Locally Grown - Availability for June 10th , 2015

Hey Local Food Lovers,

This week is fun for me because I can still go out and get a few last Taiwanese treats before the long flight home tomorrow (I’m about to eat 3 mangoes right after I post this), but can also order this weeks specialities from Locally Grown for pickup on Wednesday. The best of all worlds this week.

This is the last unusual post from Asia. Thanks to all who may have read these posts with a bit of curiosity about how people are eating half a world away. Due to a baby in tow we didn’t quite have as much flexibility as past visits when we were able to hunt down a few organic farms over here, and try and research what was going on in the sustainability of food front here in Taiwan. But from the purely local foods angle (Taiwan does a fantastic job of growing as much food as they possibly can considering the very small size of their island compared to the very large population….23 million).

Since it’s so difficult to discuss every delicious morsel of food I’ve put into my mouth these last several weeks I’m going to just focus on a few that I have taken photos for. What you are about to read are the captions from photos of these foods posted to the Locally Grown Facebook page

A few of these I’ve talked about briefly before, but have added some details that should be interesting.

Last week we visited Tainan which is one of the oldest cities in Taiwan (this former capital is in fact the origin of the country’s name), and very famous for foods that originated here…many of which have since become popular all over Asia. This one is called an Oyster Omelet. It is pretty much what it sounds like except that in addition to eggs and oysters they often also include sweet potato starch (which gives the whole thing a bit of a gooey consistency) bean sprouts, lettuce, shrimp and several different types of sweet or spicy sauce poured over the top. The oysters were fantastic and very fresh.

Another interesting aspect of small family owned restaurants all over Asia is that they usually do most or all the cooking on a portable gas stove or skillet in this case that is pushed outside of the restaurant. There’s several reasons for this. It’s too hot to cook indoors (most places don’t use AC), passerby can get a waft of the good smells of your food, and reduces the chances you burn your restaurant down. This is especially important since these families almost always live upstairs of the restaurant.

Accompanying this meal was milkfish ball soup. Very common in coastal areas (which is most of Taiwan). Milkfish is the most common fish in Taiwan and every single part of the fish is used. Something was really special about this broth too. In future visits hopefully my Chinese will be good enough to pry the secrets of this soup from the cooks!

Night markets are very popular in Taiwan. They are a bonanza of good traditional foods and snacks. Asian style pastries are one of the absolute best breakfast treats. If you’ve never heard of these, they are impossible to explain because there are literally hundreds of varieties, and bakers pride themselves on innovations in mixing flavors into new items. Very common are green onions, sausages (basically hot dogs) baked inside in different configurations, and dried shredded pork often with a sweet mayo….this is almost always my favorite. If you are curious about these pastries I have good news. There is a place called Sweet Hut on Buford Hwy right off 185 in Atlanta that does these just about as well as those I’ve had in Taiwan. Give it a try! And try their fried chicken bites too. Get them spicy.

One of our favorite treats at this particular night market was a fried Fantuan, otherwise known as a sticky rice ball. The traditional way this is made is with sticky rice filled with a fried piece of doughnut, pickled cabbage, and small bits of pork. This night market version was a little different. The whole thing was also lightly battered and fried, with a little spicy mayo in the middle. You got to kick things up a notch at night right? Then wrapped in seaweed to keep your hand from getting messy. It was terrific!

Another treat…. corn on the cob on a stick. But in Taiwan they coat the whole thing in their own BBQ sauce. Much better this way.

Ok, this next one is a little more applicable to us local fruit lovers.

Taiwanese love not just watermelons but a specific variety of watermelon known in the states as an Ali Baba (this was my wife and I’s specialty back when we were growing to sell). Originally from Iraq, it is a seriously superior melon. Watermelon here is most frequently served in triangles with the rind on after dinner. It’s a most refreshing way to end a meal. At the night market however, they have lots of fresh fruit smoothie stands where you can get a watermelon or papaya smoothie. We got both…and an Aloe Vera juice too sweetened with honey. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit, often these drinks are made with no sugar added. It’s just fruit and water.

You can also find these made with milk. In fact the 7-11’s in Taiwan (the most popular convenient stores in the country) actually sell cartons of watermelon and papaya milk. But of course the fresh ones are what you want.

It’s really hard to pick favorites, but I think my favorite dish of the entire trip was the sautéed eggplant! My wife has been making me braised eggplant with basil and chills for a long time, but this version blew my mind. There were some bits of pork in this and the garlic sauce was so savory. The delivery in a classic style bowl didn’t hurt either, but I’d do anything to eat this meal again. The green tea infused rice in the background was also amazing.

Some other nods. Wonton noodle soup. This is from a family owned street vendor. Both the cooking and the seating is all outside under the eaves of the buildings. In addition to the soup there is a side salad of eggs cooked in soy sauce and seaweed. At the same place we had Xiaolongbao. Pronounced Shalong bow. These little steamed buns most often filled with pork are one of my favorites. Served in a bamboo steaming basket. Dipped in sweet soy sauce. We always add some of the hot chili oil too.

Just a block or two from where my inlaws live is an amazing beef noodle soup place. The first time we ever went there the old guy owner was actually making the noodles. Fascinating. The way he would flip stretch and shake the dough kind of like a hot towel or something. Noodles are seriously important to the Taiwanese, and nearly all Asians I gather. Each country I’ve visited so far, you just pray you find their best version of noodle soup, because when you do, you’ll be very happy. So far in Taiwan this is it. The beef broth is super salty and spicy. First few times I had this it was a little hard to get used to. Now I actually add the hot chili oil to kick it up even more.

Last but not least, perhaps the best sweet treat in a hot tropical Asian country is shaved ice. At the beginning it just looks like a bowl of snow cone ice covered with brown sugar syrup. But at the bottom is your choice of lots of sweet often chewy things such as taro and other flavors of tapioca, grass jelly, sticky rice balls, passion fruit seeds, and sweetened mung or pinto beans. All the flavors mix together as you get closer to the bottom. This is the perfect treat on a hot day…..which is pretty much everyday here in the summer. It may sound weird, but I assure you, it’s awesome. You’ll never want another silly sugary snow cone again. Part of why it’s so good is all those ingredients are made fresh each day. They are sweet but not too sweet, and their is even a bit of nutrition in this dessert. But the main thing is the diversity of flavors and textures while being cooled down. Ahhhhh. I’ll miss it.

That’s a lot to chew on. I hope some of you get to taste a few of these dishes. Many are becoming more and more available in the states. But for the rest, I plan to learn to cook as many of these as I can. My wife already does a dang good job on quite a few of them.

Hope everyone has a splendid week. Don’t forget, just a few more weeks before the FARM TOUR. It’s a pretty slow week so far for orders, so order more and keep these farmers busy. Picks of the week still available are cucumbers, first fresh garlic of the year, and get you some garlic scapes for the grill, lots of leeks, sugar snap peas, squash, radish and even a few peppers.

EAT WELL,

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