This is a continuation quest for a reader, Michelle who wrote to me to find restaurants which serve Shaobing. I contacted a few of my Taiwanese friends and two of them recommended me to this place which sells traditional Taiwanese Shaobing. So, I made it a point to check out this place during my ladies meet day with Polly.
My Taiwanese friend, Emily told me that Shaobing stuffed with Chinese donut is a very typical breakfast item.
The place that my friends recommended is located on the second floor of President Plaza in Richmond, next to T&T Supermarket and across Aberdeen Center.
It is a stall at a small foodcourt. The stall name is Yung Ho Soy Drink. Apparently, this name is quite famous in Taiwan.
Yung Ho Soy Drink serves various types of shaobing, sweet and savory. Click on the images above to have a clearer view.
Without a doubt, I wanted to try …the Shaobing stuffed with Chinese donut.
The Shaobing in Yung Ho is different from those served in Peaceful Restaurant which is more like bread.
The Shaobing here is thin and flaky. The texture is almost like roti canai, a Malaysian style pancake.
I learned from Polly that there is two versions of Chinese donut, the Hong Kong style and Taiwanese style. You can find both of them in Osaka Supermarket in Yaohan. The Hongkong style is more doughy and chewy while the Taiwanese style is more light and crispy. Those that you find in congee place are usually Hong Kong style Chinese donut.
Other than the plain Shaobing stuffed with Chinese donut, we also tried a sweet version. There are two choices which are sugar with sesame seed and red bean paste. We tried the one with sugar and sesame seed. This one resembles the Wife Cookies (Lo Poh Paeng).
We actually got a combo where we can have a plain Shaobing stuffed with Chinese donut and a choice of sweet or savory Shaobing. The combo also comes with a soy milk drink and it’s only $5.50.
Besides the combo, we also ordered one of their savory Shaobing which is stuffed with beef. This is slightly spicy. This costs $2.50.
I enjoyed this kind of traditional hawker style food. If you know of any restaurants which serves Shaobing, please drop us a comment so that Michelle will be able to enjoy it when she comes to Vancouver for the Olympic.
Yum, I will have to go try this place since I’ve never been exposed to shao bing!
I’ve tried the HK style chinese donuts from Osaka and BOTH times I was disappointed. Good ones are crispy on the outside (when fresh) and soft on the inside like moist fresh bread. I actually don’t mind if it has lost the crispy shell as long as the inside is still soft.
But the ones from Osaka tasted like dry cardboard. Absolutely tasted stale. I bought them at 5pm, but really they should be still edible within a day, right?
The taiwanese version was better, but more hollow and very crispy. A bit greasy for me though. If something is deep fried at the wrong temperature (usually too low), then the dough will absorb excess grease.
Went there for lunch today after reading this post. I ordered the same combo as what you had. It was a good lunch. I like dunking the Chinese donut in the soy milk. Yum..
Thanks for this post, Ricky loves TW Shaobing, so we will definitely check it out.
Jonnek: I have the same habit, I dunk my Chinese donut in soy milk too 🙂
Hi Suanne,
how are you?
guess who? yes, your stalker….MIchelle.
I’m glad you liked it, I think I beat you to it and have been there a few times already with a food critic of my own – mum.
I have a few places to recommend in terms of Taiwanese cuisine but none like those of Pearl Castle, Well Tea etc… but the real taiwanese eats! After all, if you have been to taiwan, you know that all the locals go to the night markets for quick eats that taste better than 5 star restaurants.
I feel honoured to be mentioned on your blog! 🙂 Thanks
Dang ….. Note to self: never go to Chowtimes.com while hungry just before dinner time !!!
Shaobing Yuo Tiao …… one of the simple pleasures of life. Add a big bowl of hot soy milk (for dipping).
Many places in town have shaobing + yuo tiao.
Whenever my mom goes to Taiwan, she’ll go to the market near my grandmas house and order a whole bunch the day she leaves. Then she goes back home, wraps them all up in paper towels (after they’ve cooled) and pack them in bags. When she arrives back home, she puts them all in the freezer so whenever we wnat to have one, we just pop it in the oven for a bit and bam, TW shao bing!
Ah…..
Some of my best memories of Taipei were going to the local northern restaurant (more like a very casual roadside noodle stall) on Saturday mornings with my parents. Fresh hot shaobing, yuo tiao that’s foot and a half long, soybean milk, plain millet “congee” with many small side dishes, radish cakes (luo bu si bing) etc. would be up for grabs. All for probably just a few bucks Cdn.
Something that I sorely miss is Yang Chun Mian (阳春面), aka plain noodles.
It can be had basically anywhere….so simple but so satisfying!
http://joanchew_1911.blogspot.com/2009/05/yang-chun-mian-chinese-noodles-are.html
We seem to be hijacking this thread to Taiwanese cuisine.
I really miss:
Stinky Tofu (Cho Dofu)
http://plateofwander.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/z_dinner-chou-doufu.jpg
Meat Sauce on Rice (Ro Chao Fan)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2013/1747208317_ffbcf0c2d3.jpg
Oyster Omelette (Oh Ah Jian) …. only best with that sweet ketchup
http://http.cdnlayer.com/smoola/00/00/4f/3638049df14724b8_m.jpg
It really is quite sad that we can’t get truly stinky tofu here anymore…I miss the place in Richmond that used to sell it and you could take it upstairs to eat. Bah!
I have visited this place in the past and while its good, I still don’t think it can compare to southern Chinese shaobing from Shanghai (Jiejiang province). It is not fried, instead it is baked in a ‘kiln’ like Indian naan and they wrap it around you tiao. It has a slightly salty green onion filling. I wonder if this exists in GVRD?
No proper Shaobing should be pan-fried. It’s simply not authentic if done that way.
Agree with Elizabeth. SB’s are done in a kiln, like naans, brickoven pizzas, etc.
I just googled more on SB and it seems KFC in China will start serving them during breakfast period ! I can just imagine putting some nice crispy chicken fingers between a hot fresh SB …. mmmmmm.
Guess what ? I went to Yung Ho today for lunch, after an impromptu trip to Richmond. I momentarily forgot where Ben said it is, until I made the connection to T&T. I didn’t even know there’s a food court in the President Plaza.
I ordered the shaobing with you tiao and soy milk combo, added a shaobing stuffed with beef, and another stuffed with red bean paste. You know, I was going for um, variety.
To be honest, neither of the three shaobings impressed me. They lacked “body” and flakiness, and I found them flat and dry, if not simply un-substantial. And no sesame seeds on top 🙁 The you tiao was greasier than I expected.
So total outlay was around $11. The food wasn’t bad, but simply did not shine.
But customers slupring on big heaping bowls of hot noodles from adjacent stalls did get my attention, though. Maybe I need to do a second trip.
Ning Tu on Kingsway near Victoria Dr. has shaobing. I like the version they serve with the ground pork mixture that you stuff inside the shaobing yourself. My grandma would always stuff it with the you tiao, which they also have as well. I would also recommend their Ning Tu fried rice cake dish (nien goh). I wouldn’t recommend their XLB, however. Ning Tu is a shanghainese restaurant.
Try Shanghai River on Westminster Ave(?) in Richmond. It has homemade shaobing with meat inside. IT’s really good and i just keep thinking about it!!! Mind you, i haven’t had it anywhere else so I cannot compare.
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Lucky Gate in Coquitlam has very good shaobing as well. Northern Chinese style, so you can add one more type to the HK and TW styles. In fact, Ning Tu is probably more Northern Chinese than Cantonese or TW
Lucky Gate also has a pastry that is circular. I don’t know the exact pinyin romanization but it sounds like zhua bing.
Worth checking out if you’re ever out east.
My family ALWAYS go to Ning Tu on Kingsway for shaobing, Chinese donuts, and hot soy milk. Our favorite is shaobing with marinated beef and pickled veggies. So tasty!
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