Taiwan Eats, Part I: An introduction
I'm back! Just a tad bit fatter, but none the worse for the wear, considering how much food has passed through my digestive system in the last two weeks. I heard a pretty good quote on TV the other day in Taiwan in an interview of a young lady in regards to eating in night markets. I think sums up nicely my philosophy about food:
吃太多, 總是可以減肥
吃太少, 就會有遺憾
Eat too much, one can always diet
Eat too little, one will have regrets
And especially when it comes to food that you remember eating as a child, food that has cultural and familial significance, or just food that you associate with specific memories/places/people, I think it's always worth it to save a little room in your stomach for those things.
Certainly your enjoyment should be in moderation and should take your dietary restrictions into consideration (e.g. I wouldn't condone my diabetic father to eat some sort of candy just because he ate it as a kid), but for the average person, one less cookie/bag of chips/bowl of ice cream from your normal routine will give you the space you need to splurge on stuff that really matters in life:
...stuff like lao-bing, one of my most favorite street snacks in my entire existence. A crispy flaky savory pastry that has been heated and toasted on a griddle with an egg, served with a generous squirt of sweet-salty thick soy sauce in the middle. Oh, I daydream of this stuff. And I drool when I daydream of it, like a Pavlovian dog. Other people also enjoyed it on this trip.
...or stuff like my grandmother's homemade brunch, with rice congee, some loofah squash, pork belly stewed in soy sauce, omelet with pickled daikon radish, ground pork sauce (my absolute favorite), layered bean curd stewed in soy sauce, and some stir fried greens.
吃太少, 就會有遺憾
Eat too much, one can always diet
Eat too little, one will have regrets
And especially when it comes to food that you remember eating as a child, food that has cultural and familial significance, or just food that you associate with specific memories/places/people, I think it's always worth it to save a little room in your stomach for those things.
Certainly your enjoyment should be in moderation and should take your dietary restrictions into consideration (e.g. I wouldn't condone my diabetic father to eat some sort of candy just because he ate it as a kid), but for the average person, one less cookie/bag of chips/bowl of ice cream from your normal routine will give you the space you need to splurge on stuff that really matters in life:
...stuff like lao-bing, one of my most favorite street snacks in my entire existence. A crispy flaky savory pastry that has been heated and toasted on a griddle with an egg, served with a generous squirt of sweet-salty thick soy sauce in the middle. Oh, I daydream of this stuff. And I drool when I daydream of it, like a Pavlovian dog. Other people also enjoyed it on this trip.
...or stuff like my grandmother's homemade brunch, with rice congee, some loofah squash, pork belly stewed in soy sauce, omelet with pickled daikon radish, ground pork sauce (my absolute favorite), layered bean curd stewed in soy sauce, and some stir fried greens.
More Taiwan eats to come! For an accompanying travelogue, see the blog of my dear college friend/compatriot who was crazy enough to hightail it to Taiwan with me in the heat of summer and experience Taiwan (Touch Your Heart)!
That video is hysterically funny! I love the labels, especially, "24 Hour Bookstores" - like those are a massive tourist attraction. And the music... whoa!
ReplyDeleteI love the video! I have watched it several times and I can now sing along with them! It certainly touched my heart. Kathy
ReplyDelete