An Expatriate in Taiwan

Category: Taiwanese Food

  • A look at Taiwanese citrus fruits

    I’m a big fan of Vitamin C and citrus fruits in general. It’s now that time of year that oranges are being harvested. You can hardly drive down the road without seeing one field or another being depleted of its nutritious stock, piled high on the side of the road, and left naked and alone…

  • A different type of drink

    In my time in Taiwan, I’ve had the opportunity to try lots of different foods and beverages. My philosophy has always been “try everything twice.” Simply, I think that if you try something once, whether you like it or not, there might be extenuating circumstances. Maybe you are having an exceptionally good/bad day, maybe the…

  • The Gukeng Coffee Festival

    Last weekend, Mrs. Expatriate and I decided to take a trip to the Gukeng Coffee Festival. It’s a small gathering of people selling coffee, food, handicrafts, and other such things. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and there were quite a few people out and about. If you get a chance, I recommend you go.

  • Someone wants us to have kids

    In Taiwan, it is common to eat sweet foods on and after your wedding day. It is thought that eating sweet food will help the newlywed couple have a baby boy. The reason is a Taiwanese proverb: [hanzi]吃甜甜，生兒子[/hanzi]。 ([pinyin]chi1 tian2tian2, sheng1 er2zi4[/pinyin]) It doesn’t sound as good in Mandarin, but it rhymes in Taiwanese ([pinyin]jia…

  • How to use chopsticks

    Being able to use chopsticks is an essential skill when living in Taiwan (or China or Japan or anywhere else in Asia). Most restaurants will have chopsticks and spoons available for use (the spoons being for soup). Rarely will you find forks and knives, unless you go to an American restaurant or steakhouse, etc. Chopsticks…

  • A day in Taichung

    Miss Expatriate and I decided to spend the day in Taichung and had quite a bit of fun. For once, we actually did something and I got the photos organized and am blogging about it (I’m usually too busy to put the photos up until months later when it’s too late). We started off with…

  • Free Fresh Fruit!

    No matter where you go in Taiwan, you can be assured there will be a large stock of locally grown, fresh fruit available.  Much of this fruit is similar to the Western World: apples, bananas, oranges, etc.  Much of it, however, is also very eastern: Bell Fruit, Passion Fruit (and other tropical fruits), Dragon Fruit,…

  • Taiwanese Winter dessert

    Many foods in Taiwan are seasonal. That is, you can only get them during a certain time of year.  One of my favorites is only available during the winter months: [hanzi]燒仙草[/hanzi] (shāoxiāncÇŽo). Literally, Hot Immortal Grass. In English, it’s commonly known as Hot Grass Jelly. This is one of those foods that just looks so…

  • Thanksgiving Dinner

    Well, it was a pretty uneventful Thanksgiving, as Thanksgiving is wont to be in Taiwan.  It isn’t particularly celebrated, although the Taiwanese do have a name for it: [hanzi]感恩节[/hanzi] (gÇŽnÄ“njié). If you have been reading the Taipei Times, you may know that the Kaohsiung Ambassador Hotel, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, was holding an American…

  • GUTS Chocolate Bar

    This is a GUTS chocolate bar. Sounds so appetizing. I’m not sure what it means: does it have guts in it? Does it take guts to eat it? Does it make you feel brave and strong afterwards? I ate it anyway; not bad at all.