The Other Fish Market

The midnight Fish market was too much, even for me, so we tried again at a different place.  This time we went to a day fish market in Yilan Daxi.  This market was more my style.  Friendly vendors selling fish at a good price.  This isn’t a wholesale market.  This is a retail market.

You could ask questions, people smiled and talked to you, and didn’t make faces when you asked to buy one fish.  For me, it was all “Happy, happy, joy, joy!”  I always like it better when people don’t think I’m a pain in the butt.  I mean I am, but I just like it better when they don’t think that.

You don’t have to worry that the fish might not be fresh, either.  The fishermen get up real early in the morning…real early.  They get in their boats and go out fishing about 4:00 am.  Then they come back before 1:00 pm, and unload.  The market opens at 1:00 pm.  So, you’re buying the fish caught that morning. I saw crabs that were still alive, and trying to grab some guy with their pincers.  There were some fish in bowls of water still alive enough to give you the old “stink-eye.” 

All of the fish are caught just off the shore in a channel between Yilan and Turtle Island.  So many varieties; Amberjack, Scarlet Shrimp, crabs, Flying Fish, Red-eye, and the specialty of the market 安康魚 (phonetically: Awn Kong Yu), which we call Monkfish in English. 

The fish are reasonably priced.  We bought a giant Amberjack for $380 NTD, (about $12.69 USD), but the Amberjack had two flying fish in its stomach, so we got two bonus fish.  We also bought a kilo of Scarlet Shrimp, another Flying Fish and three Monkfish. All of that, plus that giant Amberjack cost us $1125 NTD (about $37.57 USD).

Here’s the really cool part though, after you buy the fish, and the vendor cleans them, then you take them upstairs to these restaurant stalls and they cook them up for you.  At the restaurant we got the Amberjack made into sushi, fried filet, and soup, (with the Flying Fish that were in the Amberjack’s stomach).  Then we had a fried Flying Fish, and they prepared the Monkfish with some vegetables.  We also got fried cabbage and 空心菜, (phonetically, kowng shin sigh) which is called water spinach in English.  In the US, you can only find 空心菜 in Asian stores, but it’s really expensive. The restaurant only charged $1020 NTD (about $34.06 USD).  Altogether we paid $2145 NTD, ($71.63 USD) for all that.  Five of us ended up eating fish for three days.  I think that’s pretty inexpensive.  You could probably get all of that in the states for the price of a small car.

That last place as I said I wouldn’t recommend for tourists.  It was not a fun place.  This place, on the other hand, I would call a "don’t miss" tourist stop.  It is even wheelchair accessible, with a large disabled person restroom and a ramp down to the Fish Market.  Fresh fish and delicious cooking, what more can you ask for, and definitely don’t forget the Monkfish.  It was the best part.

半夜的魚市場對我來說實在太誇張了，連我都受不了，所以我們換了個地方再試一次。這次我們去了宜蘭大溪的白天魚市場。這個市場就比較像我習慣的樣子了——友善的攤販、實惠的魚價。這不是批發市場，而是零售市場。

你可以問問題，人們會微笑並與你交談，而且當你只想買一條魚時，他們也不會露出不悅的表情。對我來說，整個體驗就像「快樂快樂、歡喜歡喜！」我總是比較喜歡別人不覺得我是個討人厭的人。雖然我的確有點煩，但我比較喜歡他們不這麼覺得。

你也不必擔心魚不新鮮。漁夫們一大早就起床……真的很早，大概凌晨四點就出海，然後在下午一點前返回卸貨。市場下午一點開門，所以你買到的是當天早上捕的新鮮魚。我還看到螃蟹活蹦亂跳，試圖用鉗子夾住某個人。有些魚還在水盆裡，活到可以對你翻白眼。

所有的魚都是在宜蘭與龜山島之間的海域捕撈的。種類多樣，有青魽魚、緋紅蝦、螃蟹、飛魚、紅眼魚，還有這個市場的招牌——安康魚（英文叫 Monkfish）。

魚的價格都很合理。我們買了一條超大的青魽魚只要380元台幣（約12.69美金），而且青魽魚肚子裡還有兩條飛魚，等於多了兩條魚！我們還買了一公斤的緋紅蝦、另外一條飛魚和三條安康魚。這些加上那條巨大的青魽魚總共花了1125元台幣（約37.57美金）。

最酷的是，買完魚之後，攤販會幫你處理乾淨，然後你可以把魚拿到樓上的小餐廳去，他們會幫你料理。我們把青魽魚做成壽司、炸魚排和湯（加上它肚子裡的飛魚）。接著還吃了炸飛魚，安康魚則是配上蔬菜一起烹調的。我們還點了炒高麗菜和空心菜（英文叫 water spinach）。在美國，空心菜只能在亞洲超市買到，而且很貴。但這裡的餐廳只收了1020元台幣（約34.06美金）。總共我們花了2145元台幣（約71.63美金），五個人吃了三天的魚。我覺得這真的很划算。在美國，這些東西的價格可能都能買一台小車了。

我之前說過那個半夜的市場我不推薦給觀光客，那真不是個好玩的地方。但這個地方我會稱之為「絕不能錯過」的旅遊景點。它甚至還有無障礙設施，有大型的無障礙廁所，還有通往魚市場的斜坡。新鮮的魚加上美味的料理，還能要求什麼呢？千萬別忘了安康魚，那是最好吃的部分！

 

Turtle Island

Egrets judging my fish choices.

The Market

Nice clothes, Full Makeup, and a nice hairdo to clean fish! Amazing

A busy place...not as busy as the other one, but pretty busy!

安康魚 - Monkfish

Elizabeth and I with our fish purchases

By the way, I'm not as bald as ChatGPT thinks I am.  順帶一提，我沒有 ChatGPT 想的那麼禿。

Good Gracious!  When did I get so old?

Photos by Eric Liu

All Posts and Photos Property of Taiwan Adventure Publication

Video courtesy of @HiElizabenny

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

Chang Chang Jiu Jiu Taiwanese Stir Fry!

Taiwan is a food destination.  People come here from all over the world to try Taiwanese street food, and other delicacies.  One of those things is Taiwanese stir fry.  Food cooked in a wok at high temperature.  I have had some interesting combinations of stir fry over the years.  For example, I’ve eaten stir fried Century eggs (one of my favorite dishes), “Squid Mouths”, Pig Livers, Squid with Duck Eggs. 

I know that these things are different than what Americans would normally eat, but I’ve always been kind of adventurous when it comes to food.  So, I’m pretty much willing to try almost anything at least once.  I may not like it, but usually, I like the flavor or the spiciness or something.  My daughter’s father-in-law said recently, “we’ll eat anything that flies or crawls.  This is true, more in China than in Taiwan.  In China, insects are considered delicious.  I’ve seen people eat Bamboo Worm and Scorpions on a stick.  Adventure runs deep in my family…but not that deep!  Although, I have eaten fried crickets, but their legs get caught in my teeth so…

Anyway, on Valentine’s Day this year, Elizabeth and Eric took me out to a stir fry place near our home.  It’s called Chang Chang Jiu Jiu (嘗嘗九九).  Back in the day, when I first moved to Taiwan (2009), the restaurant had most dishes for $99 NTD ($3.00 USD), but now I noticed most of the dishes were about $239 NTD ($7.30 USD).  We had a number of dishes.  Rice, Popcorn and Ice Cream were free.

I enjoyed the food, but I don’t want you to think that all I do is eat.  I really mostly enjoy the social aspect of going out with friends and family.  Its always a good time with Elizabeth, Eric, Elle and Eli.  If you’re out and about in Taoyuan District give Chang Chang Jiu Jiu (嘗嘗九九)a try. 

台灣是一個美食天堂。來自世界各地的人們來到這裡品嚐台灣小吃和各種美食。其中一項特色料理就是台式熱炒——用大火快炒的美味佳餚。

多年來，我嘗試過許多有趣的熱炒組合。例如，我吃過炒皮蛋（這是我最喜歡的菜之一）、炒「小卷嘴」、炒豬肝、還有鴨蛋炒魷魚。我知道這些料理對美國人來說可能比較特別，但我向來對食物很有冒險精神，所以幾乎什麼都願意試一次。或許我不會喜歡某道菜，但通常我都能欣賞它的味道、辣度或其他特色。

我女兒的公公最近說：「天上飛的，地上爬的，我們什麼都吃。」這在中國大陸比台灣更普遍。在中國，昆蟲被視為美味，我曾看過有人吃竹蟲和串烤蠍子。我家族的飲食冒險精神很強……但也沒那麼極端！不過，我倒是吃過炸蟋蟀，只是牠們的腿會卡在牙縫裡，所以……

今年情人節，Elizabeth 和 Eric 帶我去家附近的一家熱炒店，叫做「唱唱九九」。回想我剛搬到台灣的時候（2009年），這家餐廳的多數菜色只要99元新台幣（約3美元），但現在我發現大部分菜色已經漲到239元新台幣（約7.30美元）。我們點了好幾道菜，白飯、爆米花和冰淇淋還是免費的！

我很享受美食，但請不要以為我整天只是在吃東西。我其實更享受與家人朋友聚餐的社交時光。每次和 Elizabeth、Eric、Elle 和 Eli 一起外出，總是非常開心。如果你剛好在桃園區，不妨試試「唱唱九九」，說不定會愛上這裡的熱炒！

 

Beef with Onions

Deep Fried Oysters with White Pepper

Pork Cheek with Cabbage

Squid with Ginger and Bay Leaves

Shrimp Cake with Sweet Chii Sauce

Spinach with Mushrooms

Fried Tofu with Duck Eggs

Fried Chicken

Grandpa's Cutest Valentine!

Source:  Taiwan Food Culture:  mstravelsolo.com

Photos by Eric Liu

All Posts and Photos property of Taiwan Adventure Publications

Buying Tea at Fushou Shan Tea Factory

Today, I took some visiting Americans to buy Taiwanese tea at Fushoushan (Good Fortune and Longevity Mountain) Tea Factory.  I think that their tea, all high mountain teas, are generally excellent.  This tea growing family has been in the tea business for six generations in Taiwan.  

My American friends have come to expect to go tea shopping with me, if they come to visit, so I did not want to disappoint them.  Taiwan’s Tea Culture is an excellent way to give people a simple view of Taiwanese culture. 

It is so unlike buying tea in the states.  In the US, you would walk into a supermarket and pick one off the shelf.  You don’t have any knowledge about the tea you’re buying beyond what’s written on the packaging.

When you buy tea in Taiwan, you can sit with a “Tea Master” who will serve you samples of a number of teas.  They will explain whether it was harvested in winter, summer, spring or fall.  They’ll explain the difference between the tea harvests.  For example, the spring harvest is best for Wulong (oolong) Tea.  It has to do with temperature and the way the plants react to changing temperatures. 

White, Green, Wulong and Red (called Black Tea in the US) teas all come from the same plant.  The different classifications are the result of oxidation, processing temperature and other factors.  The Tea Master is an expert in all of this.  They will take a much time as you need to taste and explore the tea. 

They will also pour and serve a variety of teas for you to taste and compare, telling you the differences between the teas you’re tasting. They’re brewed in white cups so you can evaluate the color of the tea.  The teas are served at the proper temperature for that type. Tea flavor can change as the tea cools. 

This isn’t something you do in a hurry.  The process for me, and I’m pretty knowledgeable about tea, can take about an hour.  I usually leave the place pretty well caffeinated. 

It’s a great, fun experience, but really it comes down to buying what tastes best in your opinion.  I usually buy a tea called Dong Ding Wulong.  Some of my friends are not fond of it, because it has a very strong tea flavor.  They prefer lighter, smoother tea flavor.  If everybody liked the same thing it would be pretty boring for tea producers.

今天，我帶了一些來訪的美國朋友到福壽山茶廠購買台灣茶。我認為他們的茶——全都是高山茶——品質非常優良。這個種茶的家族在台灣經營茶葉生意已經六代了。

我的美國朋友們來台灣時，幾乎都期待能和我一起去買茶，所以我不想讓他們失望。台灣的茶文化是一個很好的方式，能讓人簡單地了解台灣文化。

這和在美國買茶完全不同。在美國，你走進超市，直接從架上挑一款茶，對於自己買的茶，除了包裝上的資訊外，幾乎一無所知。

在台灣買茶時，你可以和「茶師」一起坐下來，他們會沖泡多種茶讓你試喝，並解釋這些茶是在哪個季節採收的——冬天、夏天、春天還是秋天。他們還會說明各季節採收的差異，例如春茶最適合烏龍茶，這與氣溫變化及茶樹對環境的反應有關。

白茶、綠茶、烏龍茶和紅茶（美國稱為黑茶）其實都來自同一種茶樹。不同的分類是由於發酵程度、加工溫度等因素決定的。茶師對這些知識都非常精通，並會花時間讓你慢慢品茶、了解茶葉的特性。

他們還會沖泡多款茶供你品嚐和比較，並講解它們之間的不同。茶通常會用白瓷杯沖泡，以便觀察茶湯的顏色。此外，每種茶都有適合的沖泡溫度，茶的風味會隨著冷卻而變化。

這不是一件可以匆忙完成的事。即使我對茶已經算是相當了解了，整個品茶過程大約也要花上一個小時，通常離開時我都已經攝取了不少咖啡因。

這是一個很有趣的體驗，但最終還是要選擇自己最喜歡的口味。我通常會買一款叫做「凍頂烏龍」的茶。不過，有些朋友不太喜歡，因為它的茶味較濃，他們更偏好口感輕柔、順滑的茶。如果大家的口味都一樣，那對茶農來說可就太無趣了！

Fushoshan Tea Factory in Bade

Tea Master Michell Lu

Tea for Individual Sales

Tea for Bulk Sales and Export

Hong Cha - Black Tea

Tea Ovens 

The Only Customer in the Place Older Than Me!

Michell Doing Her Thing

Photos by Crisel Joy Bringula

All Photos and Posts property of Taiwan Adventure Publications

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 with 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