24 May 2009

Taiwanese cuisine

Eating in Taiwan was rather interesting, maybe a bit more interesting than in Japan, despite my love for Japanese food. Very varied - things I have not seen elsewhere is eaten, tasty and sometimes spicy and especially the night markets provide a cheap and fun opporunity to sample many all types of food.
A classic in Taiwan is the hot pot. In a heavy large pot over a fire various ingredients simmer until done and everyone fishes for the pieces that seem yummy. It`s kind of a Fondu, the base being soup and various types of meat, seafood and vegetables and noodles swimming in it. Really delicious and it`s easy to overeat, which we did when having it at one of Kaohsiung`s night markets.
It`s something that is obviously popular all over China. I remember being invited for a hot pot back home already by my friend Viet.
Being an island, Taiwan is an obvious destination for seafood. Although just like Japan, quite a bit of the seafood is imported and not caught locally. The still heavy polution of the sea water due to Taiwan`s rapid economic development in the recent past is a reason for this. Still, there is seafood sold everywhere. During the day you can buy grilled squid that is deliciously seasoned before grilling and cut into snack pieces. In the evening there are many restaurants that have a display of the seafood on offer in front and you can point to what you would like to eat and how you would like it prepared (fried, steamed, etc.). I was a bit shocked about the frogs with their bellies slit open among the seafood, but well... Really nice was eating seafood on Cijin island, right in front of Kaohsiung city. A cute old-fashioned ferry leads there and there is a whole street lined with seafood restaurants in the evening, lovely.
One thing that I did not appreciate much was the soup made of stinky tofu (impossible to describe that taste) and duck blood (see picture right). The duck blood is obviously frozen and then cut into pieces. I also ate little birds that are fried entirely (head and feet off only). I was made trying without knowing what it was and it actually tasted quite good. It`s not only Italians killing their singing birds... I missed out on the dog meat that is still eaten in certain places in the South. My companion wanted to take me there, but was unable to find the restaurant - uuuuffff! It`s obviously street dogs that are shot and it is now a bit of a taboo, so it`s not greatly advertised. I also didn`t get to taste snakes (which I wanted to) or swans (less keen). I found my favourite vegetable again that I had tasted in Indonesia, still don`t know what the English name is, but it`s very green and leavy and tastes good when it`s a bit "al dente". The Chinese dumplings are very good of course, there is good ramen and those meat balls that are sold in all convenience stores. And oyster omelettes from the night market, mmmh (see picture top left).
The desert menu is quite nice too. It sounds a bit strange, but a popular desert is green bean soup, green beans in a watery cold soup. Very refreshing on a hot day. There are some other soups like these like taro. They don`t have the typical sweet desert taste, but are nice. Jellies are popular, just as in Japan. Slashed ice with fruit or beans and jelly is very good too.
My favourite drinks were the fresh fruit juices for one. Passion fruit, pineapple, guava, water melon, and and and... Nothing better than a freshly squeezed fruit juice. And does not cost a fortune like elsewhere. Reminded me of old times in Brazil where I lived on fruit juice only almost. And then there was my no1 favourite drink in Kaohsiung. It`s a speciality invented by a local guy, iced green tea with a special white froth on top. Very, very delicious. Just have to be careful, that tea is stronger than coffee and can keep you up all night. The froth is a secret recipe. We figured that it consists of milk, butter and some salt as it tastes somewhat salty. But how to do it exactly? No clue. Although the guy I stayed with would have been close to the source as the inventor wanted to date his sister. She didn`t, dammmmmn... There are some copies in town, but none as good as the original.
By the way, Taiwan is inventive in terms of take-away drinks. Instead of the usual plastic cup lid, they have machines to put stick simply a layer of thin plastic over the top of the cup. Totally vacuum, so if the cup falls over in a car or so nothing leaks out. And it`s less garbage and cheaper as well for store owners. Generally Taiwan is less wasting on packaging (despite the fact that Japan likes to see itself as the no1 green nation). They skip packing every little thing separately and you have to ask specifically for plastic bags and pay a small amount for them.

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