out with the asia fam

So in case anyone’s wondering why I’m actually IN Asia, a bit of a back story:

My dad traveled to Asia for work for basically a year, on and off. It was a really stupid case involving dog food (well, he doesn’t think it’s stupid, obvi) but he basically fell in love with Asia. As well as with Sally, a fetching flight attendant he met on all his flights back and forth.

The rest, as they say, is history. He was headed back to the far East (Bangkok via Taipei) for a business trip, she was tagging along to visit her fam, and then I tagged along because I am recently graduated and have NOTHING TO DO WITH MY LIFE.

Anyway, Sally’s fam were incredibly hospitable. Here are a few examples.

One night they took me out. To karaoke. For FOUR HOURS.

At…

Hahahaha. First they fed me, OBVIOUSLY (I’m hoping, by the end of this post, you will be able to see a FRACTION of what they eat. And they’re all tiny. Mystifying!). Some of the spread:

Squid, chinese celery, and hot peppers:

Broccoli root (? How Sally tried to describe it to me) in a rockin’ salad with lots of garlic and cilantro:

More awesome salad type thing:

Tofu, dried fish, green peppers, hot red peppers.

SOY SAUCE EGGS:

In a rich soup with pork.

The chef, Sally’s mother, in her kitchen with her rockin’ wok.

 

And then karaoke. Sally’s nephew set the soulful tone with his hipster glasses:

Sally’s niece Michelle and her new hubby:

But the one who ROCKED IT was Sally’s big sister Mai. Boundless, BOUNDLESS energy.

 

OBVIOUSLY, there was a huge spread of food and drinks:

Milk tea, beer (it seemed to be BYOB), a karaoke menu, and this bad boy:

Snack plates are a bit different over here, eh? From what I could tell, mostly tofu in various forms and smoked meats and more soy sauce eggs.

Also, popcorn chicken has made it:

But their dipping sauces are vastly superior over here.

Moony, Sally’s sister, insisted I try the rather self-explanatory:

Don’t like beer any better in Asia.

And a gorgey fruit plate:

Another fun thing I did with the Asia fam- night markets! They seem to be huge all over Asia, and are exactly what they sound like. Markets. At night.

 

Crowded and crazy and full of random things!

And, of course, OMNIPRESENT FOOD.

Wouldn’t you want to buy something at this adorable squid stand?

Most of the food was served from outdoor booths, like this one with CRAZY WAFFLES! (They were good!)

This was after we got hot pot, and I was stuffed, but I was still offered:

Corn on a stick with barbecuey sauce (yum)

      

Fried sweet potato and taro puffs on a stick (YUM!)

Aaaaand…. Taiwan’s famous stinky tofu.

It, um, tastes better than it smells? (That is not saying much. Perhaps it is an acquired taste).

Then we went home and my hipster cousin made me eat “Boston Pie”, apparently a big thing over here.

It bears absolutely no resemblence to Boston cream pie (which is good, since I don’t particularly like it). I choked down half a piece (chocolate mousse cake, basically) and called it a night.

breakfast in Taiwan

A series of 3.

Number one: the traditional breakfast shop.

A stroll through the city with Sally, my stepmother. Taipei (well we’re in the ‘burbs, technically, but the same holds true) is a really beautiful mix of modern and traditional, lush and green and modern city.

 

The place is simple, with a short-order cook in the front with a grill and steamer. 

And a counter at the front with traditional buns, dumplings, and savory pancakes.

For drinksies, they have a big vat of fresh soymilk and (my new LOVE) rice milk with PEANUT POWDER. Like if you could drink peanut butter. Heaven!

 

I mainly had that for my brekkers :D Pork dumplings are a bit much for me at 8 am.

The next day we went to this rather bizarrely named Western/Asian breakfast chain:

After the NYC airport? Odd, odd.

Also odd, the menu:

Burgers and subs for breakfast. Sally wanted me to try these:

 

Traditional wheat wraps, not unlike tortillas. They break an egg on them and wrap them with filling, in this case ham:

I had a wee section, but even though it’s closer to American breakfast, I am just not a meat-for-breakfast-er.

More intriguing:

“Caix milk?” I asked Sally and she looked strained and said it was kind of like oatmeal.

I took off the cover to this:

Sweetish and vaguely oaty… sure enough, at the bottom:

 

Finally, today, CONGEE! Or as the Taiwanese call it, chi fan.

With dried pork and leftovers. Hahaha, I ate the rice!

More culture: the oldest temple in Taiwan, Lungshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple: 

Glitzy, huh?

  

They seriously pay attention to ceilings here.

People praying with incense:

Kitty on a dragon column!

The temple was divided into sections for each respective god and their blessing. Most fascinating was the section for the god of students.

Everyone brings in their exam registration cards (the papers with the faces on them)!

Also, see all the green onions? The words for “green onion” and “diligence” are very similar in Chinese, so they are a traditional offering. So cool!

shabu shabu!

I’ve decided to download LiveWriter to my… I guess “step-aunt’s?” computer. Cause… I don’t want my posts to be ugly!

This will temporarily be a “food and culture” in addition to “food” blog. Cause Asia is radddddd.

Our first stop was the hair salon because Moony wanted me to get my hair did.

It is an exciting looking place.

With a SHAMPOO MENU! I went for the tea tree, which smelled delicious. Getting your hair done is preceded by a RIDICULOUSLY skillful back and shoulder massage.

You take a certain risk letting someone cut your hair when you do not speak the same language at all. Moony wanted me to have a new look… I look… new.

 

For dinner, we got HOT POT! Or Shabu Shabu.

The place is called “Fat Calf”, and is apparently a very popular chain. Their menu explains how it all works.

Inside was quite beautiful, with fresh flowers (they are everywhere here- it smells so good!)

Carved wood…

And big communal tables with the pot in the center:

We got both kinds of broth in a kind of yin/yang bowl:

And then they started bringin’ out the ingredients!

Meat…

Dried tofu that gets rehydrated in the broth…

    

Mushrooms atop my bowl of (obvi, this is Asia) rice

Kebabs (these didn’t get dipped in the broth)- I tried beef, lamb, and chicken

Drinksies…        

 

Date tea (!) and “orange juice” which tasted like Tang and I passed off to my cousin and then replaced with:

Sour plum juice! Like fruit juice and barbecue sauce, all at the same time. Weirdly refreshing.

  

It is bloody difficult to eat corn on the cob with chopsticks.

Delicious bitter greens. I asked if there was an American name, and my stepmother didn’t think so. The Chinese name literally means “wife beater greens”! It’s based on a legend where some guy wanted his wife to cook him greens, and he gave her a huge pile of them, and she cooked them and they cooked down and it looked like there were less and… er…. Kind of a depressing story, but they are delicious!

And the food just keeps coming!

Balls (the lighter one is some kind of fish, which was a little cartiledgey for my taste, but the darker one was a shrimp ball and was SUBLIME)

And

Traditional dessert. Some kind of jellified fruity thing. So good!

After dinner we went and admired the restaurant’s pond. Obviously. They have a pond.

Finally, look at my aunt’s cigarette pack:

 

Pregnant belly! For a few horrifying moments, I thought this meant this brand advertised itself to expectant mothers. But no. It’s just their surgeon general’s warning is a bit more dramatic than ours!