Welcome to Culture Shock; The new series that named itself. Join us as we learn, grow and share all about new found social/cultural behaviours and expectations through our world exploration. These are our thoughts, observations and lessons on respecting and behaving in a foreign culture that may just leave you laughing and crying at the same time.

---

 

Random animal guts. Fried. My first exposure to this type of cuisine. As you can see by the huge smile on my face, I loved every minute of my food adventure. Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Late arrival in Taichung, then eating Taiwanese food for the first time. – Karina Noriega

Foods Of The World

In preparation for my journey abroad Karina wowed me with tales of dining on barbeque cockroaches in Cambodia, snacking on grasshoppers in Indonesia (which she reports, are pretty tasty), and even drinking snake blood in Vietnam. The most exotic meat I had ever tried in Canada was a single experience I had eating caribou and I never really adjusted to the gamy taste. My first experience with Taiwanese food didn’t happen until I actually set foot in Taiwan and while I had intended to jump in head first and immediately push beyond my comfort zone, some of the foods created too much shock value for me to just dive right in.

Our Taiwanese friend said these were turnip pancakes. They are really tasty. Highly recommend trying this! Hualien, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Sampling broth on street in Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Travelling to foreign lands requires that we explorers have a very adaptable pallet. Not only is food spiced differently the world abound but the variety of animals and animal parts used to prepare a dish will change drastically from one country to the next. In Canada I loved eating Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese cuisine but these meals had been adapted to accommodate our western palate. Back home restaurant owners didn’t offer duck brain soup, intestine, hearts or tongue on the menu. At least, not in the restaurants I went to, but at the time I was leading a sheltered life! Now my eyes are wide open.

Duck parts. Basically all the parts I DON’T want to eat, Taichung, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

I am sure that many of these items taste wonderful (otherwise, you wouldn’t see huge line ups at the local street vendor who scoops fleshy chunks into plastic bags for his customers), but I hesitate at the thought of trying them. It is all psychological. There are only certain parts of animals that I am accustom to eating based on the beliefs passed down to me by my family. The animal parts which are considered food in Asia always went in the garbage in my household.

Gizzards brains, random organs, faces, and other flesh bits that formerly belonged to various winged creatures. Good stuff! Taichung, Taiwan – April Beresford

Fresh duck head. Yum! Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Exploring the local night markets has given us the chance to taste test a wide variety of foods while keeping within our budget. Taiwanese street food has a reputation for being exceptionally tasty and based on our experience in Taichung, Taipei, Lukang and Hualien, we can confirm this rumor is true. We still recommend using caution when selecting an appropriate street vendor so check out this great article for helpful safety tips in purchasing ‘street meat.’

Octopus Fillet anyone? Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Tasty octopus tentacles! Hualien, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Since arriving in Taiwan I have tried foods with tastes and textures that dazzled our senses. We dined on wild boar that was hunted by an aborigine group in Taroko Gorge National Park. I ate a pancake made of turnip, a plethora of candies and drinks made from red bean, and a dozen vegetables that are completely new to me. I discovered that my new favourite desert is a Taiwanese treat called Mango Ice, which without question, contains addictive properties that make consumers dream of it day and night. I have been bitten by the mango ice bug and now my life is forever changed.

A Familiar Taste Of Home

Karina told me once that travelling to Asia would make me fall in love with 7 Eleven. While in Canada we take these convenient stores for granted, being that they are scattered everywhere, in Asia they provide an easy avenue for westerners to have a taste of home. Sometimes you just NEED to eat something you recognize from home, even if that item is a candy bar, soda or bag of chips. Walking into my first Taiwanese 7 Eleven my investigation of the treat section revealed some familiar food with an Asian twist.

Convenience stores are filled with fast foods I have never seen anywhere in North America. Various meats soaked in water that you can either get spicy or mild to suit the customers taste. Customers can also buy boiled eggs which have been soaked in black tea. At the recommendation of friends we met while hitchhiking through The Hundred Mountains of Taiwan, we stopped at a Family Mart (another popular convenient store chain), and purchased our first tea-soaked egg. They were actually, not half bad.

Travel Tip:

Choosing A Place To Eat

Typically we search for a long line-up of locals (a tell-tale sign the stand produces a quality meal), then we observe the people ahead of us to see how they order (and how much they pay). Restaurants have only been tackled when we are accompanied by our couch surfing host so they can decode the Chinese menu for us. Street food, on the other hand, is something we can manage ordering on our own. Just point to what you want and you are set! The friends we have met here have been absolute angels, guiding us through the ‘learning new foods’ process. When we don’t have locals with us the process of obtaining food in a restaurant is as follows:

Step One: Point to a word we can’t read in the menu.

Step Two: Cross our fingers and hope for the best!

Trying cuisine prepared by local aborigines in Hualien. Our first time trying rice that was cooked in bamboo (far right), green ferns (also on the right), beef noodle soup, soup with yellow veggy that still remains unidentified, wild boar. We loved everything we tried and our entire meal was ordered and paid for by our gracious host in Hualien. Hualien, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

In restaurants we give our local buddies cart blanch to order whatever they think we might like to try. They translate the menu and give us options here and there but mostly we just say, “order what YOU like.” Having someone recommend foods encourages us to make bolder choices as they help us feel more confident that we are weeding out the less appealing choices. Our Taiwanese friend Mike encouraged us to try fish eyeballs over dinner. He said Chinese superstition indicates this will improve our eyesight but he won’t eat them himself as he finds them disgusting. My grandmother always said eating carrots were good for your eyes but there is more than one way to skin a cat. For the record, I didn’t enjoy the texture much or the taste for that matter but just in case there is any truth to the superstition, I popped both eyeballs in my mouth, chewed and swallowed hard. I enjoyed watching his face cringe as I followed his late grandmother’s recommendation for developing healthy eyesight.

Our couchsurfing host Sharon teaching me how to prepare a delicious Taiwanese meal. I didn’t burn a thing ! Taipei, Taiwan- Karina Noriega

April (the apprentice), observing Chef Sharon as she strains random green veggy with no English name. The meal also consisted of duck blood rice, ground pork with onion and steamed rice. Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Learning To Cook Local Food

Throughout our journey across the world I have typically cooked all our food so we could avoid paying restaurant prices but here in Asia, I have no idea where to begin. Meats are packaged differently and are only labeled in Chinese. When I wander about the produce section in a grocery store I have no idea what half the vegetables are. Our couch surfing host in Taipei city was kind enough to take me grocery shopping then she showed me how to make a traditional Taiwanese meal. I still have no idea the name of all the veggies used as she could only tell me the Chinese name (which I can’t even begin to pronounce correctly). Now I feel more comfortable taking the chance to grab something in a grocery store that I have never used before. The food is beginning to feel less foreign to me.

nly knew the green vegetable’s Chinese name so I call it ‘green veggy.’ I have purchased and prepared this veggy in Hong Kong and in China and still I don’t know the English name (if there is one), but it is inexpensive and tasty. It is so helpful to have a local show you how to prepare local veggies! Taipei, Taiwan – Karina Noriega

Everyone is about to dig into the delicious meal Sharon and I prepared. I really like how meals are served in this part of the world- with several different dishes placed in the middle of the table. Your always have a your own bowl of rice and you grab (with your chopsticks), bites from the communal bowls throughout the meal. I love eating with chopsticks and now after being in Asia for just over a month, it feels strange to eat with a fork! My how quickly we adapt! Taipei, Taiwan

~ An Extraordinary Story by April Beresford ~

Check out the first article in the Culture Shock! series: Culture Shock! and the Sorry Complex.

Show your support by sharing, liking, commenting and subscribing 🙂

 Facebook: Karina’s Extraordinary Life presents Wisdom Trails

Tweet me @Wisdom_Trails

Instagram  @karinas_extraordinary_life/

YouTube KNExtraordinaryLife/videos