Christmas Dinner (It’s Only A Month Late)

So why am I posting about Christmas dinner almost a month after it occurred? For a variety of reasons: 1. I have a huge stockpile of pictures from winter break that I need to post and I decided to start with this one, 2. there’s never a bad time to post about good food, and 3. I don’t care about Christmas so I don’t care if it’s a month late.

That’s right. Christmas can suck it.

It’s a consumerist’s holiday that brings out the shallow and superficial sides out of people (pretending to be good) and it makes to stores crowded and then I get pissed at everyone because I want to shop in peace and not have to use my people-whacking skills to knock everyone out of my way.

Christmas is, however, good for one thing: getting the family together for a good meal. And nothing beats hot pot on a cold (at least in California terms) winter night.

The spread usually includes various leafy veggies, noodles, tofu, sliced meats, and meatballs of sorts accompanied by dipping sauces. It’s sorta like Japanese shabu shabu, except it’s got more variety for a smaller price.

For a meal that doesn’t overtly emphasize carbs, it’s suprisingly easy to get stuffed eating just meatballs and veggies. I’m always amazed to see my mom (who’s 5′5″ and 105 lbs.) finish up everything long after everyone else has called it quits. It’s downright shameful to see someone almost half my size eat at least twice as much. I guess I can find some solace in the fact that I can always eat more burritos and tacos than her. But that’s cuz she hates Mexican food. Hooray for technicalities!

P.S. If anyone has a portable grill and wants to have an old-fashioned hot-pot-in, let me know! I’ll be available…in 3 weeks, after my test.

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.