Chou's Shrimp Rolls, Tainan, Taiwan

During my last trip to Taiwan, I took about 2,000 photos. My friends said I was crazy but they now appreciate it because these photos which seized our good memories together are helping us get through the year (studies with no traveling)!

Towards the end of my Taiwan trip, we spent an afternoon in Tainan where a good friend of mine brought us to Chou's Shrimp Rolls. This place is apparently famous among the locals and many artistes and musicians dine there - but probably at the Taipei outlet instead. 

Chou Shrimp Rolls is a restaurant with much similarities to that of a fast-food chain-store  You walk up to the counters and order whatever you want and bring it back to your table. That being said, the environment in the Tainan outlet was really chill and spacious. It's not as squashed or hectic as any fast-food store. At the side, they provide self-serve red or green tea (hot or cold). 

They serve iconic native food such as braised pork rice (lu rou fan), pork rib noodle soup and many deep-fried goodness!

ＹＥＳ，　ＤＥＦＩＮＩＴＥＬＹ　Ａ　ＦＥＡＳＴ！

永和豆浆大王 (Yong He District, Soy Milk and Chinese Crispy Crullers, Taipei)

Ze all-time famous Taiwanese breakfast - 豆浆油條 (soy milk and crisp chinese crullers)!

The BEST thing about travelling around Asia is waking up to amazing amazing AMAZING variety of breakfast every morning! I'm personally not a fan of bread (although I do love pastries and poached eggs) so having a small bowl of soup with some rice or noodles are my fav!

When I was in Taiwan, I came across 永和豆浆大王 while exploring the city. It has one of the BEST 豆浆 (soy milk) - I've tasted plenty of soy milk this trip (Malaysia, Singapore, Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung...) and 永和豆浆油条大王 definitely trumps the rest with its fresh, silky soy milk. Because of the cold weather that day, I tried the hot soy milk which was equally as good as the cold - no curdles and so ever silky! The 油條 (crisp chinese crullers) were not too bad, but I found they a tad bit oilier than the others I've tried. But on a general level, they tasted really nice. One thing I've noticed is 油條 tastes different in different countries! Malaysian 油條s are generally more crispy and if anything, a little bigger, in Australia (you can find them in Richmond), they're just generally not too good because they're soaked in oil, tough and tasteless and HK's 油條 is one of the best, on par with Taiwan's  - crispy yet not oily!

Anyway, 永和豆浆大王 sells all kinds of breakfast goodies - sweet, salty pastries, stuffed with red bean, green beans, munk beans, hot steamed buns and snacks for people on the roads, all very affordable (pricing between TWD 30-60) 

If only I wake up to breakfasts like these every morning....... ahhh bliss....