September 26, 2010
San Bei - Artisan food, Taiwan style

A unique cooking style of Taiwan

You can’t help but love the food here . Its fresh, delicious and usually served with the utmost care from street vendors with red plastic stools to the very best five star hotels with interior design to match any other capitol city. Dishes from all over China proliferate and restaurants both Western and Asian to meet every mood and style are begging for your custom. As a food writer I go out on a limb to try and find the dish that is going epitomise a place I’ve stayed in and for Taiwan one of those for me will definitely be San Bei. Literally translated this means three cups which refers to the three cups of seasoning that form the glorious base to this aromatic dish. The protein element can be chicken, tofu, duck, fish, rabbit, frog or squid.

The three cups in use here are a combination in equal parts of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. These are seasoned with old ginger, whole cloves of garlic, black mushroom, chilli and fresh basil. All of these ingredients work together like an orchestra to create the final finale of the finished dish which is traditionally served red hot and sizzling to your table.

Intoxicating aroma

I had already been in Taipei for nearly two years when I went for dinner with friends to a spa resort in Shin Peitou which has al fresco dining (a rarity in a country where many diners favour indoor brightly lit air conditioned spaces). As there were some vegetarians in our party we ordered a couple of portions of san bei tofu. It arrived at our table in clay pots which we were warned by the waiter were extremely hot. The lids were removed and the most intoxicating aroma emerged from the serving dishes. They were still sizzling from the heat of the clay which, it emerged, are heated just prior to being filled from the original cooking vessel. The basil still bright green from its addition to the dish at the very last minute was wilting before our eyes. We eagerly helped ourselves and I tasted for the first time what to me is one of the most superb tofu dishes I have ever encountered. Now, at this particular venue the tofu used is enriched with egg which makes a difference as it imparts a creamy tone to the mouth-feel and texture of this sometimes uninspiring foodstuff and also an extremely attractive yellow color when cut. I have since sampled many versions of San Bei all of which have been slightly different and every bit as good.

A humble beginning

This dish originated at the start of the last century in the farming communities of Taiwan where it was set to cook and left over a low heat while the labourers were at work. It was also served as temple food around harvest time to celebrate the new crops and is considered because of the ingredients to be restorative to health . A very similar dish to San Bei chicken minus the chilli is given to women here observing “Zuo Yue Zi”, a one month period of rest and special diet after childbirth which helps the new mother replenish her body and strength for the task of motherhood. The liquids ( oil, soy sauce and rice wine) added, near the beginning of the cooking time will by the end have reduced to a golden caramelised coating, leaving an intense flavour in the finished dish. The ingredients stay the same in a classic San Bei dish apart from the protein element which is governed by personal preference, economics and availability. This dish is not one that appears in all Chinese restaurants in Taiwan especially if they specialise in the dishes of Mainland China. Taiwanese family restaurants and street cafes are likely to have a couple of San Bei dishes available but you may need to ask for a special order. The better the restaurant the more likely it is that they will use top quality ingredients and the resulting dish will be perfectly balanced, use a lower quality soy sauce an over salty flavour may result. Chefs who specialise in Taiwanese cuisine will make this on request depending on how busy the venue is on your visit. Some chefs wrongly I feel choose not to put this dish on the menu believing it to be old fashioned, and not of interest to visitors to Taiwan, this of course this is purely subjective and a misnomer that should be in my opinion overturned immediately!

To add weight to my research I asked Chef Tsang at the Ritz Landis superb Chinese restaurant Tsien Hsiang Lo to prepare a classic San Bei dish for me. He chose to make San Bei duck and while it cooked he told me about the ingredients.

There are some rules to follow he indicated when preparing certain dishes and this one is no exception. First of all selecting the right ingredients is of paramount importance as Chinese sesame oil for example comes in varying quality and in two different styles dark and light. Using light oil in this dish would not give the right colour and flavour and give a less authentic finish.

Three cups - the key ingredients

There are many sesame oils on the market but for this dish you need to use a black sesame oil which is made by crushing hulled and toasted white sesame seeds. Sesame oil is traditionally used in Chinese cooking for its flavour which is released from the seeds during toasting and as it has a low burning point its not that useful as a frying oil unless its mixed with other oils. Often drizzled on dishes just prior to serving it is in contrast used in San Bei dishes during the cooking of the dish as an important flavour component. Prized in traditional Chinese medicine for its warming qualities and part of the reason this dish is felt to be healthy for farm labourers.

Soy Sauce – a good quality naturally brewed soy sauce is a fundamental element of many Chinese dishes. Traditionally made by fermenting soy beans and roasted wheat for months before bottling for use. Quick fix methods are now employed, but the only way to replace the flavour gained by the lengthy fermentation process is to use hydrolized vegetable proteins which are high in natural monosodium glutamates (MSG) and artificial coloring. The Japanese who took the idea from the Chinese about a thousand years ago make two world renowned sauces Shoyu and Tamari which are both naturally brewed can be used in this dish. Tamari is produced without wheat and therefore good for those who are wheat intolerant. Avoiding inexpensive soy sauces and electing to choose a well know brand is advisable here . Light soy sauce is not suitable as it is too salty instead go for a dark soy sauce that will have a full flavour and contribute a red brown color to the finished dish. The rule in Chinese cookery is that light soy is used for dipping sauces and dark soy for cooking.

Rice wine – a crucial ingredient in Taiwanese cooking and perceived as an ingredient like Worcestershire sauce rather than a drink ( although some enjoy this as a beverage) especially in night market teppanyaki stalls where it’s used in copious amounts. Chef Tsang uses Mi jo tao wine as he says it imparts a most fragrant element to the dish than other grades of rice wine.
Basil- nine storey tower is the local name given to the heady aromatic variety of basil found in Taiwan. This is much stronger than the sweet basil found in Italy and prized in cooking throughout Europe. The basil here has a strong smell and flavour which people liken to clove or aniseed. It is an essential ingredient to San Bei cooking adding color and a distinctive flavour that is always going to shout Taipei at me ! Its curious name comes from the pale purple flower found which forms at the tip which can look a little like the swaying tower. I was surprised to learn that this flat leaf variety basil with its big flavour is fairly new and was only introduced to Taiwan in the 1960s. Easy to grow and an delicious addition to the cuisine, its popularity is evident and many local recipes like wok fried clams depend on it to pack a punch.

Dried Black mushrooms are readily available here and although fresh mushrooms are found easily many chefs prefer to use dried, and the flavour and texture of these, once re-hydrated, explains all. The process of drying intensifies the flavour compounds and texture so that when re-hydrated ( simply by pouring over boiling water and leaving for twenty minutes) they add a new rich dimension to any dish. Dried porcini mushrooms in Italian cuisine are prized in much the same way.

Old ginger – you can buy two types of fresh ginger root here; young or old. Young ginger is normally used finely grated with soy sauce and vinegar as a dipping sauce for dumplings but old ginger is used in cooked dishes. San Bei dishes are also unique as the ginger is sliced rather than grated for this dish, lengthways across the widest parts and left in whole pieces like potato chips.

Large red chillies, to add spiciness and color and a large handful of small peeled garlic cloves and the ingredients are assembled. No longer cooked for the whole day but taking far longer than the average restaurant dish be prepared for a short wait for your meal. Chef Tsang’s chose to prepare San Bei duck for me but says that chicken is the most popular version of this dish. Cooked for forty minutes the meat was tender and the sauce rich and dark from the duck gravy mixing with the three cups. It was a dish to remember cooked by one of the most talented and creative Chinese chefs I have encountered so far in Taipei. The dish had the perfect balance of these
classic Asian ingredients and it was one that I shall definitely try to replicate at home!

Order a San Bei dish and you cannot fail to become a fan of this classical Taiwanese cooking style which is long overdue for a huge revival. There are many foods I have yet to try in Taiwan and some I know I’ll only ever try a couple of times but for me San Bei will always have a green light.

Shirlee Posner is a freelance food writer who has lived in Taipei for three years. She is currently editor of Centered on Taipei a monthly lifestyle magazine for the international community published by the Community Services Center in Tienmu.

Thanks go to the PR team and Chef Tsang at the Ritz Landis for their co-operation and help with this article and photography.

The Tsien Hsiang Lo is located at B1 in the Ritz Landis Hotel, 41 Min Chuan East Road, Section 2, Taipei.