Oyster Noodle Soup
16 April 2010 - Vicky LaiThis is the final story of Vicky’s series on Taipei.
I’ve never really understood the point of aphrodisiacs. Oysters are included in this group of food items that allegedly stimulate sexual desire. Sure, there are certain foods that really do suggest a bit of romance more than others – strawberries or chocolate, for example. Perhaps a healthy quantity of champagne would do the trick. Call me a skeptic, but oysters actually seem to counteract amorous urges. In eating one raw, the eater has to noisily slurp the grey, squishy body of a bivalve mollusc, fingers smelling of sea and mollusc juice.
At any rate, Taiwan, being an island nation, is blessed with plentiful and cheap seafood. Oysters are found everywhere in Taiwanese cooking, especially in oyster pancakes and oyster vermicelli.
Oyster vermicelli may be a surprise to the newly initiated. Found in many a street stall in the evening, it is known by the Taiwanese phrase oh-ah misua. Short, light brown noodles swim in a bowl of thick, very flavourful soup. The bowl is then topped off with a few oysters and some cilantro, with vinegar available for the eater to add to taste. It’s very rich and very tasty, and will only put you back around US$2 or US$3 for a meal’s worth of noodles and oysters.
Chopped intestines are often offered as an addition to oyster vermicelli – it is at this point that I start to doubt that oysters are seen as an aphrodisiac in Taiwan. Even if they were filled with wonderful love potions conjured up by Snape himself, I doubt that anyone could pull off a romantic coup based on a meal of intestine-and-oyster soup.
But that’s of minor consequence. Oyster vermicelli is hearty, satisfying, and cheap to boot. A store specializing in the stuff can be found on Nanjing West Road – part of a larger trend in Taiwan that finds very popular or famous street stalls moving into smaller, more permanent store fronts. Owners can charge higher prices and handle higher turnover. Clients have more places to sit, and can enjoy a nice air-conditioned or electric-fanned environment. The street-stall feel is preserved, as much of the preparation is done at the front of the store behind a glass screen. This shift also preserves the other nice part about eating street food: interaction with the friendly local noodle vendor. This particular vendor draws good business on a Saturday night, and Mr. Donut, a convenient dessert option, is right down the street.
The oysters here are plump and tasty. The chopped intestines are pleasantly chewy and savoury, adding a meaty flavour to the bowl without overpowering it, almost like a fish cake. In comparison, heading to the oyster bars in Manhattan may be an overpriced game plan – they should send over Wan Hua Chen Ji instead. When eating here, intestines and all, at least your hands stay clean while emptying the bowl.
Wan Hua Chen Ji, zuan ye oh-ah-mi-sua
41 Nanjing West Road (Near Zhongshan subway station)
Zhong Zheng District, Taipei
2556-1188
