Locally Grown - Availability for May 20th , 2015

Hey Local Food Lovers,

Greetings from half way around the world. This message is being sent from Tapei, Taiwan which is about 8,000 miles away from North Georgia. I think this is what you call truly “getting away from it all!”

It’s been two years since my last trip here, so let’s refresh on some of my favorite things….and some of the more unusual aspects….of traveling in Taiwan and Asia more generally.

I’ll start with the basics. The U.S. and western countries in general tend to think horizontally. Buildings, vehicles, even our own bodies tend to spread outward on the sides (You know what I’m talking about). Since Taiwan is a very small country (at least 3 Taiwan’s would fit inside of the state of Georgia), yet the population is 4 times larger at 24 million, and it’s also an island, space is a precious commodity. So everything is about maximizing space, especially vertical space.

For example, my in-laws house is modest, yet has 4 stories plus a rooftop with a great view of the sunrise…pretty much like every house in the area. The width of the front entrance is probably only 16 feet across, which includes a garage door for parking their van. The van itself is tall and skinny, just like all the trucks here. Two cars can easily pass each other on a narrow alleyway.

Businesses on the main streets are very dense, one right after the other so all the signs are oriented upright vertically, long and skinny, and span several floors of the buildings they are affixed to. People here are skinnier too, but not due to lack of food. Food is everywhere! And the Taiwanese love to eat. There are markets with fresh fruit. In season right now is mango (my favorite, more on that later), water melon (shee qwa) and pineapple. Fresh cut meat is displayed each morning on the carts of butchers lining the roadway with little spinning fans with long strings hanging down to keep insects away.

The primary modes of transport are scooters and trains. Many, many people jetting around on scooters is a sight to behold. It’s even more fun to be on the scooter jetting yourself. You kind of know what it feels like to be a single blood cell being pumped through a circulatory system. Having a baby in a stroller this time around, we’ve found you literally can’t walk down the sidewalk for all the scooters parked there. I’d guess there are more than 50 but less than a 100 scooters for every single block you walk.

So what about the food? This isn’t a travel blog after all…. tell us about the food. Well I should start by saying that most meals so far have been at home, since my father in law is an incredible cook. I’d choose his cooking over most other Taiwanese food any day. Just as in most of the world, preparing meat for guests is a sign of generosity. However, the method of preparation is very different compared to the states.

Chicken and duck for instance is salted and streamed then chopped with a large butcher’s knife into diagonal cut pieces. These cuts go straight through the bone, so you are constantly picking little pieces of bone out, or chewing around them. But, since you aren’t just eating the thigh or breast meat, you often get more dark and white meat mixed together, for a greater diversity of flavor. An accompanying orange dipping sauce is very tasty too.

Our first night here, right off the plane we had stir fry noodles with seafood which included squid, octopus, and shrimp. Taiwanese love all chewy foods, and after several trips here I’ve acquired a taste for some of them too. Cuttle fish is another squid substitute that is quite good.

Pork is a backbone to much cooking here, though never in big pieces like a pork chop, usually it is cooked for a long time in different types of sauce then pulled apart and used as a flavoring in different dishes. Though we did have some whole ribs cooked in a soy based sauce that was so good! Tender salty meat falling off the bone. All meals are eaten with a small rice bowl in hand and chop sticks then you pick and choose from all the dishes in front of you. You can have a few bites of pork, then a few of chicken, then some stewed squash or napa cabbage (this one with mushrooms, pork and little tiny dried shrimp).

For breakfast we’ve had two options most mornings. Little cafes around town specialize in what’s called egg pie, which is just a rice flour tortilla type thing on a griddle with a scrambled egg poured on top to cook. Before flipping it closed and sliced into pieces you can add many different fillings. One of my favorites is dried pork (which is kind of fluffy and hair like) with corn, and a sweet mayo sauce. Our other breakfast has been these amazing traditional Tawianese pastries. I’ll describe those for you later.

Since I’m almost out of time for today, let me wrap up with my favorite sweet treat that I had yesterday (oh there are so many I hope to describe). It’s a mango shaved ice. Shaved Ice is a taiwanese speciality I’ll try and describe later, but for this version the ice is actually flavored like Mango, then fresh mango pieces are frozen and put on top, then two scoops of mango ice cream, and some condensed milk over it all, with little chocolate sprinkles. It’s very refreshing, and very Mango!!

There are many more tales to come. On Tuesday, we’re on our way to Japan, so that should be all new experiences to describe.

Not missing Georgia yet, but I’m sure that’ll happen before the end of the trip.

I hope everyone orders big this week! Keep your bellies full of good food while we’re away!

and EAT WELL,

Justin in Taiwan
Chuck in Rabun
Teri in Clarkesville
Andrew in Gainesville