Settling Back In

I arrived back in the U.S. on Tuesday morning and am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Luckily, sleepiness doesn't hit me until it gets dark out, so the jetlag hasn't been bad at all. I craved a few things when I got home, a turkey burger and a big old salad -- staples in my normal diet. But now that I've had my fix, I want to get back to the awesome food I enjoyed over in Taiwan. Here's a little sampling:

This almond milk was awesome. For some reason, it was better than the packaged variety you get in the states and it was served ice cold which was fantastic since it was a hot and humid 90+ degrees there.



Another icy cold treat: shaved ice with red beans and taro. It sounds a little strange, but the sweetness of the red beans and the texture of the taro root (very similar to a sweet potato, but light purple) went really well with the shaved ice.



This bean curd dish was spicy, but not too spicy. Served over white rice with black sesame seeds, it was delicious. It kind of reminded me of American Chop Suey, but spicier and with tofu-like bits.


And fresh fruit galore. Night markets are huge in Taiwan. You can't visit there without going to one. Around 5pm stands start setting up: fresh fruit, dumplings, seafood, mongolian bbq... anything you can think of, they have a stand for. And they have lots of amazing fresh fruit to choose from.

I'm going to attempt to replicate my favorite recipes from my time there. Mochi is a Japanese treat that is popular there (and that I adored), made of glutinious rice flour that I've found a few recipes for. Also, hot pot, also known as shabu shabu was a lot of fun and hopefully something I can replicate at home once I get myself an electric hot pot.

I'll be sure an post about my successes!