hi, i’m still looking for that cast iron skillet. i went to ikea where sandman suggested and they didn’t have 'em. went to that home warehouse place on top of B&Q and they had cast alumninum and cast iron pots, but no frying pan.
i’m sure there is a shop somewhere in old taipei that is just full of every kind of cast iron thing imaginable. woks used to be cast iron, right???
potato,
go walk around inside the death star (the living(hell)mall) out on ba-de rd. somewhere on one of the middle-to-upper floors, there’s a whole passel of kitcheny stores.
not exactly WilliamsSonoma, but this ain’t exactly kansas either.
good luck and let us know what happens.
'Cause I’m tired of this Teflon crap, and there are some things I can’t do with a wok. A good cast iron frying pan would be fine too.
B&Q should have cast iron skillets. I found some at a large department store in Yonghe but I can’t remember the name…sorry.
What is the difference between a skillet and a wok?
A wok has high sides and usually a rounded bottom, too. A skillet has a flat bottom and short sides.
But what’s the difference between a skillet and a frying pan? I dunno.
I haven’t seen any cast iron skillets here except for the one I have, which cost me NT$199 from Ikea but is made in Taiwan. It’s a beaut, but a bit small.
Actually I have seen cast iron here, but its enamelled, made by Le Creuset and costs about as much as a small car.
I could be completely wrong, but I would have imagined the diff between a skillet and a frying pan is the way the sides slope up. I think a skillet almost turns back in on itself.
I could be totally wrong, or have got it the wrong way round though.
I would love to get one of these.
Lodge makes really good ones that are inexpensive. I don’t recommend the enamled ones as the first thing that happens (outside of martha’s kitchen) is that they chip.
I usually buy one when I go home and put it in my luggage as shiping cast iron can cost more than the pot itself.
Get a duch oven so that you can make stews, steam things, roast chickens, deep fry…whatever need a big deep pot. And get a 10" or 12" skillet with a handle and a pour. It makes a general good sauce pan, anything were you need a flat bottom.
bump for merging
And also see this relevant thread:
Food Forum on non-stick cookware and this post on PantryMagic cookware in Neihu, Taipei in particular. Here’s another on them. Their website is here, with a map. Note that the yellow dot on the map is on the wrong side of the street; they’re actually on the lake side (inside) of the road. More expensive than IKEA, but top quality, highly recommended.
There’s also a discussion of that store starting in another thread on paella at this post.
I saw some at Ikea the other day, around 2 grand. They were medium-sized heavy cast iron skillets with sloped sides, fairly deep, but not non-stick. I’d want a somewhat bigger one for pancakes, maybe with straighter sides to create more bottom area. Nice quality, though.
If you want the very best in cast iron cooking pots and pans, skillets and the rest, then go to The Mall on Dun-Hwa South Road. That’s the twin towers with the fountain out front, and travel yourself to B…1…I think. There is a shop selling everything that’s foreign made including the very, very best in French and Japanese kitchen eqpt. I absolutely love the brand lecreuset.com/ and although it’s several thousand NT for just a pot, they are well worth it and will easily last several lifetimes. Just pump some iron for a few months, so that you can lift them up though, 'cos they aren’t the lightest of pots and pans!
Here’s a skillet: lecreusetexport.com/list.php?rub=4#
Open yahoo TW, tw.bid.yahoo.com/
Type “鑄鐵”
You’ll have a lot of different choices
If you read and type Chinese , you can type more indication.
My wife and I cook a lot, we have LeCreuset for over 6 years, wonderful… We aslo have another one we got online on yahoo biding, very good too!
Good luck!
yeah, I have one EXACTLY like that, and it’s the best there is for searing a steak. 
I’ve got the le Creuset one too. If I’m not mistaken, they’re the recognizable ones with the flashy orange coloring.
I’ve seen them on sale at City Super in HK too if you’re out there. Maybe it’s cheaper. dunno
Potato,
There is a great store in Nei-Hu called the Pantry Shop which has high quality cookware. I’ll check for you and let you know.
You mean PantryMagic? (I posted links at the bottom of page one of this thread.)
http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?p=695188#695188
Nice store. I’ve been using the paella pan I bought there, and am thinking of stopping back in for a skillet.
Ooops, sorry, I didn’t read through all the posts. Anyways great store. I got a beautiful roasting pan there and some silicone oven mitts that I love.
I went to Pantry magic today and got a cast iron skillet for 1900nt, they also had one size smaller for 1400nt.
Although I would rather have a Lodge brand iron skillet, I was able to get one mailed to Taiwan
recently. I AM SO HAPPY!
If you want to try the same, you could go to: Reiman Publications
Inside that, you should go to : Country Store Kitchenware
They sell a set of three skillets together, and if you double the regular US s/h charge, they will
mail it to you here in Taiwan. I know that the largest one is 10 1/2 inch, another 8", and the
other is somewhere in between. Check it out and see what you think. These are unseasoned,
so you will have to season them. (But there are many websites which can teach you this if you
have never done it before or do not know how to care for cast iron.)
Also, a related Reiman Company is called Shop Taste At Home
In that website, there is a 12" cast iron skillet available in the Kitchenware section. I think that if
you double the US s/h charge, it would get sent. (I have never bought from this one, as I usually
buy things from Country Store.)
You also might try writing Lodge Manufacturing and see if they could send it to you. I do not
think that company does, but it never hurts to ask.