For almost all of my posts I will double check everything by researching the topic online. There are quite a few topics I want to write about but I just don't feel like doing all the research necessary to double check all my facts. While there are other times when I'm very happy to take a picture because I am excited to research something I've always been curious about. Today is one of those latter days.
I mentioned before the one lone deli in all of Taiwan (that i know of, but trust me i've searched far and wide), but that place is not the king of sandwiches in Taiwan. The king of sandwiches in Taiwan are the Vietnamese restaurants around the city. Most of the restaurants have a sandwich called a Banh Mi (better believe I looked that up).
Basically it's a French bread sandwich with Veitnamese ingredients inside. It already has high points for being one of the very few places you can get pure french bread here. French bread for the most part is only popular here if it has something in it, usually something that has no business being affiliated with french bread. Inside is usually pork, but sometimes it's beef or chicken. It has cucumber, carrots, cilantro (most taiwanese don't like this), and wait for it....daikon. If you know what that is, you are a better person than I. In fact the whole reason i was excited to use this picture is because i wanted to make myself look up exactly what that other thing was in the sandwich as I never knew before.
On top of being a great sandwich, I also enjoy the steps it had to take to get here. The French introduced the bread to the Vietnamese, who added their own ingredients to make the sandwich, and then Vietnamese immigrants introduced it to Taiwan. It used to be just served in small Vietnamese owned places, but as it grew in popularity you will find many Taiwanese owned Vietnamese restaurants which will add their own unique spin to the sandwich. Some actually improve on it by using better quality meat, while others degrade it by leaving the bones in their meat.
Yep there seems to be a hobby of Taiwanese including the bones in western or foreign dishes they make which should not have bones. Perhaps it's a way of saying thank you to those foreigners who introduced their foods to Taiwan. Nothing says "thanks" like shattering somebody's teeth on a surprise bone.
