My first time eating TAIWAN'S delicious HAKKANESE food! 🇬🇧😋🇹🇼 ft. 田媽媽

This is your first time on camera, now I'm going to start. Yeah, I'm so nervous. Okay, hello everybody, welcome back to the channel. My name is Alan. This is My Life in Taiwan. And today we've got a special guest. This is... Emma! My good friend Emma is helping me with today's video because I've been invited by Tien Mama. Is that right? Yeah, Tien Mama. Tien Mama is a very interesting association that I'll get into more details later. But they invited me to make a video about some of their restaurants and I didn't want to just eat by myself. I think people are tired of just watching me by myself. So I invited Emma, my good friend, along to share some food, see some beautiful scenery, and just explore a little bit of Taiwan that maybe you've never seen before. We are in Dongshilintang. And we're going to check out the first of these Tien Mama restaurants and then we're going to head down more towards the city. So should we get inside and drink some coffee? Yeah, sure! Let's do it! Okay, so we are now inside... Emma, help me. And we've been joined by Tien Mama. I think it's not easy to start a restaurant. So to have the government help you and support you is like a really interesting thing that happens in Taiwan. I'm super happy to introduce it. So I think the next step is the most important part. Eating! I feel like we're sitting in the forest. This place is so beautiful. You can hear the insects in the trees, the wind is blowing through our hair. Oh my god, such a beautiful life, right? Yeah, it's special for you because you got drunk yesterday. That's a secret! Oh, it's crispy! It's so yummy! But you know, I used to live in Dongshu. Yeah, really? And I lived within Dongshu town and I never came out into the countryside of Dongshu. Really? I always stayed in the town. So it's really interesting for me to see the real Dongshu. So good! Wow! So Emma, what do you think? Scores out of 10? 8! 8 out of 10? Yeah, it's really good. How about you? Yeah, for me a solid 8 or 9 out of 10. Yeah? Just really wholesome, delicious food. But I've been watching you through the whole dinner. You've had your eyes on that slide. Yes! So should we go try it out? Yes! Okay, let's go on the slide. You don't want to ride? Going down is fun but coming up the stairs is too much effort. Lazy Alan! Lazy, super lazy. Okay, I think that's enough for here at Dongshu. Lin Chang. Lin Chang, thank you. Where's the next stop? Where are we going now? Wow, it's a Hackenese restaurant, right? Yes! Nice! Let's go eat some Hackenese food. Let's go! Okay, let's just take a jump out of that video for a second. We'll get back to me and Emma in a second because one thing I want to mention is, of course you've already noticed, this video is in association with Xie Ma Ma and as well as taking me for lunch and treating me to two delicious lunches last week, they also sent me some delicious Xie Ma Ma Pao Cai from another one of their locations. I think this place is known as Rongyi Jiankan Gongguo Fang. But a few moments ago, I did prepare my favourite way of eating kimchi and that is with some simple shui jiao, some simple dumplings and kimchi just to give them a bit of spice. So let me give you the taste test. Big mouthful. That is really good. The kimchi is just the right level of spice for me. Incredibly fresh. And actually the kimchi came out of the fridge and the hot dumplings with the cold kimchi is the perfect combination. Anyway, I'm going to finish my dumplings. Back to me and Emma at the next restaurant. Okay, Emma, where are we? Jin Can, Hakka-flavoured restaurant. That's super interesting. So we're going to eat Hackenese food in Tianzi. Yes. Not in Dongshu, which is actually the Hackenese town. Yes. Did you know that Dongshu was a Hackenese town? Yes. Yeah. And tell me, what are we going to eat here? We are going to eat zhen zhu bao. Zhen zhu bao? Yes. Zhen zhu na cha de zhen zhu? Yes. Okay, sounds interesting. And ke jia shui ban. Okay, ke jia shui ban. Yeah, and a really local and Hackenese soup. Okay, sounds interesting. I hope it's not too big because we did eat a lot in Dongshu. But let's get inside and try out some traditional Hackenese food. A little grass jelly. Oh, grass jelly tea. Yeah, I hope it's good. Wow, really interesting texture. I forgot to say, this restaurant, Xintan. Xintan. It's also a tian ma ma restaurant, right? Yeah. But as we said outside, this is a Hackenese restaurant. Yeah. Now, sometimes on my channel, I will introduce certain Taiwanese foods that I eat. I'll talk a little bit about them. But I have to be honest, I have absolutely no idea what is sitting in front of me. So is this a very traditional Hackenese food? Yes, ke jia shui ban. Wobbly. Look at that wobble. It's on my belly. Exactly. And what's it made from? Okay, that looks interesting. Should we give it a go? Yeah. Is the... Like... The strangest texture I've eaten. Yes. It's like a lu bu kao. So it's made from rice? Yeah. I like it. What about you? Is it good for you? Yes, I like it. Yeah. So let's move that out of the way. We'll finish that later. Yes. What's next? The next is a zhen zhu bao. Oh, zhen zhu bao. This also looks very wobbly. A little bit jelly-like. Oh, but it's hot. Yeah, it's hot. Okay, it looks like it should be like a dessert or cold. But it's hot. It's hot, yeah. And zhen zhu bao. What am I going to find inside? Is there some meat or something? Like bamboo. Really? Yes. Cheers? Cheers. Again, the outside texture is so strange to me. But the inside, the bamboo and there's a meat. Yeah, I feel like I'm a panda. I never ate bamboo before I came to Taiwan. We don't eat bamboo, so it's very strange for me. Okay, this one is good. I like this. I think I can finish this one. Me too. Absolutely delicious. Yeah. Definitely recommend people giving that a try. Yes. Oh my goodness, what a great meal. What two great meals we've had today. Yes. If there's a location nearby you that's run by Tian Ma Ma, then please go check it out. I'm sure you won't regret it. Whether it's Hakka food, Taiwanese food, Western food, whatever they're preparing. But I think it's time to say goodbye. Yes. Have you had fun on my channel? Yes. Were you nervous? Yes, a little bit. I think Emma did such a good job. She was a really good guide and explained and introduced the foods really well. So I'm sure I'll have you back on my channel in the future. So as for now, cheers. Cheers. Thanks for inviting me. Oh, it's a pleasure. You've been a star. As for now and as always, see you next time in My Life in Taiwan. Peace. Bye-bye.