Teppanyaki, toffee tomatoes - and a new way to 'make a cup of tea'.....

'This island of Taiwan,' says our guide, 'is shaped like a sweet potato. That's why we love them so much here.' It's just minutes after leaving the airport on Day One of our food-loving tour of the place formerly known as Formosa, meaning 'beautiful island'.

I am a little disappointed. Couldn't Taiwan resemble a more exciting food - a chilli, for example? It looks, to me, a little like a speech bubble, standing upright, and I imagine it with a phrase written in Chinese characters saying something like 'island of delicious food'.

I am sure the white-suited fellow (top) could give us some ideas, but we didn't meet him until a little later in the day.

After a 5.50am arrival at Taoyuan International airport, overnight from Sydney, we were very keen to see this - our first hotel, the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi - which we reached an hour or so later at Jiaoxi in Yilan province in the north-east of the island.

We were even more delighted to see this! And for those partners who can never get the temperature right at night, how clever are these yours'n'mine separate duvets? As this is a spa hotel, the hot springs are delivered directly to a square stone bath in each room, so it is possible to soak in therapeutic waters at your leisure.

Even though we had eaten well on China Airlines, Taiwan's flag carrier - the one with the national flower, a pink plum blossom, on its tail – somehow breakfast looked especially good in this dining room with huge windows capturing that gigantic view. Yes, those are mountains in the far distance, and we were told they are often snow-capped. 

This area is a popular place for Taipei residents to get away from the heat and busyness of the city, and to indulge in spa therapy and a taste of country relaxation amongst the rice paddies. It's an easy escape too, as the area is reached by a 45-minute bus or train trip, for a fare of around A$20.

The breakfast bar catered for all tastes: Asian, Western, vegetarian and more. Noodles were plentiful of course, for in this part of the world they are a staple in many dishes. I found turnip cake too - a personal favourite - and realised that it is not made with European purple and white turnips, but with daikon, the long white 'radish' I have always known and liked in salads.

I realised that this food tour of Taiwan was going to teach me plenty - and I could hardly wait to learn.

In one corner of the dining room I found this. You don't need to be able to read Mandarin to know that the kitchen proudly raises and serve hydroponic lettuces. Hint #1 for chefs.

And how clever is this hygienic plastic mitt to wear as you hold the bread while cutting it? No chance of it floating onto the floor, either, as it anchors by a magnet to its stand. I could see we would learn more than just food facts in the eight days ahead.

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Ka Va Lan Whisky

The sun was not yet over the yard arm, but we had places to go and people to see, and the first of them was a prestigious whisky distillery at Yuanshan near Yilan City.

Whisky-lovers may recognise this multi medal-winning brand that is produced at King Car whisky distillery.

The grounds have a parade of decorated whisky barrels, and this one in particular celebrates the national recreation of cycling. Major cities have YouBikes, the ones you can, with the swipe of an EasyCard, take from one location and leave at another. There is a wide network of cycling trails in most areas, making it possible to cycle around the entire island. That's if you have the time to spare to cover several hundred kilometres!

This distillery has only been open to the public here since 2008, but the multi-interest parent company has been manufacturing many things for decades. Yilan is known as the 'city of water', because of the chilled pure water that flows down from nearby Snow Mountain. It was this that led the founder Mr TT Lee to establish the distillery in this place.

Another arm of the company is Mr Brown Coffee, and we are to discover a number of this company's cafes as we travel around Taiwan in the next few days. It's an appropriate match for the whisky, and patrons can relax with a coffee after a whisky tasting.

To experience the whiskies we were taken to the glassed-in tasting room and presented with several very different ones to sample. If you know your whiskies you will probably be able to say at a glance which these are. If you do not know, A is Ka Va Lan ex-Bourbon, single malt, with an interesting vanilla scent; B is Solist Vinho single malt; C is Solist Amontillado single malt sherry; and D is Ka Va Lan cask port. All of these are very fine examples and have won many awards.

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Guest City

We could not have guessed from the simple entrance to Guest City, in Luadong Township, what was ahead. Here, in the yard, a dog dozes beside a stoneware pot of fermenting beans, almost a Korean scene, with other pots nearby holding sauces and vegetables ready for use by the chefs.

The room we entered was simple and homespun (it has been termed 'designer rustic') with even some of the cutlery and dishes handmade. The true flavours of the pure and organic food told us that this is a special place, and an honest and dedicated chef, cooking food that makes it the sort of hidden gem that only those with a tipoff might know about.

There were ten courses, and you see just two of them, but the fact is that the menu which costs around NT550 (A$22 pp) will be different when you get here. That's because the owner prides himself on the fact that the food is cooked according to what is in season nearby, and at its best on any particular day. Here you see the finest pork belly, braised and steamed for several hours to unctuous and tender perfection. The ball of bamboo shoots adds texture and the small dishes hold slivers of turnip.

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Time for tea!

After our multi-course gourmet meal, we were offered a cup of tea at this organic tea plantation. What a lovely thought. But there was a catch, we discovered. We had to make it ourselves!

Owner, Mr Liu, dressed us up as tea-pickers, and with scarves and hats on our heads, and baskets tied to our waists, we followed him to the plantation, to learn some tips. Literally. He showed us that the only leaves we should pick were the top three tender tips. It wasn't that hard, fun really, and it all would have been even better if the temperature hadn't been hovering around 36C.

When you see tea neatly in a packet on a shelf in the supermarket, it is difficult to realise the many stages it has to pass through. Picking it was only part of it. Next it had to be toasted on a tray over a wok, then handfuls bunched together to remove any liquid, and finally baked in an oven for half an hour. 

At the end of this process we each received a packet of our very own harvest, ready to turn into a good hot cuppa. WATCH THE WHOLE PROCESS ON THE VIDEO.

But Mr Liu had more for us, creating edible magic. In roughly the same way noodle makers can sling ropes of dough between their hands until they have the finest threads, so he was able to stretch and fold, and stretch and fold again a lump of firm maltose candy until in minutes he had created a hank of Dragon's Beard, fine as hair.

A few more deft movements, adding a pinch of sesame or peanuts as a filling and there you have it - chewy, sweetish sweetmeats to go with your cup of tea. These activities - tea picking, or candy making - are available to anyone for 300 New Taiwanese (NT) dollars, or around A$12.

SEE HOW IT IS DONE ON THE VIDEO (above)

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Dining at Formosa Pearl

As the day came to an end, we should have already had enough food, but no. This is a food tour, and Taiwan, we were beginning to realise, takes its food very seriously. This country is also much more Japanese than I had realised. Taiwan was occupied by the Japanese for over 50 years, and even now the influence remains - in architecture, fashion and design - and of course the cuisine.

Inside the elegant Formosa Pearl restaurant amongst the rice fields of the Lanyang plain, we were seated at a large glass-topped table supported by the bole of a massive tree. In case you are wondering what the strip of blue paper is for, it is our menu.

The sublime presentations appeared over a couple of hours. This one was a real showstopper: after an appetiser of prawn, foie gras and mango sauce - already can you see where this eight-course meal is going? - this dish of sashimi appeared, garnished with towering spikes of foliage. The fish - amberjack, flounder, grouper, prawns and tiny silver herring were perfectly chilled, enough to allow the true flavour emerge as we ate. 

Fish stuffed with shiitake mushrooms, and a place card of popped rice followed, served with a vinegar shot as a chaser.

The finale was a rosella mousse. Australians know rosellas are a fruit not a bird, although the white chocolate garnish certainly looks ready to fly away.

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Day 2 - National Center for Traditional Arts

Bright and early, before the school groups or the families come, near to the Dongshan River Water Park, we arrive to explore this attraction that showcases Taiwan's culture and history. But if you think this is some staid and static museum, you are so wrong! On entry we pass Mutsai Kiln, an excellent landmark in case you get lost, and an even better place to buy souvenirs, inside in the corridor.

Located waterside, this is a place for children, and the young at heart.

Better still, I soon caught sight of my favourite Taiwanese food - the crazy (yet perfect) mix-and-match of toffee and cherry tomatoes!

Tomatoes don't get all the votes, though. There are strawberries and other fruits also dipped in toffee, and they certainly are fun to eat, the soft, slightly acidic fruit bursting through crisp sugary shards of toffee.

Calligraphy has long been an art form in China, and of course the Republic of China (ROC) - Taiwan - was largely repopulated after 1911 by people from the mainland of China. As we walk along we see giant brushes hanging over the footpath and, inside the store, a calligrapher who assists visitors to learn at least a few of the classic brushstrokes.

Flags and signs hang outside, advertising indigenous work in once place, drinks in another, sausages and souvenirs somewhere else.

Further along someone sits meticulously fashioning minute bead-and-ribbon flowers that can be used as earrings or to decorate a hat or a garment.

This is Taiwan, though, and it is not too long before we come across these moulded rose-pink dainties. Fortunately the method and the recipe is displayed on the wall. 

 Now, if anyone can read Chinese, I will be able to make a batch. That's if I had bought the wooden moulds that give them the unique shape.

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Shopping for our dinner

Riverside at the Nan Fang Au fish market, we have followed a chef, Shen Chin Yung, on his search for the best seafood for our dinner. He owns the Shen Yen Teppanyaki restaurant at Luodong Township, and it is plain to see he is a man on a mission as he sniffs and lifts and gently presses samples of the morning's catch.

Everything is glisteningly fresh, just minutes from swarming in the rich waters of Taiwan's east coast.

Finished with that market, we follow him north to another one where he has had a message from a couple of fishing boats that they have some tempting fish onboard for him.

Some of the fish are still alive. Well, you can't get any fresher than that!

Others are bright-eyed and shiny, signs of freshness, too.

Chef Shen has found the ingredient for one dish. Just ten or more to go, as his teppanyaki shopping list is long.

As we wandered through the noisy, busy fish market, trying to keep out of the way of those trying to sell and buy, we saw almost every fish that lives in the waters nearby. Some we recognised; others we could not place at all. Any suggestions as to what this 'pinocchio' fish is?

Prawns, rich with startlingly coloured roe....

....and magnificent lobsters, one of which we were later to taste.

Finally back at the restaurant, our chef wears an enormous smile, successful in his search for the best for his diners' meals. The restaurant has three teppanyaki stations, each seating thirteen diners. It's a performance, really, as he cooks in front of us, and it's a privilege to be here, front-row, watching. 

Nothing could be fresher than these giant shrimp, cooked until still succulent.

An appetite-cleanser of simply cubed fresh bamboo shoots, follows.

On the teppanyaki plate, fillets of eel wild-caught on the chef's father's  farm, cook slowly, while he holds up the prize lobster he bargained for today. It is to be cooked in the kitchen and served later....

...and was every bit as delicious as it looks.

There was abalone in the shell flambeed in whisky, giant scallops (surely Taiwan's scallops must be the world's best!), and duck that had been smoked over cherry wood, 

A composite of hundreds of pictures of food and Chef Shen cooking make up this portrait.

Teppanyaki may be a performance, an event, a stage for magic, but this chef is a humble man who is so proud of his parents, their farm, and their soya sauce that he is showing to us. For him, we can tell - even without a translator, that fine food and how he presents it is everything to him.

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Day 3: Leaving Yilan

Yilan is known as the 'city of water' and it's true. We have seen a lot of it in the past two days - ocean, bays, rivera - but nothing defines this area as much as the hot springs which bubble up sulphurously and are believed to be valuable in aiding and even curing numerous conditions. Before heading on to Taipei, the capital, we pause at the Beitou Thermal Valley. 

Near to the springs is a museum and there are guest houses in the vicinity where people can stay and enjoy spa treatments.

While hot spring are beneficial, these bubbling pools are deadly - and we are told that this sign is a warning about climbing on the fence. I don't need the sign. The heat, the odour and the plopping waters are enough to keep me at a distance.

Ghostly vapours rise and melt in the cooler air above, but the heat that these boiling waters throw off is still almost unbearable.

Taiwan straddles the Tropic of Cancer, and the climate in Yilan is ideal for growing orchids and other tropical plants.

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Watch out for the next installment of this food-loving tour of Taiwan in a few weeks, when we get a stony stare from Queen Nefertiti, taste some iconic dumplings and discover the convenience store everyone in Taiwan loves!

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More information about Taiwan....

Pictures and text: ©Sally Hammond

Video: ©Gordon Hammond

Sally & Gordon Hammond travelled to Taiwan at the invitation of Taiwan Tourism Bureau.