I’ve recently moved to Taiwan but am struggling to find healthy food - most food (especially cheap food/biandangs) seems to be full of oil and sugar. I’ve found some healthier biandang places but they’re usually a lot more expensive (even though they usually use the same ingredients but less oil/sugar??).
I don’t have a kitchen to cook unfortunately.
Cheers.
What do you have at home?
if you have a fridge you can make light meals and snacks at home (think salad, sandwhiches, dips) and cut out on eating out.
other than that - not a lot of options for both cheap and healthy meals.
Poke, sushi, tofu based foods and dumplings
Salad I should say but ingredients are not cheap.
Well, of course they are. Better ingredients cost more. But I think perhaps you’re focusing on things that aren’t super important. Yes, it’s not ideal having your food swimming in seed oils, but most of it drains off when you take it from the buffet tray. There’s a little sugar added to many Taiwanese recipes, but it’s basically just seasoning. A typical bian dang will have about half a teaspoon of sugar in it, which is a considerable improvement on the amount of sugar/carbs that the average American or European consumes. Avoid the free sweet drinks that most bian dang places offer, forego the rice, and it’s quite hard to end up with something that’s terribly bad for you, even at the lower end of the market. There’s usually a good selection of veggies, some meat, and some dofu … it’s all relatively unprocessed. How can you go wrong with that?
Also, +1 to just making food at home. It’s much more expensive to eat out in Taiwan than it used to be, and although ingredients have gone up too, I suggest you at least make your own breakfast - how about keeping some salad veg, pickles, and cheese/cold cuts in the fridge? Breakfast-shop food is probably “worst” in terms of lack of healthy options.
Go to the buffet plate by weight places that are located somewhere and almost every neighborhood or town or Mountain road.
Lots of healthy vegetables variety of meats and good prices so you pick what you want.
I Uber eats every day from the same places. There’s lots of healthy meals on there. About 300NT for a boxed healthy meal.
Not cheap but I want to live to be 100 when they will hopefully come up with ways to extend life. The local food will clog up your arteries in the long run so I avoid them.
Here’s one in beitou I order from: https://maps.app.goo.gl/R5bstKUhrK6R3E1A8?g_st=ic
I don’t think they actually use an unhealthy amount of sugar in Taiwanese cooking, otherwise the food would taste like dessert. Just make sure you don’t actually eat dessert after your meals, especially Western desserts.
They also don’t actually use that much oil either. That popular leafy green water spinach dish is usually blanched, and even that dripping liquid in that other popular stir-fried crunchy cabbage dish is only like 10% cooking oil and 90% water. Western dishes, on the other hand, are usually full of butter and cream. If you still want less oil, then you can go for the tofu and “tofu-like” veggie options.
Granted, I’m not saying the typical stir-fried Taiwanese veggie dish is a “health food” by any means, but it doesn’t mean it’s unhealthy either. It’s just normal nutritious food that also tastes good, not unlike a mayo and mustard sandwich. If you’re eating normal-sized portions and not loading up on desserts or junk food, then you shouldn’t need to resort to tasteless health foods like salad.
Are you allowed to cook? Doing dishes in a small bathroom sink sucks, but with an Instant Pot you can do lots
I got by like this for a year @skindawg
cooking lentils, veg, beans etc. any protein separately.
healthy biandang is great and good for variety, but personally I’d rather spend 700nt to prep for the entire week, knowing what I’m getting is healthy and prepared sanitarily. all my gut issues went away when I started prepping meals at home. imagine that…
bonus tip: subbing white rice for sweet potato. you can typically find someone selling them already cooked at a local fruit and veg market. pop them in the fridge and heat when needed.
I cook everything with microwave and a Tatung rice cooker.
I second the instant pot or other multi-purpose cooker (though they cost sooooo much more here than the same one purchased from the US — buying off amazon and paying VAT might still be cheaper than buying one locally). It’s a kind of gross way to live ones life washing dishes on your bathroom floor that’s your shower over your toilet, but you have control over how clean your walls and floors are. I guarantee the 100Nt bian dangs are not that clean 