Easter Lesson & Hua Xi Night Market!!!

Sunday March 10^th, 2013

Though no trip was planned, I stayed home in the morning instead of attending church like usual. The reason being my host brother Michael was only available this afternoon for my Easter presentation before he headed back to Tainan. If I went to church, by the time I got back we would have to rush through the Easter experience rather than leisurely enjoying it. Therefore no sleep-in but rather homework time took church’s place just for today.

Everyone woke up for lunch of exceptional noodles. What makes them exceptional is that the soup contains a type of Chinese medicine in it for nutrients. Apparently women who just birthed can eat this to regain needed nutrition. The noodles soak in the broth making them also nutritious. No it’s not a healthy type for diets but has its own version for ones wellbeing according to my family. Other than the noodle soup, there was also meat, pig’s blood (cake) and radish. It was very tasty, especially the soft broth soaked noodles. Noteworthy is that this was our first meal all together in the house apart from the special New Years Feast, a rare occurrence in the family. Twas really pleasant! ^_^

Following up was my Easter presentation, both Christian and commercial versions. I believe I executed the tale of Jesus’s sacrifice quite well explaining as easily and wholly as possible. The brightly colored candy Easter version felt like I was saying “It’s Christmas but Santa is an Easter bunny, stockings are Easter baskets, they are filled with candy and you decorate eggs instead of a Christmas tree.” XD There wasn't really any history I could give on the Easter bunny version, only characteristics of the holiday.

Afterwards I opened the package and revealed the trove of chocolaty goodness within! The sheer amount amazed my host family. But taking a closer look at the contents, their attention surely was captured! A culture sharing success! :D

Host mother marveled at the cuteness of the iconic yellow Peep chicks as well as the infamous chocolate bunny, both treats that cannot be found in Taiwan, the same goes for chocolate eggs. Without even tasting them, she commented that they would sell very well in Taiwan because of their charming and attractive appearance. Adorable things are super popular here therefore these Easter treats would be accepted with no trouble at all. Hmm…future million dollar making deal? ;D

The first sweet to be tasted was a Cadbury crème chocolate egg. One bite and…DUUUUUUUDE! IT WAS AWESOME! Everyone was blown away by the pure delectableness of chocolate perfection. Good Lord it was amazing! I forgot how awesome these things were! Michael declaring himself a chocoholic beforehand, relished in the Cadbury egg. We had to take a minute to recover from the deliciousness before heading on to the next candy. XD

Peeps were also a highlight both because of its cute appearance and its sugarcoated marshmallow concept. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a dessert that comes close to a Peep in Taiwan (as well as malt eggs), which created a sense of exploration for them.

Host father about to take his first Peep bite! Host father, mother and Michael all took their bites from the tail. Me on the other hand went straight for the head. They laughed at this and started the joke that if they saw other peeps missing their heads, they would know who the culprit was. XD

New to both my host family and me, the Butterfinger chocolate bunny! Totally scrumptious! Nothing else to say! Oh wait no…ADORABLE BUNNY CHICK AND EGG COMBO! ^_^

Bird eggs/jelly beans were tried. A flavor called ‘amise’ was included in the bag, which I determined to be licorice. Michael tried it and was not a fan…at all. XD He said it tasted like toothpaste. Wow, what kind of sweet tasty toothpaste is he using? XD Disregarding the licorice flavor, the jelly bird eggs were liked especially the fruity flavors.

Last I’ll report on are the Reese’s Eggs of awesomeness. Isn’t host father cute here? A complete ‘NOM’ moment. XD I love Reese’s so much and it seemed like it was enjoyed as well among my host family. Whoo-hoo! They said that there are Reese’s in Taiwan but not in Easter egg form, though I personally have never seen a normal Reese’s yet. Either way, it doesn't matter because these Reese’s eggs suffice to settle my recently developed chocolate peanut butter craving. ;D

Once the Easter ‘class’ was over, we spent some time talking and watching YouTube videos. Around 5:00 we headed out to drop off Michael at the bus stop for him to return to Tainan. From what was told to me, it would be a quick drop off and just come back home afterwards. Therefore I just put on a comfortable T-shirt and jeans without giving my appearance much thought.

So here is what a bus station looks like for long distance buses (a.k.a. places not in Taipei). For instance as you can see, #5 station is for 台中 (“Taizhong in Pinyin”) otherwise known as the place where I met my long lost aboriginal family. XD

Michael is going to 台南 (“Tainan”) at #9 station. We shall meet again dear brother before my exchange is up! I shall hold him to his word. ;D

It so happens that the drop off and return turned into drop off and go visit a night market. Wow, what a change in plans! A changed I quite like mind you but felt a bit underdressed. XD Oh well, life goes on. :P The place we visited was called “Hua Xi St. Night Market” which is apparently a famous one for tourists. Indeed I did see a number of foreigners so there is truth in that. For some reason the appearance reminded me of a movie theater. It must have been the lights above the shops streaming down in a luminescent line as if stations to buy movie tickets. Maaaaaybe? Most likely it’s just cuz I’m strange like that. :P This night market had two long sections spilt in half by a road (as seen here). The half behind this picture’s perspective is basically all food. Food, food, food and more food! On the opposite section it also had food but other small shops selling clothing, bags, and more.

While waiting for host mother to park the car, host father led me through both halves of the Hua Xi covered night market to quickly scan the variety. At the end of the building, we were fed into a different night market. This one takes the appearance of a more traditional night market, uncovered and containing food carts as well as small shops of what-not. During this exploration we spotted a number of food stands containing some special or yet-to-be-tried-by-me food that we bought a little of. They are as follows…

From this place we got peanuts and water chestnuts. Now I can’t say I’ve ever had water chestnuts before especially raw and natural instead of mixed in another food. These along with the peanuts were steamed or cooked in some unique way. Maybe they were steamed…I’m not sure. Whatever method of preparation was used, it made both nuts soft but not squishy. Cracking open a shell and eating tender peanuts was definitely something new and pretty interesting. As for the water chestnuts they were good but had less flavor than the peanuts to me.

These are a tad difficult to explain. I think (think is the key word) it is a long slender tofu creation, cut up and rolled in peanut powder. The main ingredient is either tofu, rice or flour. Either way, this sweet treat is hard and chewy in texture almost like a tough taffy. Not bad.

A better and closer view of them.

Fish balls, or rather octopus balls. They actually are very tasty and can be one of the many ingredients put into hot pots. Octopus balls are just a solid ball, totally white on the inside with no filling or coating. Simple yet good.

Dried fishy stand. Bunch of seafood with all the moisture sucked out of it forming a crispy snack. We bought one small squid. Can’t say I’m a fan.

The closest thing I can think of to compare with this treat is a cream puff. I’ve seen these before but tonight was my first time to actually try them. Yay! While waiting for our order, I observed the making process (even have videos) and will now break it down for you in attempt to describe these creation as best as possible.

(1) Disperse batter out in what looks like a GINORMOUS icing tip gizzy into the shallow holes where the pastry will bake. Don’t fill the holes all the way though.

(2) Take a cylindrical slightly thick stick in order to swirl around the batter so that the sides of the holes all get a bit. You want every inch touched by batter.

(3)  Let them cook for a bit. They’ll develop bubbles just like making pancakes.

(4) Scoop filling generously into the holes. The filling flavors they offered here were taro, cream, red bean, radish(the only non-sweet one) and banana.

I didn’t see the rest of the process but it’ll involve sealing the pastry with a top of the same type in some way. Regarding the taste, the was quite lovely. I do enjoy a creamy treat so this was right up my alley. We bought one of each but only tried taro, cream and one other (I forgot which one) for tonight. All were very good and cheap as well. Only 10NT ($0.33US) for what I’ll call a Taiwanese cream pancake puff. ;)

Though this is a Taiwanese treat it screams out a Spanish “TORO!” to me. XD As you can see they are in the shape of a bull’s horns hence why I think of the land of burritos. Other than the obvious bread component of this food, I don’t know what else it includes. We didn’t try one tonight because they were for tomorrow’s breakfast. But it had flavors such as taro, red beans, cream, original, soufflé and chocolate. I’ll find out what they’re like tomorrow morning. Whoo! ;D

A closer view at the bull’s horn pastry.

For the evening’s supper the plan was to share a small amount of food in several places so we could taste more. Beginning our dinner meal expedition we started we a bowl of soup with some kind of famous meat. This dish is called“大鐤肉羹.” After doing some research I think I found the English name and description. Here ya go: “’Rou Geng’ is a popular Taiwanese snack stand dish, boiled pork and fish paste shaped by hand, served in a thick mushroom, Chinese white cabbage and bamboo sprouts soup. Best with black vinegar and white pepper..” I can’t say that entire description is true for the 大鐤肉羹 I had such as “thick mushroom....soup” but they probably come in many variations. The one I ate was watery but nonetheless a very tasty new dish.

Stories have been told, passed down from exchange student to exchange student of a strange yet renowned food in Taiwan. A type of meat never tried nor even heard of trying by me. Have any ideas of which animal I consumed? I’ll give you a couple seconds to ponder that… Do you have your answer? If you guessed a slithering animal, which is now the Chinese zodiac year we’re in, then you are correct fine friend! That's right my peeps, Andrea has eaten snake! No joke! And yes, Taiwan has this available in the night market visited tonight. We passed by several stores offering it when scanning the area but when returning my host mother asked if I wanted to try it. Not sure whether to be afraid or excited, squeamish or enthusiastic, I settled on inhaling deeply and declaring my bravery to undertake this special adventure like the Rotary exchange student I am! Time to go forward and conquer! >:D

This was the tray ordered, mainly for me. Host father already tasted snake a while ago and host mother is afraid of snakes making her the squeamish one. In this ensemble we have three parts: the soup, the shot glasses and the pills. Allow me to explain each.

Starting with the soup, the broth contained various Chinese herbal medicines along with the highlight of four snake bones with the meat on. I have no idea where these parts are on a snake but each one had only a tiny bit of meat on the bones, as to be expected since, you know, snakes aren’t exactly bulky fat. XD

At first I had no inkling of knowledge as to the method of eating snake meat off the bone. It took me long enough in Taiwan to learn how to eat fish off the bone but when you give me an uncommon food that even my host parents don’t know how to go about it, well then we have a problem. XD Eventually I figured it out on my own that you need to graze the meat off with your teeth as if combing it. Long thin bones should remain connected to the main core bone. You have to be careful not to pull too hard when raking the meat otherwise the bones will come with you. I accidently swallowed one thin snake bone…not pleasant. :P

As you see here, that’s what the bone leftovers will look like more or less. The taste of the meat was just as my host father described it earlier, like chicken. It seriously tasted like chicken. Sometimes if you thought long and hard that you were eating snake, it might taste ever so slightly different but then go back to being chicken right after. ;)

Eating my first snake meat! The usage of chopsticks instead of say, hands, made it a bit difficult at the start to get the meat. Though Andrea went and successfully mastered the art! Whoo! The soup was tasty, the meat as well and now I have bragging rights for being daring enough to try this new outlandish food. ;D I’m quite glad to have eaten this for memory and culture purposes. Yay for Rotary Youth Exchanges! ^_^

Host mother timidly withdrew from trying snake but took the opportunity for a picture as if she did eat it. Sneaky one, she is. XD

Onto the shot glasses! The snake soup was totally fine but this is where it gets strange. In the above picture from left to right we have:

-Snake bile

-Snake venom

-Snake bottled in wine (just like preserving eye balls in liquid)

Take a moment to absorb all that in. Bile, venom and snake soaked wine. Um…ew? But I’m still an exchange student right? I would try every single one willingly! Apparently each had some benefit for humans. I believe the bile have vitamins and supplements while the venom will help your skin. The snake wine benefits escapes me but it’ll be something good.

So first was the snake bile. Strange to think about and not a very appetizing thought. Going for it, it tasted like a gray area in between tea and water. Not much flavor but what was there wasn’t bad. I actually liked this one the most by far. That’s foreshadowing for the next two shot glasses! ;P

The snake venom was sipped and immediately plastered a queasy expression across my face. Sure it may have venom in it (I’m surprised I didn’t die) but no one said there would be alcohol in it. Why does it have to have alcohol? Andrea detests alcohol. Obviously I didn’t like this drink but still chugged the remaining bit down after host mother and father tried in order to complete my Taiwanese snake culture experience.

The same was done for the snake wine. Now this time I knew it would have wine in it and judging from the liquid’s smell, it had a lot more than the venom. Therefore I kept thinking, “Oh gosh. Oh no. Oh gosh. Oh no. Lordie help me. Oh gosh. Oh no.” XD

Right after the sip and before the disgusted expressions ferociously took over. Again I didn’t like it at all but finished the shot glass for the experience and health benefits with a pained face. That’s enough strange snake influenced liquids for me tonight.

The shop actually offered yet another snake drink but was more expensive. I full on cup of snake blood. …wow, really? People drink snake blood? In Taiwan and other countries, we have things like pig’s or duck’s blood. They are mixed with other ingredients to give you a solid food. This was just straight up snake blood, no flour or nothing added. I would’ve tried it but I just can’t help but marvel at the fact of drinking straight blood. It’ll make me feel like a vampire (the non sparkly bad-ma’am-ma-jamma ones). XD

Last but not least were two pills, one for me and the other for host father. These I can’t recall what part of the snake it’s made from or what benefits it as. I’ll take a gander and say it’s snake oil of some sort. Nothing to say about the taste because, well, it’s a pill. Pills don’t taste like anything if consumed correctly. ;P

Next was back to more normal Taiwanese foods. This soup had a bunch of ingredients such as oysters, shrimp, rice and other stuff I don't know how to describe. I don’t even know this dish’s name. Whoops. XD It was tasty though. ;)

At a small Japanese inspired place we ate shis-ka-bobbed cooked beef in sauce. Pretty straightforward and pretty good.

Following that was a dessert soup with ingredients like red beans, peanuts and more. The food was fine, the service…none of us liked. Some Americans say they’re pasty white in skin color. Nah-a. You ain’t nearly as pasty white has the older woman running this stand. She was like neon white! And all she did was complain about “外國人” (foreigners). From the time we sat down to the time left, all she did was criticize how foreigners would look at her stand, take pictures but not buy her food. Do you know how incredibly awkward it was to hear a rant about “我不喜歡外國人” (I don’t like foreigners) literally right in front of my face only a few feet away? I bet she didn’t think I understood her. Well she was wrong! Leaving the place as soon as the bowl was consumed, even my host parents commented that they didn’t like her and the reason for foreigners most likely not buying her food was her negative attitude. No one wants to buy from a grumpy old lady, you can’t blame foreigners for that one.

The final main food part of the night was consumed at a Japanese sushi area. Funnily enough I’ve actually been craving sushi lately because I heard from an exchange student that ‘Sushi Express’ doesn't have authentic sushi but host father begs to differ. Either way we had some lovely sushi tonight.

First was a starter plate of tofu, cabbage and sauce. This was actually really good maybe even a little sweet. Me likey!

The principal platter, the sushi! We have shrimp, salmon, tuna and probably other types of sushi to the left. All were a slab of fish with wasabi sandwiched in between wasabi. Despite there being wasabi, I quite enjoyed these sushi! They were delicious! The chef also provided some very strong ginger to eat with the sushi but I only had a bite with it. Ginger is basically a pallet cleanser and not to be eaten with the sushi. Plus this ginger was just too strong and overpowering so I preferred eating without it. I will say though, I was slugged with the tuna sushi. Wasabi just smacked the grin right off my face and shot pain a blazing in my poor nose. Spoonfuls of miso soup helped me gain composure but WOO-WEE that wasabi was powerful! The sushi roll was delightful as well but the far right sushi was a blow of delectableness. That stuff is apparently rice enclosed in sweet tofu. That's all it is, rice and tofu. Simple yet such a joy to indulge in.

Lastly was miso soup, the bowl that saved my wasabi ambushed senses. Thank you succulent miso soup for saving me. I feel that miso soup could become a great superhero with such helpful powers. Captain Miso Soup to the rescue! XD

Heading back to the uncovered night market, host mother bought a cup of watermelon juice here to share amongst us. It wasn’t bad. The stand is mesmerizingly colorful and attractive for sure!

Exiting the night market, we stopped by Longshan Temple for a bathroom break. In the meantime, beautiful glowing lanterns were shining in the night, ones not seen during our last visit. So pictures of us and two lovely peacocks were taken!

Car back home and sleep shortly after. The night market visit today was unplanned and a surprise but I’m so happily grateful we went! New sights, new foods, new experiences and more. Today was really cool when you recap it. I taught something new and foreign to my host family with Easter when they also taught me new things through the night market. It’s a wonderful trade of cultures! I love it! ^_^

Good night all! Sleep well! ^_^