Hey everyone, first time poster here. I just relocated to Taiwan for an unpaid summer internship and am currently renting out a studio (without a kitchen). I’ve been eating mostly street vendor/night market food. The fried food is so delicious (and unhealthy) and while I hit the gym everyday, I know nutrition is an important part of staying fit. So, I wanting to get everyone’s take on how to eat healthy in Taipei. At the very least, I’d like to have a high protein intake, preferably natural protein. I do have a whey protein shake post-workouts, but don’t want to rely on that for the majority of my protein intake.
I’ve tried googling healthy eating without a kitchen, most results suggest buying a hot plate. Since I’m only going to be here for 10 more weeks, I don’t really feel like putting down money for a hot plate. I was wondering what people here recommend for healthy (and relatively cheap) eating. My breakfast usually consists of some hard boiled eggs from 7-11 and a cup of unsweetened, cold soymilk from a street vendor. Thanks!
It depends where you are. Hidden among the usual dumping shops there’s a quite eclectic mix of unusual restaurants. If you’re a regular and get to know the boss they’ll often be happy to prepare a “special” for you. Where I used to live there was a breakfast shop that used to do a tuna salad for me each morning. In return, I would sometimes give the lao ban niang (a middle-aged lady with kids studying abroad) some English tuition. Of course, if you’re only here for a couple more months, this probably isn’t a realistic option …
Frankly I wouldn’t get too hung up on staying “healthy” for such a short time. You have a lot of almost-healthy options with plenty of protein, such as:
hot pot (火鍋) - order an extra plate of fish or chicken;
teppanyaki (鐵板燒) - the grease is mostly vegetable oil;
japanese-style fried pork (日式炸豬排)- typically lean meat served with all-you-can-eat shredded cabbage and rice;
sushi and sashimi.
Also, if you’re near Danshui, I can recommend Kook’s pita meals (meat in a pita, with a generous salad). If you can find one, Sababa (middle-eastern style food) is excellent too.
Snack regularly on peanut butter and on hummus (e.g. from Sababa, or make your own). Check out places serving American chilli (which has beans and meat, and thus protein): forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … i#p1407238
If you get a hot plate or a blender, you can take it with you when you go. With the former you can heat up canned beans, for instance, and with the latter you can make high-protein milkshakes, adding protein powder and eggs, for instance; or you can make hummus, and gazpacho. If you get something to make hot water (a small plug-in tea pot or an immersion heater) you can make oatmeal.
Organic shops like cottonfields have meals including vegie shakes which will give you a week’s vegies in obe cup. As DB says buy bread and make Pb sandwiches. Subway is a reasonably healthy choice. Fresh fruit is everywhere.
Mos burgers are reasonably healthy and you can get salad instead of fries. 7-eleven has salads.
I would look for the organic stores…you’ll pay a bit more but you can get high-quality, nutritional ingredients and try concoctions you’ve never had before like fruit and veggie juices and whole-wheat dumplings.
It annoys me the lack of knowledge about good Chinese food here. You have a lot of options for veg protein based around soya beans in all their forms, dou fu, dou gan, dou jiang. There are organic options and even shops that make them fresh with no preservatives.
There are places that specialize in deserts like red bean and green bean type soups.
There are places selling steamed buns with healthy filling like sesame paste.
Fruit shops are abundant, as are juice places.
Then you can get stir fried fresh veggies everywhere, and a little bit of oil is not going to kill you.
As for Chinese food, there are many lighter options such as dry noodles and healthy soups but maybe you need some knowledge of local cuisine or Chinese to order.
Just finished a delicious salad and a cup of ginger soy milk at Saladay. This is a great place for a healthy meal. Nice atmosphere and very reasonable prices too. (I have only tried the one on section 4 Nanjing E. Rd.) You can choose from a wide variety of toppings. Yum!
