With panic buying on the rise here, I think I need to get back into cooking. Anybody know what they call lentils here? Of course, I can look up the word in a dictionary, but if I walk in a shop and try to use whatever word I find, it will probably be wrong.
小扁豆 Xiao Bian Dou
Quick Trick:
Click Here
One way I avoid saying things wrong is by using Wikipedia.
Search:
Click Language
Click Chinese
Click Language again
Click Taiwanese Mandarin (Literally Taiwan Traditional)
And the correct Taiwanese Traditional version shows up. This is especially useful when Google Translate gives Communist replies.
8 Likes
Carrefour has canned lentils sometimes. Let us know if you find dry ones.
2 Likes
If you’re looking for lentils and pulses, your best bet is probably Trinity Indian, with several branches around Taipei; here’s a link for their Shilin branch, and here’s their page with a whole pile of different beans and lentils, with both Chinese and English - but I’d be rather surprised if the Chinese meant anything to most people you’d ask here in Taiwan.
Organic grocery stores like Leezhen (branch list) and Santa Cruz (branch list) usually have a few varieties around. In the supermarkets like Carrefour, Jason’s, or City Super, there’s typically a shelf or corner dedicated to health / organic food, and that’s where you can find the lentils. I think the main ones I buy here are simple red lentils; I order green French ones from iHerb.
1 Like
2 Likes
紅扁豆 hongbiandou is the most common kind, available in many health food stores and rice shops.
4 Likes
Thanks for the 80’s flashback. 
2 Likes
Thanks! I’ll try that one.
Thanks for the language learning strategy Marco.
1 Like