Taiwan - May 2018

I tried a giant dumpling like that in the north. Couldn’t eat the casing at all. Very thick and chewy. But it’s definitely me and not the dumpling (problem with certain textures). I chewed and chewed but it went nowhere.

Hey, can you quickly check the wine section in a supermarket to see if they have 2 or 3 litre box wines? I forgot if they had boxes of wine. If they do then I don’t have to bring it with me (to be consumed somewhere else).

I think you may be talking about a different type of animal. Like this giant soup dumpling I had in HK? Seems to be getting popular, saw a couple of HK shops selling only these as their main draw. You suck the soup out with a straw.

The Taiwanese meatballs I had today totally different. The casing made with rice flour, very soft and pliable, with a slight elasticity. When I first tried, I was reminded of a ha gow skin.

I know in Kaohsiung, RT Mart and Wellcome (to name two) has bag in box wines. I’m in a hick town now, selection may be limited to Peter Vella, Almaden and/or Carlo Rossi. In Kaohsiung , you’ll likely find boxed wines from Argentina, Chile and/or Spain as well. As a matter of fact, my wife had commented on a nicer boxed wine (Argentina) we saw at a Carrefour last week.

If it’s a problem with flying with a corkscrew, many of the wines for the Asian market are available with twist tops.

Yes, Carrefour has lots of decent wines. I know. No problem finding wine in Taiwan, unlike Korea.

Thanks. Then I don’t have to bring any from home.

I’m going to find photos of the dumpling now. I thought the skin was made with tapioca flour. Not like the one in your photos above.


Found the photos:

They got snipped when brought to the table.

Inside:

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I think that casing is made from sticky rice powder (sweet rice), not regular rice powder.

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Found a couple of goose places here in Yuanlin, ate at one.

A basic stand/shop a couple of blocks from our hotel. We passed for the time being.

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We passed this shop two nights ago, after a light early supper. We HAD to eat again.

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We ordered a platter of goose meat and was presented with a choice of top or bottom. We chose bottom (dark meat?), and the server forewarned that this part of the goose could be fattier. Bring it on!!

Beautifully cut juicy goose slices. Just wonderful.

We also had the combination goose offal, came with liver, heart and kidney. Liver and heart were delicious. The kidney was out of this world good. You know a food is perfect when you barely take a first bite, and have to hesitate a moment to fully savor the bite. Just the perfect combination of snappy outside and lightly firm “meat”. I watched my wife take her first bite and she had the same reaction.

The lead chopper was a tad aloof at first. I attribute this to shyness and unfamiliarity around an English only speaker. After she saw my enthusiasm and appreciation for her product, she was all smiles and happily showed off her display. She was fine plucking the last pin feathers from a neck. I actually really enjoy necks, and wished I had the stomach room. We were disappointed the combo plate did not include intestines, we’l Just have to go back for an encore.

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Wonderful! I love eating in Taiwan!

Mine (in Hsinchu). The presentation is the same. I bought fresh young ginger from supermarket and ate it as if it’s a snack. Bought a few to take home as well. Never had such lovely young ginger until Taiwan.

Couldn’t decide which version I liked more so I ordered a different one every time. Once both at the same time and still couldn’t decide.

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One is tea smoked/braised? (like top photo in this reply). I have to find the original photo of the menu later.

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I’m totally with you there!!

On the night we had the goose, we were actually walking to a seafood restaurant my wife had found.

Of course, we stopped for some kind of oyster empanada thingee. A thickish crust and flavorful leek oyster filling.

We were mere blocks away from our destination when I was inexorably drawn into this very local restaurant. Not so much by the food, but by the great smile of the hostess grandma. Watching the neighborhood folks picking up this and that put me into a simpler gentler time and peace of mind.


Two soups to start. Pork brain soup and bone marrow soup. Soup can be so satisfying.

Bricks of tofu, pork ribs w/pickled veggies and pork intestine. Simple, hits the spot.

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Geee ! You seem to be able to eat non stop the whole day! :yum: Don’t tell me you didn’t gain any weight!
Taiwan is dangerous.

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Ha! Truth be known, we LOSE weight when we travel. At many destinations, we’ll put in 5 miles a day. Shoe pads and foot bandages are essential items when we travel. :slight_smile:

Also, portion sizes (outside USA) are much smaller than we have at home.

We are trying to learn restraint when we have a menu in front of us, and MUST HAVE EVERYTHING!!
Learning to order modestly, as we know there will most likely be something else we gotta eat, right around the corner.

It helps if you are walking and sweating a lot.

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@Presunto. Back in SF and found some goose for you. :wink:

Geese are quite (overly) abundant, we saw gaggles of them on Stow Lake in GG Park. In the states, geese are pests. Chasing people, crapping all over, bringing down planes. It’s a pity these fat sassy birds can’t be harvested for food. It’d be killing two birds with one stone. Hahaha

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Fattier? Looks just right to me…!

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there are actually seasons for hunting Canada geese in a lot of states. The Massachusetts season is a couple of weeks during September.

Btw, this is a great thread. Thanks. I especially like the bit where you had just eaten breakfast, but your wife couldn’t resist buying stuff anyway from one place. Someone married well!

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Probably a goose hunting season in California as well. In San Francisco proper… not too likely. :frowning:

I recall watching some food show (bizarre foods?) and they were knocking down pigeons in San Francisco and cooking them. I’m doubting the legality of that kinda harvest. Surprised PETA wasn’t all over that.

Certain outdoor spots, especially with water are inundated with geese, mean geese. See flocks of wild turkeys once in a while also.

https://goo.gl/maps/gqKvYTYBBrG2

Voila!! Thanks for the tip.

The goose place in Kaohsiung is in the Lingya market. Cross streets Lingya 2nd Rd, and Chenggong Rd.

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Thanks.

Maybe I could get results if I type something like “goose restaurant” in the translation app and search for it using google map? I going to ask someone at the lodging to try, they know how.

@Google_Gourmet

Have you tried this? Looks interesting…

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My wife snacks on these a few times per visit. I love cubed pig/duck blood in soup or braised with offal. In the rice presentation, not so much. One bite per visit is enough (just so wife stops telling me to try it).

She mostly has it plain, sometimes ala popsicle. Now and again with ginger, ground peanuts and sauce.

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I’ve tried this at Huaxi Street Night Market in Taipei. The covering was more of a sweet peanut powder. I quite like blood cubes in a soup but a big block of it covered in a sweet powder was not for me.

Aha, was the pig blood savoury?