古早味挫冰 old school shaved ice

古早味gu-Tsao-wei (old school)

挫chua (shaved)

冰bing (ice)

It is now well into Autumn and the days are chilly,while it's not common for the health freak nation to have iced or cold food in such weather, there are always occasions when one feels rebellious. 

The chua-bing may not look like much in the photo, but let me tell you, it is just HEAVENLY GOODNESS. The shaved ice itself is produced by placing a block of ice over an ice-shaving machine, which uses razors and high speed spinning action to shave the ice into light feathery pieces. Then comes the topping. There is  a variety of choices, but I chose a simple combo- 粉圓fen-yuan ( same as the bubble in bubble tea ) and 煉乳lien-roo( condensed milk) . The brown gooey stuff all over is the shop's signature, a traditional kind of syrup made by brewing brown sugar and sticky rice. The syrup takes a lot of patience and effort to make, and it is healthier than refined sugar, with lots of dimension to the taste. I think that's why people are willing (at least I am!) to buy it, even if its price is equivalent to a cheap lunchbox. After all, one has to splurge occasionally, and why not splurge on something healthy?

If you ever come to Taiwan,be sure to scout these chua bing out!

This is Lenny, reporting from Taiwan.

What is your favorite Icy /cold snack?