Red Persimmon Taiwanese Cuisine

A lamb skewer and half of a lamb sandwich later (from Want Want), I ordered myself a small satay squid stew from The Red Persimmons. This place has some very traditional Taiwanese food items. The food pictures on the walls look edible so I went ahead and put in my order.
It’s a challenge to find authentic Taiwaneese food in Vancouver because the cuisine requires specific ingredients and precise ratio (seasoning). If any of the factors is off, your food is done. You can’t amend or salvage it. Satay squid stew is no exception.
In Taiwan, this street snack is often eaten with noodle or vermicelli. The soup base must be made from some sort of stock (it just wouldn’t taste right if you substitute broth with plain water). You’ll typically see shredded carrots, shredded black fungus, shredded bamboo shoots swimming in stew thickened by corn starch. The squid pieces should be slightly crunchy. The whole dish should be served with some black vinegar, chopped cilantro, and grinded white pepper. Julienne ginger is optional.
When I saw my order I was surprised to see how little the essential ingredients were. The shredded carrots, bamboo shoots were limited and there was no shredded black fungus. I suppressed my initial impression of my order and took a spoonful of the soup. I was wowed. It’s pretty darn close to the ones I had in Taiwan. I am so glad they didn’t cheat the stock by using water because the soup base was not bad. I then took a bite of the squid and it was slightly crunchy. The soup came with black vinegar, cilantro, and white pepper. The flavor of the dish came out right and balance. Overall I give it ⁸⁄₁₀.

Another good food joint located in the Crystal Mall food court. This is actually one of the first places that made me love coming to this food court to devour food of my liking. As you know, if you have come to this food court, the prices are cheap, and the food, top notch, this place included.
The stall is located near the washrooms in the food court, and they have a good selection of things on the menu, which include some very traditional Taiwanese snacks. The one thing I absolutely love here is the pork sauce on rice, and it comes in two sizes. I would sometimes order this and take it home to gobble up.
They also have flatbreads and noodles here to name the few. This is a family run business, and during every year they sometimes just close business for a month, or sometimes even two, to go back to visit family in Taiwan. Just a note, they just came back, so you can get your grub on!

Prior to my trip to Taipei, this was my first experience eating cheap Taiwanese food. It was a good start and my experience was marred by the fact I could not distinctively figure out the difference between this and actual Chinese food. Apparently the regional preparation is different and through its variety of soups, noodles, and little treats, the large Taiwanese community in Burnaby tend to migrate to this small joint.
The prices are very inexpensive and the service is pretty good. With a few round tables to accommodate 20 people max, this place is also one that can get cramped quickly and can result in a long wait to be seated.
The food that I was able to sample was decent but unmemorable. My dish, the Taipei Ben Mian was loosely translated as «Taipei Stupid Noodle» in the menu. I suppose I would recommend this dish, but I think that might be a little stupid.