Monday, February 24, 2025

Shopping at the Traditional Market

I think I’ve said this before, but the traditional market is one of my favorite places to go.  This is where we buy our fresh pork and all of our vegetables.  I wanted to take a break from talking about restaurants and talk about when we eat at home.   Eric, my son-in-law or Elizabeth cook almost every night.  Most of our meals consist of a protein, lots of vegetables and since this is Asia of course we eat rice. 

I’m kind of fussy about my blood sugar, so I tend not to eat much rice, potatoes or bread.  I break down occasionally and eat baozi (steamed buns filled with pork or cabbage) or Guabao (phonetically gwa bou), called the “Taiwanese Hamburger” consisting of a steamed bun sliced open and stuffed with braised pork, cilantro and peanut powder.

I read an interesting article recently that said if rice is cooked and then refrigerated overnight it doesn’t spike blood sugar as much as when it is cooked and served immediately.  Diabetes is a difficult thing to reduce with just diet.  There are so many different things that internet people say causes diabetes, and have some product to sell, guaranteed to make your blood sugar normalize in a week.  I’m not a diabetic but I’m careful to keep my blood sugar as low as possible, without the use of drugs.

Meanwhile, back at the point, because we cook at home we need to buy vegetables regularly.  We only eat fresh vegetables.  The best place for that is the traditional market.  Most vegetables are locally grown, fresh and organic.  The meat is the same way.  A pig is brought into the market, butchered and sold that day.  Fish are alive in water and killed and cleaned right in front of you.  Chickens and eggs are easily found, fresh and inexpensive.   Beef is usually only available at supermarkets or Costco. It's almost always imported from Australia or New Zealand, because there’s not a lot of room for cattle ranches in Taiwan. 

The government is very careful to make sure certain things that are put into meat in the US are not to be sold in Taiwan.  Therefore, pork and some other meats are not imported from the US.  Food is much healthier here because of the freshness and the lack of chemistry. 

Take a quick trip through the market with me and look at prices.

我想我以前說過這件事,但傳統市場是我最喜歡去的地方之一。我們就是在這裡買新鮮的豬肉和各種蔬菜。
我想稍微跳開餐廳的話題,聊聊我們在家吃飯的時候。

我的女婿 Eric 或是 Elizabeth 幾乎每天晚上都會下廚。我們的餐點通常包含一種蛋白質、大量蔬菜,當然,既然這裡是亞洲,我們一定會吃米飯。
我對血糖比較講究,所以通常不太吃米飯、馬鈴薯或麵包。不過偶爾我還是會破戒,吃個包子(裡面包豬肉或高麗菜的蒸包)或刈包(音近ㄍㄨㄚˋ ㄅㄛ,被稱為台灣漢堡,是將割開的白色刈包夾入滷豬肉、香菜和花生粉)。

最近我讀到一篇有趣的文章,說如果米飯煮好後放進冰箱冷藏一晚,對血糖的影響會比剛煮好時來得小。糖尿病光靠飲食很難控制。網路上有太多人說各種東西會導致糖尿病,然後推銷他們的產品,保證能在一週內讓血糖恢復正常。我不是糖尿病患者,但我還是很注意控制血糖,盡量不用藥物來維持健康。

話說回來,因為我們在家煮飯,所以需要定期購買蔬菜。我們只吃新鮮的蔬菜,而傳統市場是最好的選擇。大部分的蔬菜都是本地種植的,新鮮又有機。肉類也是一樣的,一頭豬被送到市場當天就現場屠宰並販售。魚類則是活水養殖,當場現殺現處理。雞肉和雞蛋都很容易買到,既新鮮又便宜。

牛肉通常只能在超市或 Costco 找到,因為台灣的牛肉幾乎都是從澳洲或紐西蘭進口的,畢竟台灣的土地不大,沒有太多空間可以養牛。政府對於進口肉品的規範非常嚴格,像美國肉品中含有的某些添加物,在台灣是禁止販售的。因此,台灣不進口美國豬肉等部分肉類。由於這裡的食材新鮮、添加物少,飲食相對來說更健康。

跟我一起快速逛一圈市場,看看價格吧!

 

A cornucopia of fresh vegetables 

Cauliflower 1 head for $1.00 USD and Broccoli 2 for $1.50 USD

Peppers 60 cents each, Spinach 75 cents for 1 Jin (600 grams or 1 1/3 lbs) Scallions 33 cents/bunch

White Cabbage $1.00 USD each, Cabbage $45 cents/600 grams (1 1/3 lbs)

Eggs sold by weight; $1.00 USD per 600 grams, 50 eggs about $4.54 USD (Prices fluctuate)

A Busy Fruit and Vegetable Stand

Shopping at the Traditional Market


Photos by Eric Liu
All Photos and posts property of Taiwan Adventure Publications

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