ate.
When we were leaving, we noticed that the dumpling preparation room can be viewed from the sidewalk of the wide metropolitan street. One whole wall of the room is a huge picture window. Two cooks were in there skillfully and quickly making dumplings. It was mesmerizing to watch.
In this frame, the cook is filling and pinching the dumplings. Off to the right in this photo, the restaurant dining room can be glimpsed. The top photo is a view of the baskets the dumplings are put in to be steamed.
I would highly recommend this restaurant. We already have plans to go there again in 2 weeks. Meanwhile, I will be shopping for a bamboo steamer, as well as considering other famous dumpling shops.
