The Year of the Snake!

 Ah, Lunar New Year!  The Year of the snake is upon us.  We chose to celebrate early this year, so we could include Eric’s family.  We have become a pretty close group, even though there’s a language barrier.  We find an ability to communicate by common interests.  For example, Eric’s dad and I enjoy brewing tea and drinking it in the gongfu style. We also enjoy Mahjong and enjoy playing together.  We all like to eat delicious Taiwanese cuisine and of course, we all love Elizabeth and Eric and their family.  These are cultural universals.  Food, fun and family, it doesn’t matter where you come from, every culture values and enjoys these things. 

It doesn’t hurt that both families are interested in having a good relationship together.  We can all be understanding of the differences between the two cultures.  It takes a bit of effort to try and think and behave in a way that doesn’t offend each other’s cultural biases. 

Let’s get to what actually happened on our “personal” Lunar New Year.  Brenda, my lovely wife, made a number of Lunar New Year decorations, and placed them around our apartment.  She created some beautiful flower arrangements, and a branch of “pussywillows” to hang on one wall.  Then she made a beautiful arrangement of ceramicware for the food service.  All of this was done with the help of Hola stores. 

Hola has a wonderful selection of Items for Lunar New Year and other holidays, like Christmas. We did all of our decoration shopping there.  While the women were “oohing and aahing” over the decorations, Eric, his dad and I got down to business with the teapot. 

We brewed a selection of teas, including green, oolong and black teas with fruit as a snack.  The women joined in after a while, as well.   After we were sufficiently, and by sufficiently, I mean excessively caffeinated it was time to think about serving the meal.

Our meal consisted of traditional Lunar New Year foods.  We had Luobogao (which is a combination of turnips and flour making a kind of cake), Zhujiao (pig’s feet), Sea bass, pork ball and turnip soup and “Buddha jumps over the wall” soup, and spinach.  Each of these carry a traditional meaning.

Luobogao (white radish cake) – gao means high, so the thought behind serving that is that you will move up during the next year.  A promotion on the job, or getting into a good high school, literally an increase.

Zhujiao or pigs feet represents abundance in the new year.

The fish is served, but some is to be left over to signify having food for the next year.

The pork ball/white radish soup – The addition of white radish is a wish for good luck in the next year.

The Spinach is made with long leaves to signify longevity.  

Finally, “Buddha Jumps over the wall” should be made premium quality ingredients and is a desire for wealth and prosperity

Lunar New Year is a great holiday.  We hope that you have a healthy, prosperous new year!  Happy Year of the Snake! 

啊，農曆新年！蛇年來了！我們今年提早慶祝，是為了能和 Eric 的家人一起過節。雖然語言上有些障礙，但我們已經成為一個很親密的大家庭。我們通過共同的興趣找到溝通的方法，比如我和 Eric 的爸爸都喜歡泡茶，用功夫茶的方式品茶。我們也喜歡一起打麻將。我們還都愛吃美味的台灣菜。當然了，大家都很愛 Elizabeth、Eric 和他們的家人。這些都是跨文化的共同點——美食、樂趣和家庭，無論來自哪裡，每個文化都珍視和享受這些。

兩家人都希望保持良好的關係，這點也很重要。大家都能理解兩種文化的差異，並努力以一種尊重對方文化的方式去思考和行為。這需要一些努力，但絕對值得。

現在來說說我們“私人”的農曆新年慶祝吧！我的太太 Brenda 特別賢慧，她做了很多農曆新年的裝飾品，把我們的公寓布置得充滿節日氣氛。她設計了一些漂亮的花藝擺設，還掛了一支“銀柳”在牆上。她還用陶瓷餐具布置了一套非常漂亮的餐桌擺設。所有這一切都在 Hola 商店的幫助下完成。

Hola 商店有很多很棒的節日商品，無論是農曆新年還是聖誕節，我們所有的裝飾都是在那裡買的。當女士們對裝飾品嘖嘖稱讚時，Eric、他爸爸和我已經開始專心泡茶了。

我們泡了幾種茶，包括綠茶、烏龍茶和紅茶，並配了些水果當小吃。後來女士們也加入了我們的茶會。等我們喝夠了茶（其實是喝得過量了），就開始準備晚餐了。

我們的晚餐是傳統的農曆新年菜餚，有蘿蔔糕（白蘿蔔加米粉做成的糕點）、豬腳、海鱸魚、豬肉丸蘿蔔湯、“佛跳牆”和菠菜。每道菜都有特殊的寓意：

• 蘿蔔糕：因為“糕”與“高”同音，象徵步步高升，比如工作升職或考上好學校。
• 豬腳：寓意新年豐衣足食。
• 魚：吃魚時要留一些，象徵“年年有餘”。
• 豬肉丸蘿蔔湯：白蘿蔔象徵好運。
• 佛跳牆：用優質食材製作，象徵財富和繁榮。
• 菠菜：用長葉子烹飪，象徵長壽。

農曆新年真是一個美好的節日！祝大家新年健康、富足！蛇年快樂！

Check Out Elizabeth's video - 查看莎白的影片！

Handmade Decorations

Mahjong!

Luobogao - White Radish Cake

Zhujiao - Pig's Feet with Broccoli

Sea Bass

Pork Ball/White Radish Soup

"Longevity Spinach"

Buddha Jumps Over the Wall

Cooking with Eric

When I decided to restart the Taiwan Adventure Blog, I didn’t intend for it to be just another Taiwanese food blog.  Taiwan is known as a food destination.  There are all kinds of delicious foods here.  I like to eat, and I seem to spend a lot of time doing just that, but before you start thinking, “This old man is going to get fat,” I think it’s important to note that I’ve dropped about five kilograms (eleven pounds) since I’ve been here.  I think I’m really beginning to agree with Robert Kennedy that there’s some component in food in the US that causes Americans to get fat.  I don’t eat less, and I don’t eat more.  The difference must be what I’m eating.  The food is just healthier, I guess.

At our house, Eric seems to cook most of the dinners, and guess what, Eric can cook.  He does a lot of stir fry, which considering where we live, is a reasonable choice.  Taiwanese kitchens are very basic.  There’s no kitchen range (cooktop/oven combination) just a basic cooktop designed for use with a wok.  So, everything is cooked on top of the stove.  You can get an oven at Costco, but it’s a small appliance that fits on an existing countertop.   

There are lots of combination cookers that combine microwave, air fryer and convection ovens, but again they’re made at countertop size.  Eric doesn’t use all of that.  He uses a stir fry method, boils or steams vegetables and uses the air fryer.  He also serves rice with every meal that’s cooked in a rice cooker. 

His meals are pretty eclectic, everything from Japanese curry to fried chicken thighs.  When he was in the states he became a master of the barbecue.  He can barbecue chicken with the best of them and even became so good at Carne Asada that Elle exclaimed, “I’m shocked to the sky!”  I’m not really sure what that means but apparently, it’s a good thing, because she scarfed it up with great gusto.  He is often my sous chef on the smoker, as well.

Eric and I have similar tastes in food.  We both like our meals with a bit of spice.  The problem is that the rest of the family is not all that excited about spicy food, so we have some hot sauce that we incorporate with our meals.  It’s made with raw cayenne peppers, about 50,000 Scoville heat units (SHU).  Compare that to Jalapenos which are about 2,500 SHU or Habaneros at 100,000 SHU.  Those babies will burn your lips right off, if you’re not careful.  I put some on my chicken once and Eric thought it was too much.  “Are you committing suicide?” he asked with incredulity. So, we now just call it the "suicide" sauce.  Your mouth can adjust to it eventually and it's not so hot, in fact it has a great taste.  It’s finely diced peppers with a bit of Olive Oil. 

當我決定重啟「台灣冒險部落格」時，我並不想讓它只成為另一個台灣美食部落格。台灣以美食天堂著稱，這裡有各種美味的食物。我喜歡吃東西，也似乎花了很多時間在吃，但在你開始想「這個老頭會不會吃胖」之前，我覺得有必要提一下，自從來到這裡，我已經瘦了大約五公斤（十一磅）。我真的開始同意羅伯特·肯尼迪的看法——美國的食物裡似乎有某種成分讓美國人變胖。我吃的量並沒有減少，也沒有增加，差別應該是食物本身。我猜，這裡的食物更健康吧。

在我們家，大多數晚餐都是Eric做的，而你猜怎麼樣？Eric真的會做飯。他經常炒菜，考慮到我們的居住地，這是很合理的選擇。台灣的廚房非常簡單，沒有傳統的廚灶（爐灶和烤箱的組合），只有一個為炒鍋設計的基本爐灶。因此，所有的食物都是在爐子上煮的。你可以在Costco買到烤箱，但那是一種小型電器，放在現有的檯面上使用。

還有很多結合微波爐、空氣炸鍋和對流烤箱功能的組合式廚具，但它們也是檯面大小的。Eric並不使用這些設備。他主要用炒菜的方法，或者煮、蒸蔬菜，還用空氣炸鍋。他每頓飯都會配上一些用電鍋煮的米飯。

他的料理風格相當多元，從日式咖哩到炸雞腿不等。在美國的時候，他成為了一位燒烤大師。他的烤雞技術堪稱一流，甚至還精通墨西哥烤肉（Carne Asada），以至於Elle驚呼：「我震驚到天上去了！」我不太確定這句話的意思，但顯然是好事，因為她吃得津津有味。他也經常在我用煙燻爐做菜時擔任我的助手。

Eric和我在飲食口味上非常相似，我們都喜歡帶點辣味的餐點。但問題是，家裡其他人對辣味並不感興趣，所以我們會在自己的餐點中加入一些辣醬。這種辣醬是用生的紅辣椒製成的，辣度約為50,000斯科維爾熱單位（SHU）。相比之下，墨西哥辣椒（Jalapeno）的辣度約為2,500 SHU，而哈瓦那辣椒（Habanero）約為100,000 SHU。這些辣椒如果不小心，真的能燒掉你的嘴唇。我曾經把一些辣醬加在雞肉上，Eric覺得太多了，他驚訝地問：「你是在自殺嗎？」所以，我們現在稱這個辣醬為「自殺醬」。你的口腔最終可以適應它，感覺就不那麼辣了，事實上，它的味道非常棒。這是用細細切碎的辣椒和少許橄欖油做成的。

The following is a selection of Eric meals.  Enjoy!

以下是Eric的一些料理作品。請慢用！

Pork Soup with Pork Balls, Chicken and Green Papaya Salad and Pineapple

Japanese Curry, Sweet Potato Leaves and Rice

Hot Pot - Green Curry and Vegetable broths, with Pork Balls, 

Needle Mushrooms and Mushrooms and Yakiniku (Japanese Barbecue)

"Suicide" Sauce

Cayenne Peppers

All Photos and Text Property of Taiwan Adventure Publications.

Barbecue at Stone Yakiniku

I’m a big believer in Barbecue.  In Arizona, we experimented with Southwestern style barbecue on a regular basis.  This is a style of cooking popular in the American southwest, places like Texas and Arizona.  We used a smoker over there, a smoker is an outdoor oven.  Wood is burned and the smoke and temperature cook the meat slowly.  The smoke favor blends with the seasoning of the meat, the result is both delicious and fragrant. 

We usually smoked pork ribs and certain cuts of beef.  We even tried some things like a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, salmon fillets, and crispy pork belly.  Using a smoker takes hours to cook food.  The slang for this type of cooking is “low and slow.”  That is, a low temperature and a long time to cook.  The meat is tender and flavorful because of this style of cooking. 

So, as you can see, I’m a barbecue fan.  Barbecue is my favorite way to eat meat.  I like it so much that I shipped my smoker all the way from Tucson to Taoyuan. 

Shipping takes a while though, so I’m stuck waiting for it to get here.  In the meantime, I can go to StoneYakiniku, a barbecue place near my home.  Stone Yakiniku is an all you can eat barbecue place.  You order meat and then you can barbecue right at your table.  They have these ingenious grills that pulls the smoke into a ventilation system that vents it outside.  There’s an old song in the US called, “Smoke gets in your eyes.”  At Stone Yakiniku smoke never gets in your eyes.

In addition to barbecue, they serve hot pot and have a selection of sushi and sashimi that you can order as well. Prices can vary depending on your choice from $899 NTD ($27.24 USD) to $1099 NTD ($33.30 USD).  It seems a little expensive, but it’s so worth it.

我是個燒烤的忠實愛好者。在亞利桑那州，我們經常嘗試西南風味的燒烤。這種烹飪風格在美國西南部很受歡迎，例如德州和亞利桑那。我們在那裡使用了一種燻烤爐，這是一種戶外烤箱。燻烤爐使用燃燒的木材，利用煙霧和溫度慢慢烹煮肉類。煙霧的香氣與肉類的調味相結合，結果既美味又芳香。

我們通常會燻烤豬肋排和一些牛肉部位。我們甚至試過感恩節的整隻火雞、三文魚排，以及酥脆的豬五花。使用燻烤爐烹煮食物需要花上好幾個小時。這種烹飪方式的俚語叫做「低溫慢煮」（low and slow）。也就是說，用低溫長時間烹煮。因為這種烹飪風格，肉質變得嫩滑多汁，味道也更加濃郁。

所以，正如你所見，我是一個燒烤迷。燒烤是我最喜歡吃肉的方式。我喜歡燒烤到一個程度，甚至把我的燻烤爐從圖森運到了桃園。

My Backyard Smoker

Happy New Year From TWA2

 

I'm always encouraged to begin a new year.  You can look at it as a fresh start...a sort of new beginning. What are you looking for to happen in your life this year?  What are you hoping for in 2025?  Let me know in the comments.  Happy New Year, Taiwan!

 

Christmas Dinner at Wang Steak

Last night was Christmas Eve.  We went out to in Wang Steak Taoyuan City.  Years ago, we had eaten at a restaurant that was similar, but had never eaten at the “King”.  The other restaurant was ok, but the meat seemed like it was cooked in a steam cooker. 

Wang Steak grills their meat and cooks it to a perfect medium rare.  The meal is a set menu.  They serve soup, salad, the entrée, desert, and a coffee or tea drink at the end.  Since it was Christmas Eve they gave us a complimentary seafood course, consisting of mussels, white fish, squid, and clam. 

I have to admit the place seemed pricey at first, until I saw the food and presentation.  Prices start at $1550 NTD (About $46 USD) to $1990 NTD (About $60 USD) per person, depending on what you order. 

One interesting thing about this particular facility is that the booths are parabolic, so people inside the booth could speak softly and be heard easily by the rest of the group.  This way the restaurant stays quiet and elegant.

I have to admit right here and now, that I’m new to this food blogging thing.  I kept forgetting to take pictures of my food.

昨晚是聖誕前夕。我們去了桃園市的王品牛排。幾年前，我們曾經在一家類似的餐廳用餐，但從未在「王品」用過餐。那家餐廳還可以，但肉質像是用蒸汽鍋煮的。

王品牛排將肉塊烤得恰到好處，達到完美的中等熟度。這頓飯是套餐形式，包含湯、沙拉、主菜、甜點，以及餐後的咖啡或茶。由於是聖誕前夕，他們還贈送了我們一份免費的海鮮拼盤，包括蠔、白魚、魷魚和蛤蜊。

我必須承認，剛開始覺得這裡價格有點高，直到我看到食物和擺盤。價格從每人新台幣1550元（大約46美元）到1990元（大約60美元）不等，視乎你點的菜品。

這家餐廳的一個有趣之處是，他們的包廂是拋物線形設計，這樣包廂裡的人可以輕聲交談，其他人也能清楚聽到。這樣餐廳保持了安靜和優雅的氛圍。

我必須坦白，這是我第一次嘗試食物部落格寫作。我總是忘記拍照紀錄我的餐點。

Vocabulary:

Complimentary – Given at no cost - 免費提供

Pricey – Expensive - 昂貴

Elegant – Sophisticated - 精緻的

Served with your meal is this glass of Sparkling Plum Juice.  Delicious and refreshing

Bread served before our meal, a Croissant and Raisin Bread.

There were three salads to choose from.  I chose this Cauliflower and Bacon Salad.

I Chose the Seafood Soup!

There was a number of Entrees, but I chose Lamb shank and Shrimp for mine.

Cheese and Pomelo Tart for dessert.

Sushiro

In Tucson, good sushi is a rare commodity.  It might be because the ocean isn’t that close.  Arizona is landlocked as they say.  The place is full of landlubbers. 

"A "landlubber" is a term used by sailors to refer to someone who is unfamiliar with the sea or inexperienced in sailing. It's often used in a somewhat teasing or playful manner to describe people who are more comfortable on land than at sea. Think of it as a nautical way of saying "greenhorn" or "newbie." " -Microsoft Copilot. 

It must be said that I am NOT a landlubber.  In fact, I’m very comfortable at the helm of a sailboat.  I spent a lot of hours sailing in San Franciso Bay with a friend, who taught me how to sail. But none of that is germane to today’s post. I was just boasting.  This post is about sushi.

I live on an island. We are surrounded by ocean, which means we are surrounded by fish.  In fact, they sell live ones at the traditional market.  They even have fish auctions in the mornings.  The place is practically bursting with fish.  It is much easier to find good sushi in Taiwan than in Tucson.

This last week went to a sushi restaurant near our home, called “Sushiro”.  The fish was fresh and delicious.  The cuts were generous.  I like nigiri, (which is small clumps of rice with wasabi and cuts of raw fish.) Generally, the price was about $40 - $80 NTD ($1.20 - $2.40 USD), of course there were others that were a bit more.  That’s a reasonable price for fresh sushi. 

The sushi is delivered to your table on a little track that runs past each table.  You see what you want and just reach out and grab it.  You can also order from an electronic menu, and it comes out on the “express track”.

They have other things as well, like soups and noodles.  Excellent sushi at a great price. I’d give the place a nine out of 10. One point off for packaged wasabi, it's not as powerful as the fresh stuff. I need the fresh wasabi power!

在圖森，好吃的壽司可不常見。這可能是因為離海洋不太近。亞利桑那州正如大家所說，是個內陸州。這裡大部分人都是「陸地人」。

「陸地人」是水手用來形容那些不熟悉海洋或不懂航海的人，通常帶有一些戲謔或調侃的意味，用來形容那些更習慣待在陸地上的人。可以把它當作是對「新手」或「外行人」的海上用語。 —— 微軟助手。

但必須說明的是，我絕對不是陸地人。事實上，我在帆船舵柄上非常得心應手。我曾經和一位朋友在舊金山灣航行，學會了如何駕駛帆船。不過，這點和今天的文章並沒有太大關聯，今天我要談的是壽司。

我住在一個島嶼上，四面環海，這意味著我們周圍充滿了魚類。事實上，當地的傳統市場還賣活魚，早上甚至有魚拍賣。這裡幾乎到處都是魚。在台灣，比起圖森，找到好壽司要容易得多。

上週，我去了家離家很近的壽司店，叫做「壽司郎」。那裡的魚新鮮又美味，切割也相當大方。我喜歡吃握壽司（就是小團的米飯上放上芥末和生魚片）。一般來說，價格大約是40到80新台幣（約1.20到2.40美元），當然也有一些比較貴的選擇。這樣的價格能吃到新鮮壽司，真的是很合理。

壽司是通過一條小軌道送到每張桌子的，你可以看到自己喜歡的壽司，然後伸手去拿。你也可以從電子菜單點餐，食物會經由「快速軌道」送過來。

他們也有其他的菜品，比如湯和麵條。總的來說，這是一家提供非常棒壽司的餐廳，價格也很實惠。我會給這家店打9分（滿分10分），扣掉1分是因為他們用的是包裝好的芥末，沒有新鮮芥末那麼辛辣。我真的需要新鮮芥末的強烈味道！

Okay relax, there was four of us. I didn't eat all of that!

Science Stuff and Adequate Photography

Okay, so we have settled once again in Taoyuan City.  I have this hobby; I like to take pictures of birds.  Everybody thinks I’m a birdwatcher and I guess you could say that, but I watch them to understand their behaviors and what they look and sound like so that I can get reasonably adequate photos of them.  Really, I’m neither a good birdwatcher nor a good photographer.

When I was in the university, oh so long ago, I studied animals, birds and insects as a biology major.  I was into it.  I wanted to be one of those biologist types that went out and studied specific animals or birds.  I wanted to count Bighorn Sheep, or bears, or birds.  Basically, I just wanted to be outside in nature, doing science stuff.  I even had my own stereo microscope, to look at really small stuff.

But it was not to be.  When I got out into the non-academic world, (the “real” world”) I ended up driving a trash truck.  At least I got to be outside, but it was a suburban environment, Bighorn Sheep are pretty rare in the “burbs”, so I didn’t do much counting.  If I’m being honest, I have to say that I loved driving that truck.  Trash was my life, which is better than the other way around, if you catch my meaning. 

There may not have been too many Bighorn Sheep, but there were lots of birds.  I worked in California,
and I knew all the local bird species, and their songs and calls.  I also used to be pretty good with a dichotomous key, too.  (This was waaaay before Google was even thought of.)

When I moved to Taiwan, I didn’t see any of the birds I was familiar with, so I had to find some way to identify them.  I bought a book titled, “Birds of East Asia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Russia” by Mark Brazil. That’s a huge area, and there are thousands of species listed and shown.  It’s really too cumbersome to be a field guide.  You have to be sure to check the range to find the birds you’re seeing.  I couldn’t do all that and identify the birds, while I was out cruising around.  Hence, the photography aspect of all of this, I bought a decent camera so I could take a photo, then I could sit at my desk and figure out what I saw. Now I use Cornell Lab’s excellent app called Merlin, for identification, by sight or sound.  It’s free, so you can just put it on your phone and download a “bird pack” for the area where you will be and you can depend on it identify the birds you see.

My wife and I moved here from Arizona, recently, and not only are the birds different, but the environment is also different.  We lived in the Sonoran Desert, Tucson actually, and it’s interesting how the colors have changed.  Taiwan is a lush, sub-tropical environment, Tucson is a dry, dusty desert.  So, I wanted to show the difference in the environment. The environment influences the look of the birds as well.  Check it out. 

Tucson - Desert Birds (Notice the Browns and Olive Greens in the Backgrounds)

Gambell's Quail

Cactus Wren (Arizona State Bird) on a Cholla Cactus

Say's Phoebe

Greater Roadrunner

Taiwan - Sub-Tropical Birds (Notice the Green Colors in the Backgrounds)

Light-vented Bulbul

Cattle Egret (Non-breeding Plumage)

Black-collared Starling

Common Sandpiper (Wading Bird)

Author's Photo:  Emily Banducci

Merlin Bird ID App:  Apple IOS version     Google Store Version

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