Taiwan Food Trail

"Daxi is famous for Tofu," that was what we were told by the locals when we reached the old town, "don't you know?" Sheepishly we smiled at our own ignorance. We are not the kind to search for every single food, to track down the most obscure yet highly recommended food on blogs or variety shows. So bear with me, while I show how limited food we tried :P

It was quite an eye opener to see so many different type of bean curds. When we first saw these, I asked the shop owner if these were pig internals which Taiwanese are so fond of. 

Look at the variety of Tofu!!!

You know they love their Tofu as much as we loved our instant noodles, when you see tofu stations in 7-11... Yes... 7-11 has Tofu station, sweet potato and hotdogs station too!!!

Still in 7-11, check out the price of beers!!!

Walking out, this little van was seen on the streets of Taoyuan, serving typical breakfast of egg pancakes, onion pancakes and burgers. 

In the night market in Danshui, Shilin and many others, we found lots of snacks, which typically ended up as our dinner due to the huge portion and the variety offered. 

Deep fried baby crabs!!! Taiwanese love to deep fry their snacks, one which is recommended is deep fried king mushrooms in Sun Moon Lake.. we bought it twice, once upon arrival and another upon departure from the lake.

Look at these work of art.. wow!!! I wouldn't have eaten them if I were to buy these..

Not-So-Typical-Sunday

Dinners sometimes drive me nuts. Well, more of the planning part, not really of the enjoying part. Occasionally I would succumb to the idea of just having simply to drive a mere 5 minutes out for a decent meal. Other times I would have the inspiration to dish out something different.

This was one of those times.

A friend from London gave me the stocks for preparing a great herbal soup. The best thing about soups is that you can leave them simmering with all the ingredients of your choice, making it a highly efficient way of cooking. This left me with nearly one hour of preparing the rest of the dishes.

Minced meat with chopped chillies, garlic and a dash of black pepper, rolled into spheres of goodness, thrown into the sizzling hot oil and deep fried to (near) perfection. Just before serving, smother it with Tom Yam sauce for a fusion dish et voila, très magnifique!

I'm a strong believer that the appearance of your meal can greatly improve your appetite. Try eating your food blindfolded, a great meal will turn out bland if you deprive yourself visually. All the senses have to work together (more so if I were the one holding the wok). Bon appetit!

HAPPY 牛 (NEW) YEAR!

Link to YouTube Video used.Use arrow keys for volume control.

If I were back home, this would be the typical breakfast on the first day of Chinese New Year before we gear ourselves up for the family-visit-marathon.

Mee sua and hard boiled egg, one brings longevity, the other to expel bad luck.

This is the second year in a stretch that I am not able to celebrate it at home. Really miss celebrating CNY though. For now, all I can do is visualize and imagine...

Gong Xi Fa Chai and may the year of the Ox brings an abundance of fortune, health and luck!

When I'm in the Mood...

I like cooking up something special every now and then. Something different as compared to the usual black bean sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce or curry dishes.
I am amassing more and more sauces and ingredients in my fridge. Pepper, tomato, eggs are among them.

Garlic and onions are among the few that I throw into the sauce to add some taste and flavour. Pepper gives great colour and texture.

All the ingredients properly prepared and cut in bite size cubes. Preparing always takes much longer as compared to the actual process of cooking.

Vegetables are always part of my diet, more like a conscious choice.

Finally, presenting:- Japanese Tofu with sweet and sour pork.

p/s: cooking is hard work, I'd invited my (not-so-)evil twin to help out with cleaning the mess after hahaha...

Blend Trend

Finally I bought a blender! I'd always wanted one but didn't get around buying one. Just received some cash advance from site admin and I went on a shopping spree. This is retail therapy I guess, however I only buy food items. Does that makes it any better, I wonder.

It's actually a smoothie maker. Supposed to be able to crush ice cubes. I couldn't wait for the ice to freeze and harden up, I tried the classic recipe : - oranges, celery and carrots.

First you have to get the ingredients. It would be much easier getting an orange with celery sprouting out of it, two in one, no need to get two separate ingredients hihi

Chop, dice, pour in some water, press button and see them dance. Before and after of the process.

Anyway, nothing can go wrong with a blender, just put in the chunks of food and press, and there you have it, fresh smoothie/juice/puree. Cheers for good health.