hello! hi everyone, Wesley here. As you probably may have noticed, we are not doing any cooking at all today, because I've spent the last week about six thousand miles away from home in Taipei, Taiwan. So! I thought this might be a great time to kick off a brand new series that I've been hoping to do for some time now, dedicated to food travels and adventures of all kinds that have been inspirations to the recipes that we've been cooking for the last four years. Because...as you might have guessed, I didn't invent fried rice. or Mongolian Beef, y'all.
Taiwan in particular holds a special place my my heart not only because it is where my own family heritage traces back to, but also because its night market and food stall culture is the inspiration for the Woo Can Cook fried rice eatery where many of you all have found us here in Oakland. For those not familiar, Taipei and it's surrounding areas are world renown for the food stalls and night markets that serve up much of the most iconic food that comes from Taiwanese cuisine, all frequently unconventionally found on street corners, sidewalk stalls, and high visibility, open kitchen concepts that are not too dissimilar to what we do at Woo Can Cook. So, as you might imagine, one of my goals for our eight day trip here in Taipei was to explore every bit of food that I could possibly shove into my face.
In addition to this though, I thought it also might be a fun sidequest to bring along this mysterious photo of my grandpa that we found several decades ago (pictured here with ABSOLUTELY no explanation) standing next to the famous revolutionary military leader Chiang kai-shek. On a pretty major long shot, I found a few archive agencies here in Taipei that may be able to shed some light on this photo, and more importantly, how it is that i came to be Taiwanese. Because I've literally had this photo for my entire life, and have no idea what it is. Ok! So, let's get into it.
Homebase (Recipes, Livestream Schedule, Music, and More):
WooCanCook.com
Music: Woo Cooks Beats (lofi beats to cook to):
• Woo Cooks Beats | Best...
Instagram (pop-up schedule and beats):
/ woocancook
TikTok (short recipes):
/ woocancook
Woo Can Cook Fried Rice Pop Up (Sundays @ West Oakland Farmers Market): WooCanCook.com/eats
References:
Grand Hotel
www.grand-hotel.org/EN/offici...
Martyr's Memorial
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...
Din Tai Fung
dintaifungusa.com/
Kavalan Whisky
www.kavalanwhisky.com
Sisnan
eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo...
ATT 4 FUN Mall
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATT_4_FUN
Shilin Night Market
www.shilin-night-market.com/
Hot Star
hotstarus?...
Riufang Food Hall
newtaipei.travel/en/shop/deta...
Taiwan National Archives
www.archives.gov.tw/english/
Mikeller
www.mikkeller.com/
Master of Spicy Noodle
www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...
Popop Taipei Flea Market
www.travel.taipei/en/attracti...
Huaxi Nightmarket
www.travel.taipei/en/attracti...
Yuanfang Gua Bao
guide.michelin.com/us/en/taip...
ChiaTe Pineapple Cakes
www.chiate88.com.tw/
Palette Buffet
www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...
0:00 Hello Hi Everyone!
0:48 Day 5 (How I almost got arrested)
1:31 Day 5 (Breakfast at The Morning Bar)
1:52 Day 5 (Taipei 101)
2:16 Day 5 (Din Tai Fung)
3:30 Day 5 (Sisinan Village)
4:21 Day 5 (ATT4FUN Pokecenter and Arcade)
5:00 Day 5 (Shilin Nightmarket)
6:29 Day 6 (Abandoned Luxury Hotels)
6:48 Day 6 (Getting to Jiufen)
7:50 Day 6 (Riufang food hall)
8:31 Day 6 (Shifen waterfalls)
9:41 Day 6 (Shifen Old Street)
11:00 Day 6 (Jiufen Market)
12:01 Day 7 (Taiwan National Archives)
13:59 Day 7 (Dihua Mikeller Brewery)
14:27 Day 7 (Dihua Taipei Main Station)
15:15 Day 8 (Nangong Popop Taipei Fleamarket)
16:18 Day 8 (Huaxi Nightmarket Yuan Fang Gua Bao)
17:02 Day 8 (ChiaTe Pineapple Cakes)
17:40 Day 9 (Palette Buffet)
18:20 Day 9 (Taoyuen airport)
18:57 Thanks for watching!