縈繞老外舌尖的台灣食憶

西方人的古早味菜單是通心粉和牧羊人派，那老外心中的「台灣限定療癒料理」又是什麼 ? 跟著定居台灣多年的外籍顧問Jon，再次品嚐這些我們熟悉的家常菜。 

風靡全球的台灣漢堡：刈包 Gua Bao
This to me is definitely a guilty pleasure – a food that you love but feel it is not perhaps the healthiest option to eat.  I remember the first time I saw 刈包, there was an elderly lady making them in a small street cart on the road.  From experience the best Taiwanese food comes from mature ladies who have made the same dish for decades!  Pork belly is a great cut of meat and it is beautifully complemented with pickled vegetables, peanut powder and coriander.  As the pork belly has been stewed for a long time it is both juicy and tender, creating the perfect filling for a sandwich. The steamed bread soaks up the sauces and flavours of the ingredients and this to me is a great go-to meal when you are on the go.

guilty pleasure 帶罪惡感的愉悅
pork belly is a great cut of meat 刀工完美的五花肉
be beautifully complemented with…  完美搭配上…
both juicy and tender 多汁又軟嫩
go-to meal  必點美食

重口味豆腐料理：麻婆豆腐 Mapo Tofu
When I was living in the West, tofu was not popular.  You could buy the soft white variety, but little else.  If you go to the food shops in the West the refrigerators are filled with cheeses and other dairy products, whereas in Taiwan this choice is replaced by an abundance of tofu types. The different varieties of tofu include soft white tofu, tofu skin, marinated or deep-fried options and plenty of others. One of my favourite dishes for the white variety of tofu is when it is used in a 麻婆豆腐recipe. Although originally from Sichuan, you can often find this dish at a lot of family-style Taiwanese restaurants.  There is great variety with this recipe, ranging from the eye watering and jaw numbing spicy to a milder and more subtle flavour.  It is a great way to add flavour to white rice and the chili sauce goes well with other meat and vegetable dishes as well.  I find that this is a must buy item around the Lazy Susan – the circular tray that sits on a table and can rotate the food to all diners.

great variety with this recipe 這道料理的食譜相當多樣化
eye watering and jaw numbing spicy 辣得眼淚直流、下顎麻木
a milder and more subtle flavor 溫潤而柔斂的口味
this is a must buy item around the Lazy Susan 圓桌上的必點菜餚 (Lazy Susan是中式圓形飯桌上供大家分食的轉盤)

夜宵良伴：滷味 Braised Snacks
The concept of 滷味to me is great – you pick out the foods that you want cooked and the shop owner will boil it in their stewing sauce. There is the gamble of what products the 滷味store will have.  Some keep to a few core ingredients, whereas others are almost overflowing with their choices of vegetables, meats and tofu products.  I love that most 滷味 shops are open late, past the dinner schedules of restaurants, offering a late-night alternative to processed or deep fried food.  It is also a good way to incorporate a lot of vegetables into one meal if you are looking for something healthier to eat.   As with a lot of foods in Taiwan, each 滷味shop has its own variation of the stewing broth, resulting in an individual taste.

offering a late-night alternative 提供宵夜選擇
a good way to incorporate a lot of vegetables into one meal  集各種蔬菜於一餐的好方法
variation of the stewing broth 各種不同的高湯燉法

餅界最好嚼：斤餅 Jing Bing
To me any traditional food in Taiwan followed by 餅is going to be a winner. Just thinking about 蛋餅and 蔥抓餅is making my mouth water. However, although the stuffed-egg wraps and the greasy but fluffy onion pancakes are a joy for the palate, I was more impressed by the flavours and textures of斤餅. I remember being introduced to斤餅by a friend who described them as Taiwanese tacos. However, I feel that the food is similar to Middle Eastern shawarma. Shawarma is seasoned slow-cooked shredded meat (usually lamb or chicken) that is wrapped within a flat bread with cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. Shawarma’s appearance and texture is similar to斤餅. In most restaurants they make the斤餅 for you, wrapping the beef with spring onions. However, I prefer the places that let you wrap the ingredients yourself, allowing more sauce and various side dishes to be added into the mix as well.

making my mouth water 讓我口水直流
impressed by the flavors and textures 喜歡它的口味跟質地
described them as Taiwanese tacos 把斤餅形容為台灣塔可餅
similar to Middle Eastern shawarma 有點像中東的沙威瑪

白飯先來三碗：三杯雞 San Bei Ji
This dish tends to hide away from the limelight but it is a must try Taiwanese food for me.  People say that this is Taiwanese comfort food and I can imagine children across Taiwan being fed 三杯雞when they visit their grandparents. Much like Western comfort food, such as cottage pie or mac and cheese, I am sure that every grandmother has her own variation of this dish.  Most restaurants that I go to which serve三杯雞have a slightly different spin on the recipe and ratio of ingredients.  I am a big fan of fragrant ingredients, so the more garlic, ginger and basil, the better.  I have also had this dish as三杯豆腐, which I honestly think is better as tofu tends to absorb the flavours more easily than chicken.    

a must try Taiwanese food 台灣必吃料理
Taiwanese comfort food 台灣療癒料理
I am a big fan of fragrant ingredients 我很喜歡香料
the more garlic, ginger and basil, the better 越多蒜、薑、羅勒越好

本文摘錄自一張圖搞懂 夜市裡的英文課 2019年06月號
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