One of the things I've come to observe during my three year stay in
Taiwan is that, the most difficult factor involving the adaptation of
any wai guo ren (foreigners) to this very interesting and peculiar
country is the food. But with such a vast stock of culinary delicacies
and an extensive menu of incredible dishes, how can this be? There are
two explanations that run through my mind: food enters first through the
eye and nose, and we have to accept that some dishes here have a very
pungent smell (i.e. stinky tofu) and are not very attractive to the eyes
either. Western people are simply not used to eating their chicken with
the head still attached to it. Language is the other reason. Most
foreigners who come here do not know a word of Chinese and this can be a
real problem when looking for delicious food.
I had no problem adapting to my new diet, and
here is some advice on how to accomplish that: go out with local
friends, they know the hot spots, and they can help, recommend, or
simply just order things for you - it will make things a lot easier.
Another advice is try everything at least once, what's the worst that
could happen? If you don’t like what you try, don’t try it again, but if
you do, well you know how that story ends.
Now this is the part where I should be writing about my favorite
Taiwanese food. The thing is I don’t have one, I have a wide assortment!
Some choices I can’t go a week without trying are: dan pi (egg rolls,
with cheese, bacon, smoked chicken, or tuna), han bao (breakfast
hamburgers, I simply love them!), chao fan (fried rice any time any
kind), jian jiao (chinese fried dumplings), and last but not least tang
bao (steamed, succulent dumplings with soup pork or shrimp stuffing).
Don’t be afraid to try new things or you will miss out on a great
culinary experience.
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