Does anyone know where I can buy a bag of salad greens for a reasonable price? Ideally something beyond iceberg lettuce.
The Tianmu Carrefour (near Zhishan MRT station) has boxes of arugula and baby spinach, I believe more regularly than anyone else these days. Mind you, they’re around 250NTD per box.
I can usually find Romaine lettuce in Wellcome supermarkets.
The Tianmu Carrefour (near Zhishan MRT station) has boxes of arugula and baby spinach, I believe more regularly than anyone else these days. Mind you, they’re around 250NTD per box.
I can usually find Romaine lettuce in Wellcome supermarkets.[/quote]
Thanks, even at 250 NT, that’s still cheaper than buying salads from Dressed (assuming 1 box is good for more than 1 salad).
Good for a few, although the baby spinach shrinks down to nothing if you’re cooking it.
I’ve found the baby spinach goes off rather quickly, usually before the supposed expiry date. Perhaps this has something to do with radical temperature and humidity changes during shipping, and more importantly when I’m bringing the groceries home, but that’s just a guess.
Costco often has boxes of mixed, prewashed salad greens, sometimes including baby spinach. Mayfull (between Carrefour and Hola, near the Neihu Costco) has Romaine and, at only $36 or so per bag, organic leafy greens (rarely including spinach).
Bump. I’m looking for suggestions for what if any of the greens here can be used in a salad. There’s iceberg lettuce, Romaine lettuce, spinach (seasonal) … what else is reliably and/or affordably available?
I used to see expensive baby spinach and arugula/rocket in City Super, Jason’s, or the Tianmu Carrefour, but haven’t seen them lately. Perhaps I’ve just been there on the wrong days. And those were pricy and wilted awfully fast anyway.
Are there any Asian greens that work for salads, or do they all need a bit of cooking? When I visit my parents in Canada I have plenty of lunches that are basically pre-mixed salad greens plus homemade dressing plus a few other veggies thrown in … and I really miss that here. Are there other options?
There are plenty of organic stores around, and that’s great, and they sell greens, but … I don’t know what most of them are. I’m pretty sure I can stir-fry them (that’s what I keep doing, and nothing’s been too disgusting yet), but can any be eaten raw, and if so, what are their Chinese names? (And English names, if they even have one.)
(My usual approach to salad-type dishes: bean or lentil or pasta style salads, served on beds of Romaine, which is fine enough and usually a pretty good meal … but I miss the laziness and lightness of getting a side salad from grabbing the greens, grating the carrot, slicing the pepper, and throwing on dressing.)
Bonus points if someone living in Danshui can easily buy them without also buying a car.
There’s clover-looking things (maybe they are?) that make a nice salad. I think they come out in a summer and usually come in a box like a strawberry box.
Hmph. Gotta love grocery shopping in Taiwan. I go to the Danshui Carrefour looking for mustard greens, not exactly a hard vegetable to find here - and, whaddya know, no mustard greens. They do, however, have boxes of baby spinach, rocket/arugula, baby Romaine, and salad mix, 219NTD a box, 141g/5 ounces. So that’s useful, for this week at least. I haven’t noticed those kinds of greens out in the Danshui Carrefour before, but I have seen them - sporadically - in the Tianmu one.
But I still have to go somewhere else to find mustard greens for tonight’s dinner.
In a pinch, I’ve substituted A-Tai (cheap local green that’s usually cooked) in my salads with pretty good results for the most part. I’ve also subbed Da-Lu-Mei (Pretty Mainland Woman) greens, and they’re not bad uncooked either.
Thanks! So Da-Lu-Mei is 大陸美, or 大陸妹, or something like that? I think I’ve seen those and assumed from the characters that they were from Mainland China - and hence not a good idea to buy!
I also saw some local red leaf lettuce in my neighborhood traditional market last weekend. It was very good in salads, but needs to be washed very thoroughly as there were some bugs in it. I guess most people cook it here, but I’ve never seen it in one of my lunch boxes.
I’ve noticed over the last few months or so that the Shidong Market in Tianmu has been carrying many many new kinds of western veggies. The prices are even getting a little more reasonable now that the other vendors are starting to copy what started with one vendor.
Over the last few weeks i have seen:
Red Leaf lettuce
Arugula
Kale
Swiss chard
lots of the bitter style Italian greens
butter lettuce
plus countless other types of salad greens, and i mean they are really nice salad greens. Stuff i have never seen in this country before.
Besides greens i have seen purple peppers, black tomatoes, that spirally cauliflower, artichoke, edible flowers, red, black, yellow, and white carrots, and turnips, plus other stuff i can’t remember off the top of my head.
Of course prices are more than you will pay in your home country but, well, sometimes a little familiar is nice. The main vendor that started it and still carries the best variety is a new shop, you will notice them if you see them as they look like a western farmers market style vendor. Their sign is black and artistic.
Thanks! So Da-Lu-Mei is 大陸美, or 大陸妹, or something like that? I think I’ve seen those and assumed from the characters that they were from Mainland China - and hence not a good idea to buy![/quote]
To the best of my knowledge, the 大陸美 isn’t from China. It’s just a name.’
Got some rocket at Tienmu Carrefour before, a bit pricy but looking forward to a salad later.
EDIT: Was well worth the $128 for the box I thought. Tasty
Mayfull (between Carrefour and Hola in Neihu, near Neihu Costco) has some little hothouse-grown organic salad greens, unusual looking stuff in little boxes, that they often try to feed customers samples of. I haven’t really paid it enough attention to give you better details, but if you’re in the area, check it out. They also have organic veg including (sometimes) spinach, and non-organic Romaine and broccoli. They have onions, carrots and cabbage in both organic and regular.