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#CatTravels: From minced pork to snake sperm

By Catherine Toth Fox • July 14, 2013 • #CatTravels, Food

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Typhoon Soulik came and went.

And so did we.

It didn’t take long — oh, about a few hours — to dismiss the warnings about the typhoon, which hit Taipei on Friday and through the night, to hit the pavement on Saturday morning in search of Taiwan delights.

Hey, we came all this way!

On our to-do list: a little bit of shopping, meeting up with our friend Sara Lin, trying more Taiwanese specialities like rice-flour noodles and minced pork with rice, and finding a vendor in Snake Alley that served snake blood or bile or anything else equally disgusting. (For Melissa, not me.)

It didn’t take us long to do all of that — and then some!

Here’s what Saturday, the day after the typhoon, looked like:

Morning after the typhoon

Morning after the typhoon
Image 1 of 54

We got up bright and early and hit the streets of Taipei, mostly to survey the damage from Typhoon Soulik. Downed trees, lots of debris, but that's about it.

Follow my adventures in Taipei on Twitter @thedailydish and on Instagram @catherinetoth. Special thanks to Hawaiian Airlines for allowing me to be part of this special inaugural flight.

Ay-Chung Flour- Rice NoodleCatTravelsHuaxi Street Night MarketJin FongLongshan Templemelissa changminced porkNanmen MarketNational Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hallpineapple cakeSara LinSnake Alleysnake kidney juicesnake soupsnake spermsnake venomSunny HillsTaipeiTaiwanTaiwan BeerTiger KangTyphoon SoulikXimending
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#CatTravels: Tea and tiramisu before the typhoon
#CatTravels: Soy milk breakfast to seafood dinner

About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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11 Comments

  • Reply David Jackson July 14, 2013 at 3:48 am

    A lot of good memories for sure. In Guangzhou there is a restaurant that still slits the snake’s throat. As the honored guest you get to down a mixture of Maotai and the blood. It is a potent taste but not undrinkable. Keep in mind though that Maotai is undrinkable so the blood must make it better. Don’t think I’d drink the blood without the Maotai because I figure alcohol kills any nastiness.

    This is a great trip, full of adventure. Can’t wait to see the Palace Museum pics. Seeing Chiang Kai Shek’s mausoleum reminded me of how cave-like the interior of the place is… can still remember the car.

    Thanks for sharing your ‘vertical leap’ as it was very entertaining!

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 14, 2013 at 1:42 pm

      We did do the museum but couldn’t take any photos. So hard to blog about it. We only spent about two hours there with a guide who took us on a whirlwind — or typhoon — tour of the museum’s highlights. Just bummed I didn’t get to see the jade cabbage…

  • Reply M July 14, 2013 at 6:26 am

    Hello Cat!

    Enjoying your adventures and fuud pixs!

    • Reply Catherine Toth July 14, 2013 at 1:40 pm

      I’m telling you, Taipei should be next on your list!

      • Reply M July 14, 2013 at 6:10 pm

        Cat, it is on my next travel destination!

  • Reply Dennis July 14, 2013 at 8:42 am

    Glad you made it through the storm. Great pictures!

  • Reply Annoddah_Dave July 14, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    CAT: The only topper would be if Delicate Blossom came back pregnant with a snake child!! LOL The video was a gas!

  • Reply Eric July 14, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    Great series on Taiwan. Love da fuud pictures!

    Regarding the snakes….in japan they used to flay live unagi on a spike before grilling it for kabayaki. Must have been over 40 years ago that I saw that.

    Do they sell that Pineapple Cake anywhere in Hawaii? Even a version with preservatives looks like it’d be worth a try.

  • Reply turkfontaine July 15, 2013 at 2:49 am

    watched em all. soup dumplings, i think, would be a hit in restaurants in Honolulu and CA. food that is fun and difficult to negotiate makes for an interesting dinner with friends.

  • Reply pam July 15, 2013 at 10:14 pm

    Melissa Chang is a brave, BRAVE woman…thank you for allowing us to see Taiwan through your eyes.

  • Reply Melissa July 21, 2013 at 5:43 pm

    FYI, guys, I drink fritillary syrup from China when I have a cough, which is a mix of almond flavor, snake bile, and snake semen. This was like drinking a deconstructed version of my cough remedy, without the almond flavor.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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