I was in Taipei for the holidays, and each day before driving to my grandparents’ apartment we would eat or pick up breakfast at a soy milk place.
Typical dishes served at a place like this include: bowl of hot sweet soy milk (熱豆漿) or “salty” soy milk (鹹豆漿), bowl of rice milk (米漿), scallion pancakes (蔥油餅, with or without a fried egg), taiwanese sesame bread (“sao bing,” 燒餅: typical to add a fried breadstick “you tiao”, 油條, in the middle), sweet buns, and sticky rice rolls with either salty or sweet fillings.
Prices are low: conversion for New Taiwanese dollars is about 30 NT = 1 USD.
I like to have the salty soy milk soup (25 NT), since it’s not as easy to come by in North America as the sweet version is. Some (black?) vinegar is used to curdle the soy milk, then some sesame oil, chili oil and scallions are added. Finally, as shown here you can throw in some you-tiao…
Here’s a shot of the lady preparing a sticky-rice roll for my aunt: the sticky rice is in that big wooden bucket, with the various fillings & sauces next to it. Sweet ones are often filled with a sugar & peanut blend, while the salty ones have pork floss & peanuts & possibly you-tiao. All depends on the place you get it from (I had one from another vendor that included firm tofu curd and pickled vegetables). yum!
