The original northwestern

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It's tomb-sweeping season, and two branches of our family went to pay our respects for grandpa and grandma.  Grandpa would have been 100 years old this year, although he left us almost 30 years ago and my memories of him are getting a little hazy.  The realization that it has been some 10 years since grandma left us was a bit of a shocker, too...

We discussed lunch options while performing our chores.  After all, food is important as nourishment and sustains us... and it would allow the family to spend more time together. I had expressed my strong preference not to have Shanghainese again... in the end dad cast the deciding vote in favor of my suggestion, and we headed for Shao Shao Ke (勺勺客).  It's been a few years since I last dined at the original establishment serving cuisine from China's northwestern region, although I did visit the offshoot/rival Qin Restaurant (秦味舘) last year.

The three kids collectively ordered for the parents, and everyone started on the appetizers while we waited for the food to arrive...

Marinated bamboo shoots and kelp

Marinated kelp

Sugarcane tips salad with anise-pepper dressing (涼拌甘蔗筍嫩心) - the soft hearts of sugarcane tips are marinated in vinegar and sprinkled with spices.  Pretty decent.

Stir-fried tripe with pickled celery (酸嗆牛肚條) - my pick but obviously not to the family's liking...  The strips of tripe were not soft and tender, and had a bit too much bite.

Deep-fried lamb skewers with cumin (新疆香酥羊串) - I don't remember seeing deep-fried lamb skewers during my travels along the Silk Road, but oh well... These were actually just OK... Anything battered and deep-fried has a good chance of earning high marks from me, but I was a little disappointed in the meat itself... it tasted pretty bland and not "lammy" at all.  At one point I wondered aloud - half-jokingly - whether I was having pork... The flavors all came from the cumin and the batter.

Stir-fried spinach and Chinese lettuce (鮮溜A菠雙綠) - a combination of spinach and long-stemmed Chinese lettuce (A菜/鵝菜).

Sliced fish with anise-pepper, dried pepper and soy sauce (蔥椒魚片) - one of the few dishes that was spicy/hot from the chili peppers.  Pretty decent.

Deep-fried mushrooms (酥炸蕈菇) - pretty clear from all the white powder on the outside that they used a liiiiitle too much pepper...

Deep-fried pork rib (炙子骨排) - the menu says "soaked, stewed, steamed, fried to a crisp" in English... One of the signature dishes here, and supposedly served for an emperor's feast in ancient times.  Not bad at all.

Next came a series of 3 noodles...

Green onion, lamb and noodles (小蔥羊肉拌麵) - pretty nice.  Wish I had more...

Hand made noodles with vinegar sauce and diced ingredients (岐山臊子麵) - not as yummy as the lamb noodles, at least for me.  Too much vinegar for my taste.

Traditional bread served with beef and duck's blood parcel soup (雙紅鮮湯底泡饃) - we were given a big bowl along with two pieces of regional flat bread (泡饃), which needed to be hand-shredded into little pieces.  This is sent into the kitchen so it could be cooked with a big pot of soup with lots of goodies inside...

The soup was delicious.  The beef cubes had obviously been stewed for some time, and the muscle fibers were so fine and delicate... it's the kind of beef that isn't fatty but felt like it melted in your mouth.  Chunks of duck's blood and beef tendon, veggies and clear, flat noodles made from potatoes (粉皮) filled the bowl; the bread pieces are now cooked and have a slipper surface and chewy texture.  I was full but could not resist having a second bowl...

While I thought we had ordered enough food, someone was still hungry... Dad proceeded to order two more dishes, which definitely pushed me (along with a couple other people) over the edge...

Fried tofu with chili (虎皮會) - pretty tasty with all the chili flavor getting into the tofu skin.

De-boned chicken leg stuffed with green onions (風酥雞) - honestly not bad... with moist spring onions stuffed inside the chicken leg, then battered and fried.  Would have enjoyed it a lot more if I weren't totally stuffed at this point...

Definitely a very happy camper at the end of the meal... It doesn't take a genius to figure out the amount of overlap between the menus of this place as well as the offshoot, but I see it as giving diners more options in terms of northwestern cuisine in Taipei.  Will definitely be making return visits...