Taiwan: Part I

After a long flight to Taiwan, 24 hours in all, I was ecstatic to find a bowl of Oyster Vermicelli (阿宗面线 pronounced oh ah mee suah) waiting for me at my a-ma's house. This dish is the heart of Taiwan cuisine and can be found at food stalls at every night market you explore in Taiwan. It's richness comes from the oysters, chunks of pig's large intenstine, and mushrooms. While the ingredients may sound intimidating and a bit strange, it's what makes this dish so unique and flavorful. It's well worth the "risk"!

 I slept in the next day; thank goodness I did since I didn't sleep one bit on the plane. After I awoke and got ready for the day, we went over to my uncle and aunt's house and found another fantastic meal waiting: sesame oil chicken soup (麻油雞湯 known as ma you ji tang) and bok choy (小白菜 known as xiao bai cai) with a wonderful chili shallot sauce. The soup is so simple, with only a few ingredients, but a spoonful of it will change everything you thought about Chinese food, in a very good way. The broth is a beautiful marriage of sesame oil, ginger, and rice wine.When coupled with soft rice noodles, you have the perfect soup. And of course you can't forget about the bok choy. The crunch of the bok choy, the savory richness of the shallots, and the spicy kick of the chili oil makes it so easy to eat your vegetables.

The next day, we took a ride to the city where my mom grew up to explore all the small stores lining the streets and to visit old friends and family. While visiting my great uncle, we were treated with a delicious sweet peanut soup (花生糊 known as hua sheng tang). The beauty of this sweet soup is that it allows the nuttiness of the peanuts to shine. The peanuts are boiled for hours and hours until it reaches that perfect softness and the sweetness of the peanuts fill the soup.

This post is to be continued!

Taiwan: An Introduction

 

Taichi in the mornings;

Fan tuan (反團 - rice roll), you tiao (油条 - fried dough stick), and dou jiang (豆漿 - soybean milk) for breakfast;

Long naps;

Bargain shopping in Shilin District;

Stops at random CoCo stores to get bubble milk tea;

Snacking on local Taiwanese cuisine at the night food markets;

Exploring the unique creations at bakeries dotting the many streets of Taipei;

And late night talks and singing sessions with my a-ma.

These are only some of the things I love about Taiwan and some of the things I got to do while traveling there these last two weeks. In the next few posts I would like to share with you my stories and experiences in Taiwan, except told through food. It's amazing how food can make and transform memories, bring people together, and tell a story. And that's a story I would love to share with all of you!

Plus, you can count this as a helpful introduction to Taiwanese cuisine. If you ever do decide to go to Taiwan, which I strongly strongly recommend (did I say strongly?), you can use these posts as a reference for some of the speciality Taiwanese dishes you should not miss. Many of these dishes are dishes that I grew up eating and are the heart of Taiwanese cooking. Believe me, you will not want to miss this!

Stay posted! :)