Thanks for all the kind words, and I look forward to seeing y’all in person by the end of the year, I hope.
As for the food debate, I’m Dan Ryan’s all the way, baybee!
(kidding, of course)
I don’t judge Sichuan food by Sichuanese food in Taiwan (but see recommended Sichuan restaurants). I judge it by the Sichuan food I’ve had in Sichuan during the months that I stayed there. Sichuan food is great.
But Taiwanese food, although very different from Sichuan food and less well known, is also excellent. For an good introduction to Taiwanese cuisine by someone from China, please see this article. He concludes that while Taiwanese food is less well known than the other ‘eight great cusines’, it should joined by Taiwanese cusine as the ‘ninth great cusine’ of China. He also lists a number of typical dishes in addition to the ones I did, and says that Taiwanese food emphasizes high quality ingredients, freshness, and simplicity.
Hexuan also has some good comments on Taiwanese food and food in Taiwan.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]
MMmmmm…Texas breakfast…[/quote]
Looks mighty dry to me. Why so little gravy?
Jive Turkey
A Tennessean
[quote=“sandman”]I do like Sichuan pepper though, and use it all the time, especially for BBQ marinades. It’s also very good for curing baldness.[/quote]I love it too. The medicinal properties haven’t kicked in for me yet though. What should I do? Eat it, or rub it on my head?
One of the few sources of decent Sichuan pepper in the UK is Bart’s Spices. In contrast, it’s easy to get reasonable Sichuan pepper here. That puzzles me. Who buys it? Can’t be just you and I, but I don’t recall ever having been served a dish that contained it.
[quote=“sandman”]I cannot abide the greasy slop that is all-too-often what you get in your NT$60 biandang, and I have a sneaking suspicion that that’s what a lot of people think of when they think Taiwanese food. It’s not, of course – it’s Taiwan’s version of Mickey D’s. My old mum-in-law down in Wuqi, now, SHE cooks up a storm, and that’s what I think of when I think of Taiwanese food. I’d challenge any one of you to sit down at her table and not enjoy it immensely.[/quote]Right. Home cooking can be great.
I’m not massively keen on short-grain rice, but that’s just me.
It should be one of those “you know you’ve been in Taiwan too long when . . . your rice preference extends beyond steamed or fried.” 
HG
I’m just not convinced. To wit:
[quote]在形容台菜的特色时，有人说是一
What do Forumosans think about Yunnan cuisine? Lately it has been my favorite cuisine – I simply can’t get enough of it.
Are you talking about that restaurant beside the cop shop between your place and mine? The one with the green signage? If so, it is excellent. I love the breaded chicken breast.
Are you talking about that restaurant beside the cop shop between your place and mine? The one with the green signage? If so, it is excellent. I love the breaded chicken breast.[/quote]
Yes sir. That place rocks!!! Twice a week for me. It is always busy and is very cheap.
That’s like with Burmese/SE Asian influence, right? I love it and much prefer it to Sichuan.
Delicious, but very hot. I’m going there for a week in May, and I know I’ll have to regulate my intake or burn my insides.
Sandman,
Yip. Many Yunnan, Burmese, and Thai dishes are noted for their use of mildly spicy and sour flavors and oils.
If any of you are in the Mucha area near NCCU, I really recommend this place. It is very cheap and very good…hard to get a table at sometimes.
[quote=“porcelainprincess”]
Yep, it’s telling when the first words he uses to describe Taiwanese cuisine are “清淡”. That’s one way of saying “bland,” don’t you know!
[snip]
Not only that, but I’ve already posted the photos to prove the superiority of Sichuan’s cuisine![/quote]
'Qingdan would be more properly translated as something like ‘light’ since it is a positive term. ‘Bland’ is negative in English, so you should choose a more positive term in English. In any event, there is no question that the artilce takes a very positive view of Taiwanese cuisine.
Your pictures showed me that you think good food should be heavily spiced and colored red. Now I enjoy food with strong flavors too, but I also like other things as well. And since you must cite your pictures again, I don’t think that the heavy red coloring is necessarily typical of authentic Sichuanese food as served in Sichuan.
In any event, I think you would be better off saying that you don’t care much for Taiwanese food instead of your ridiculous, ungrounded, and uninformed claim that Taiwanese food:
Other than Pearl Milk Tea and Oyster Omelets, what else is uniquely “Taiwanese Cuisine”? I ask my students this all the time and they don’t have an answer. The DNS claims that Cho DoFu is Taiwanese, but I suspect it’s not.
Tainan coffin cakes, 棺材板 guānc
[quote=“Chewycorns”]Sandman,
Yip. Many Yunnan, Burmese, and Thai dishes are noted for their use of mildly spicy and sour flavors and oils.
If any of you are in the Muzha area near NCCU, I really recommend this place. It is very cheap and very good…hard to get a table at sometimes.
taipeitimes.com/News/feat/ar … 2003249659[/quote]
Oh, that place has great food. My wife and I used to go there all the time after hikes. She loves the fried pig scalp but I tend to go for the rice noodle dishes.
Don’t tell anyone dammit!!! :raspberry: Keep it “in the know” 