SHENKENG OLD STREET
A short journey through the hills to the east of Taipei will take one to the comparatively rural Shenkeng Old Street. This historic street is actually the heart of the small mountain village of Shenkeng, which was originally an important transportation hub for Taiwan’s burgeoning tea trade.
In 1866, John Dodd, an Englishman who is considered one of the father’s of the Taiwanese tea trade, thought he saw potential in the quality of Taiwan’s tea. As a result, plantations from the hills surrounding Shenkeng and Pinglin began sending their harvests to Taipei’s for export. This tea was sent through Shenkeng, where it was transported via the Jingmei River straight to Taipei’s largest port at the time, Dadaocheng.
With the modernization of the tea trade, Shenkeng’s importance as a tea hub diminished, and it needed to find a new raison d’etre. A local historian recounts it was first the Chen family who decided to make tofu with a greater ratio of soybean to gypsum salts (the salt is used to coagulate the soy bean milk). The resulting tofu stuck to the bottom of cooking pots, which resulted in the characteristic smoky flavor that Shenkeng is now known for. While it may have been the Chen family spearheaded Shenkeng’s tofu production, now the entire town has started to leverage its abundant clean spring water for the production of tofu.
Shenkeng tofu was given the official nod of approval when former president Chiang Ching-Kuo visited and professed his love of Shenkeng’s homestyle tofu to the media. This was the key event that cemented Shenkeng’s identity as the unofficial “tofu capital of Taiwan”. Today the streets are lined with stalls selling all sorts of dishes made with local tofu, three of which were presented at the 2019 state banquet: tofu and fish with soybean sauce, braised tofu, and duck’s blood stinky tofu.
Shenkeng’s tofu dishes stray far beyond the conservative veggie meat substitutes known in the west. The classic way to enjoy crispy fried stinky tofu is with a side of fermented vegetables. The fried tofu, presented in squares, is cut across the top to create a hole for the optional stuffing of chilled fermented vegetables. Consumed this way, the texture of the chilled and fibrous cabbage contrasts with the warm and spongy tofu, creating a more dynamic meal. Tofu cake, tofu ice cream, and even tofu pudding are also available.
In case you have no interest in tofu, Shenkeng’s historic streets are still filled with a large variety of other restaurants that might satisfy your appetite. Shenkeng is recommended as one of Taiwan’s top old streets for its proximity to Taipei, and its abundance of culture and classic architecture.
