Wednesday, May 06, 2009

CLOSED! chinese/street eats: i strongly recommend YONG KANG KOU



a/o october 2010 CLOSED!

YONG KANG KOU
No. 1, Lane 6, Yong Kang St
(02) 2396-7532

$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs

Visit reviewed: 4/17/2009



Stinky, stinky tofu. When my friend JL was in town, he had a wishlist of stuff he wanted to eat- taro ice cream, stinky tofu, oyster vermicelli, taro dessert dumplings from Din Tai Fung. So we hit up Ximending one day for an eat-fest and the next day at Yong Kang Street or Yong Kang Jie.

Right across from Ice Monster, you'll spot the entrance for Yong Kang Kou (next to the Vietnamese restaurant) which looks like it's been around forever. To our surprise, we spotted stinky tofu there (when we were told that we'd probably have to hit up a night market to find it) so we decided to give it a try.



And good thing we did! The "chou dofu" (NT$45) which comes fried perfectly crispy, with a touch of superfine minced garlic and pickled cabbage. The stinky tofu here was quite dry, but in a good way, which made the skin much more crispy than those that are served a bit soggy.

I'd also recommend ordering the "shou gong nuo mi da chang" or handmade sticky rice stuffed in intestines (first picture at top of the post) so it's like a sticky rice sausage (NT$55 for small serving) and "da chang oh ah mian sien" or oyster vermicelli with intestine (NT$40). I'd recommend adding a bit of the chili sauce to the vermicelli to give it an extra needed layer of flavor.



SO GOOD! If I didn't already have some beef noodle soup from Yong Kang Beef Noodle, I would have eaten a lot more. Next time I want to try their "ba wan" or a glutinous hockey puck stuffed with diced meats and bamboo with a sweet sauce.



So maybe while you can multitask while you are waiting in line for Din Tai Fung around the corner or looking to eat Taiwanese snack foods without having time to go to the night market (or wanting to avoid the crowds), you should definitely make a trip to Yong Kang Kou. And they deliver! (with a minimum NT$400 order)


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3 comments:

kirbie said...

Mmmm..all my favorites. Though I've never had the "shou gong nuo mi da chang." It definitely sounds like something I would love. I'll have to look for it next time I visit.

joanh said...

yeah.. it was my first time having it too.. it was good, with the sticky rice having peanuts in it!

Max mickle said...

I made this yong kang beef noodle for dinner last night, and it was so good! Even my meat-loving friends liked it. i think i ll make it another holiday when my family with us. thank you for your shearing your post.

:)