NY Times: Taiwanese Food

The New York Times posted an article this past week on eating in Taiwan, and it made my stomach melt and my heart melt. I can’t emphasize enough how delicious food in Taiwan is. There are so many dishes and so many flavors, found in all sorts of places–from alleys to the high-rises–yet each dish I’ve had there has been ingrained into my memory; and just reading this article made my mouth salivate. Perhaps the part that made me most happy is when the author says this:

…for food is one arena where Taipei — the world’s most underrated capital city, according to Monocle magazine — blows Beijing away. Its food incorporates more influences, spans street food to haute cuisine with greater aplomb and is out and out more delicious than that of its mainland counterpart. Not to mention that its people are perhaps the most comestible-crazed Asians outside of Singapore — no excursion is complete without, say, a bag of stewed duck tongues at journey’s end.

It’s just as my dad has been telling me for years, and as I have been telling others for years: Food in Taiwan = BEST IN WORLD. I’m not even going to bother saying that it’s better than food in China because that’s a given (Chinese restaurant food gave me terrible runs for days, but Taiwanese street food has never done my stomach any harm. but I won’t delve into that). But yes, food in Taiwan is just that great! It’s tasty! It’s delicious! It’s chock full of MSG (sometimes) and savory goodness! I have tons of pictures and commentary from previous trips to Taiwan, and will post them in the future to support these claims.

The article finishes off with this definition of Taiwanese food:

Two days later, I returned to C’est Bon to ask Ms. Chuang the question I’d asked everyone in Taipei: What exactly is Taiwanese food? In response, she told me about lu rou fan. It is, perhaps, the simplest dish ever: ground pork, stewed in soy sauce and served over rice. Yet there are infinite permutations. (I once ate it three times in a single day; the best was at San Yuen Hao.)

In essence, what food boils down to is this–lu rou fan–or rather street food. How so? Street food is accessible to everyone, so now the realm of good food is not just limited to the rich who can afford $100 meals. Good food can be bought for less than a dollar. And everyone has his or her opinion on where to get the best street food. And as much as I’d like to go on and on about Taiwan, I have a test to study for. So until I have more time, here are some of my pictures from Taiwan.

Dirty Dogs, A Taste Of USC

That’s not grease glistening–it’s something heavenly. It’s the perfect nightcap to a raucous night with friends in Hollywood. It’s what warms your soul and body inside and out on a cold 60 degree night in Los Angeles. And around USC, it’s the taste of football on Saturdays before games and the victory dance after trouncing (or destroying) teams like Ohio State.

In preparation for the game, I decided to make dirty dogs to bring a taste of LA to Nashville. Oftentimes, when I’m homesick, or just sick of Southern food, I think of what I could be eating in LA; and what defines Los Angeles seems to be burgers, tacos, and DIRTY DOGS. It’s an amalgamation of American hot dogs and Mexican ingenuity. It’s loved by the populous and hated by the government. It’s something out of a book, really. The dirty dog is so simple to make–hot dog, bacon, onions, peppers–yet no one makes it at home. It belongs in the domain of street food, to be eaten moments after the scents of bacon waft into your nasal passage.

I tried the best I could–and while they were good–they were no match to the LA original. Maybe it was the lack of danger and dirt that comes from illegal immigrants cooking bacon-wrapped hotdogs on makeshift and unsanitary carts with only their bare hands. Or maybe it wasn’t that at all. Maybe I wasn’t drunk enough to fully enjoy the flavors of pigs cooking in their own flesh. It does take a certain amount of nerve and inebriation to willingly pay 3 dollars for something most people would run away from while sober. I think the extra oomph in flavor comes from not knowing how I’ll fare after eating a street dog. Will I be ok or will I be on the toilet for half of the next day? That surge of adrenaline from taking the risk with street food is only inducible in that setting. Needless to say, eating these made me wish I was back in Los Angeles tailgating along Trousdale with the Trojan faithful. But until then, I’ll have to settle for this.