Healthy eating is very popular in Taiwan. Now restaurants are basing entire menus on Chinese herbs:
Situated amid the hustle and bustle of downtown Taipei on ZhongXiao Road, the restaurant’s bright green shop sign bearing the Chinese inscription “Shih-Tsao”, inviting passer-bys to retreat into a dining environment that provides a feast on pollution-free Chinese medical herbs. The restaurant offers meat and seafood, but everything except for the meat is totally made of herbs, including tea, salad dressing, pot soup, dipping sauces, noodles, desserts, and even the wines.
The leading role in the restaurant is played by herbs, and many of them are said to be beneficial to one’s health if a certain amount is taken regularly.
The main dish that comes with each hot pot is a huge bowl of herbs that consists of big chunks of more than ten different herbs, including Chinese toon, a herb said to lower hypertension and blood sugar; heartleaf houttuynia herb, which enhances the upper respiratory tract; centella asiatica, a great help in fighting diarrhea, hypertension, and hepatitis, etc. Each of the herbs gives off a distinctive aroma. Heartleaf houttuynia herb, in particular, has a smell that might temporarily remind you of salted fish.
The hotpot soup is entirely made of matrimony-vine, a Chinese medicine that is generally believed to improve eyesight. The soup has a refreshing, slightly sweet flavor that distinguishes itself from other shabu shabu hot soups. After sipping the soup, it is time to try the herbs.
Swish the herbs in the boiling soup for 10 to 20 seconds as instructed by waitresses in order to keep the sweetness of the herbs, then dip them in the Chinese toon sauce and chow down.
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