Best individually wrapped mini-thing

Asia is obsessed with putting snacks into individual wrapping.
This makes it very easy to store, to transport and share among people during meetings or for handing out to children.
The grandfather of individually wrapped mini-things is the Chocopie which is basically a Korean marshmallow pie. It has actually grown over the years in size. Tangibly so and noticeably from 110 calories to around 155.

Market O is a newish line from ORION that produces high-end mini-pies and things if they can ever be considered so. The Market 'O' real Brownie is a big hit. But I found there is an even yummier Market O thing called 다쿠이즈 미 (daquase?) Its a fluffy sammich meringue cake which is double fluffy as a result of the fluffy cake and the fluffy meringue. These taste best at room temp, as the fluffiness factor is impeded by refrigeration.

Stuffed Pretzels

I came across Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels in the freezer aisle of the Geagle (Giant Eagle) in Squirrel Hill. It's a short busride away from CMU campus.
"Chocolate Crumb" stuffed pretzel. My shopping buddy Christine decided to restrain herself but I went against my culturally instilled groupism tendencies and stood by the pretzel. I even put back some other junk to make junk space. And I think this was one of the best choices I've ever made in my life.


Chocolate is the best bet because it's chocolate. But there are a lot of different kinds including savory varieties. To name a few:
Sourdough Asiago
Apple Cinnamon
Mixed Berry Cobbler
Cheesecake
Bavarian
Cream Cheese and Herb
Grilled Cheese
Cheddar Jalapeno
Pizza
Omelette
Spinach and Feta
They're not as big as the average soft pretzel so you can stop freaking out. If you have asian girl hands like mine, you can say the pretzel is a palm and a half in diameter.
You zap it in the microwave for about a minute and it becomes this soft, gooey thing you get to break up and consume slowly. But not too slow because it'll cool down. Plus finger licking.
The trick is though, to heat it up for just the right amount of time so that it becomes just hot enough but not overheated and tough. This a matter of whether to microwave it 55 seconds or 58.
Perfect for a college student with lazy mornings.
I often wake up and compulsively eat random things I don't really like and end up feeling unsatisfied to the ex-treme. "Should have showered and gotten that coconut chocolate cake donut at Entropy." That kind of thing.
Anyway. This is good. You're stupid if you pass it up.

Pineapples

鳳梨 are really delicious, really common, and really various in Taiwan




金鑽鳳梨
Roughly translates to Golden Diamond Pineapple, which is a much bolder yellow/orange that is somewhat transparent and reflects light along its facets--like diamonds! The taste is in perfect accordance with its looks; still a pineapple, but more daring and sharp.

牛奶鳳梨
Milk Pineapple, which is grown under generous nursing of the cow teets (teehee). It's not fair to give the taste away after I waited two months for this to be in season. Plus, I can't think of anything witty to say...so you just go try it if you're in Taiwan.

牛奶芭樂
They also have Milk Guava

Best instant noodle

Wei Lih Men

This is the most humble looking 速食麵 you will find. You can tell that it's an old-schooler and that it's good enough to have lasted this long and still is competing with the newage instant nooldes that are getting more and more creative (I found one that comes with a packet of alcohol inside). It's a dry 炸醬麵 (zhajiangmian) that comes with two styrofoam bowls; one for the noodles and one to hold the 湯 which some people still save to drink while eating their 麵.

I'm not a fan of drinking oily ramen water so I passed on that.

But that is besides the point.

Durian milk

For all the people who love durian but can't stand the smell. You might try durian milk as an alternative because there is no smell to it. I am assuming that somewhere between the milking and the pureeing the smell dissipated and didn't come back. And if you don't like durian at all you still might want to visit this fruit store because they sell cute bottles of freshly made watermelon juice, hemp berry juice, mango milk, avocado milk, and like things.

"King of fruits"

a.k.a. "fruit that tastes like pure fat" ^^



Address

永康街, past Yogurt Me

The 3am Potato Chip

Omagawww
I can has another?

Ba Jiao

The plantain (芭蕉) in Taiwan wields ephiphanic qualities to me and like creatures. Plantains common in the states are large, green and tough. They go largely unappreciated because most Americans don't know what to do with them and will often move on after stopping to cop a feel. I know only one way to eat these plantains and that is how my mom does them. In her kitchen the plantains are thickly sliced and lightly fried until golden on both sides. They are generously salted to taste while still in the pan. She then let's them "cool" (will-burn-you-->still-pretty-darn-hot) before smashing them into cm-thick disks with the side of a knife just as she learned to do in Dominican Republic (a.k.a. my birthplace).
Hot. Damn. Delicious.


nearest depiction [not my photo]


But it looks nothing like this.

Apparently I have heretofore been missing out on the other plantain. These are shorter, thicker, and denser than their sister fruit, the banana. There is a chewing gum-like elasticity to its bite that makes you want to make that annoying smacking sound with ur mouth+mouth contents. But that doesn't work, sorry.


Cut to abrupt conclusion:
Not hot but still Damn Delicious.