December 31, 2010

Yi Gu Zhai Tea House, Lugang

During a trip to Lugang, besides visiting the traditional handmade noodle and incense places, we also spent time in the old street and discovered unique shops and resting places. Yi Gu Zhai Tea House (怡古齋人文茶館) is one of the unique places filled with a nostalgia atmosphere and offers traditional and new tasting Flour Mush Tea (mian cha, 麵茶).

On the wall in the Yi Gu Zhai displayed antique poster collection from the owner’s father, Mr. Shi, Jiaoyong who is also a famous Dough-Figurines master in Taiwan. Gorgeous looking interior caught my attention once we sat down. The room is in a traditional long shape style of Lugang. Another well-designed cozy resting area is behind the backdoor.

We came here not only for the famous flour mush tea, but also for the local folk art of “Dough-Figurines”. Unfortunately, the activity was not available at that time. Dough-Figurines are mainly made with flour and glutinous rice. With the changing society, making dough-figure is no longer enough to support their living. In order to keep the traditional skill and support living, Yi Gu Zhai Tea House was opened offering the old and new tastes of flour mush tea and DIY Dough-Figurines activity.

The mini Tatung rice cooker is one of the display items in the room. (Tatung rice cooker is one of my nostalgia items and accompanied me through my entire childhood)

They not only offer the traditional paste looking flour mush tea, but also a new way of having flour mush tea which was developed in 2003 and called “Flour Mush Tea Crushed Ice”! It tasted so good, especially during the humid hot weather in the month of September.

It was mixed with flour mush tea powder, grass jelly, sweet potato, and green beans around the ice with a bright red cherry on top. Don’t forget to mix the powder with the ice before eating. Milk was also added to bring up the flavor! The one below costs NT 60 ($2).

They also make their own Almond Powder for the tea!

The take-out ice and hot flour mush tea with a special made kettle is also available right at the entrance door! I could not help to take a photo of it.

Many flour mush tea shops are available on the old street; however, the Dough-Figurines DIY activity and “Flour Mush Tea Crushed Ice” has made “Yi Gu Zhai” very special and attractive to tourists!

Address: No.6, Putou St., Lugang Township, Changhua County

Telephone: (04)7770212 Read More

9 comments:

London Caller said...

Happy New Year!

Now, I think it's a bit too cold for Flour Mush Tea Crushed Ice.
I'll save mine for this summer! Ha ha...

Rafael Lam said...

Happy New Year!! ^.^

micki and kristen said...

@Londoncaller- That was the visit in Sept..;o)
Stay warm in London~~:):)
Happy New Year 2011!

@Rafael- Thank you so much! Happy 2011 to you too~~

London Caller said...

Oh I see! But September can also quite cold in England.
But you know what, I still can see people eating ice cream in December outdoors! Ha ha... So I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?

micki and kristen said...

@Londoncaller-Yeap! and ice cream and yogurt stores still open in the very cold days~~

@Robert-We just did and you should have our flag now.

shloke said...

I would definitely love to have a bowl of Flour Mush Tea ~ the ingredients look awesome (green beans, red cherry + sweet potatoes). YUMMY!

micki and kristen said...

@ Sholke-Thanks! That was indeed a large and yummy bowl!

San said...

我覺得看你的blog文
就像很旅遊節目一樣
"世界那麼大"

ps: 那支小電鍋很可愛

micki and kristen said...

San, 謝謝你的誇獎!沒那麼棒吧,不過很喜歡你取的名稱"世界那麼大"。
我第一次看到這麼迷你的大同電鍋,可惜它是個非賣品,不然就買回家了!:)

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