"Xi Men Ding", 幸春三兄妹冰品店 (Shaved Ice Desserts).
Among the many Shaved Ice Dessert we had in Taiwan, Three Brother and Sisters' (幸春三兄妹冰品店) version of shaved ice had the most silky smooth texture. They call it Snow Ice (雪花冰), as soft and white just like snow. The shop is located at the ever happening Xi Men Ding (西门町), with a chirpy fella trying to attract passer-by to try their famous shaved ice dessert.
"Lei hai mai hiong kong yan ah? (Are you from Hong Kong?)", he asked when he noticed us walking towards the shop. "Wo men shi ma lai xi ya ren la (We are Malaysians-lah"), we answered. "Ooooh! Selamat datang ke Taiwan! Saya suka nasi lemak dan satay. Please try our shaved ice" he quickly changed channel. Impressive, a Taiwanese speaking Malay to us was the least expected for me lol.
Another surprising thing for us was that the shop actually had a staircase leading down to a basement seating area. And the walls surrounding it were full of writings, mostly compliments from the satisfied customers.
Being a sucker for anything mango, we had a Snowy Ice Mango @ NT$120 (roughly RM12) Throughout the entire Taiwan trip I think there were only two occasions we didn't choose mango as the topping for shaved ice. Can't really blame us though, even Taiwan tourism is heavily promoting mangoes in their advertisements recently.. The one with Jolin Chai and another uncle? I am sure most of you have seen it.
While the mango cubes were juicy and sweet, the mango ice cream didn't fare too well mainly because it was hard and lacked mango flavor. I think the color of the ice cream alone is a good indication of little mango content, just compare it with the mango cubes.
But we are willing to overlook the mango ice cream because the snow ice was amazingly fine with a flaky texture that melts in your mouth upon contact. Unlike the normal shaved ice that depends on various toppings and condensed milk for flavor, their snow ice itself is made from milk. When shaved, milk ice is also able to make finer shaved ice because of a thicker consistency. It didn't melt easily under room temperature too.
So, even not being heavily drenched in sweet condensed milk and syrups, the milky snow ice is delicious on its own. The other shaved ice we tried were quite fine too but just not as fine as this one, because we could still feel the biting 'crunch' in the ice.
Besides shaved ice, Three Brother and Sister is also well known for their bitter gourd juice, which is made from Taiwan's very own fatter, whiter and not-so-bitter bitter gourds. But no thanks, I passed on that one lol.
Address: 台北市汉中街23号 (No 23, Hanzhong Street, Taipei City)
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