Similarities in what people eat between Taiwan and Central/Eastern Europe

  1. In Budapest and Odessa (at least), they drink the same kind of milk they drink in Taiwan. I’ve been drinking American milk since I was six, so it’s not nasty anymore. But the old kind tastes much better.
  2. They eat duck in Prague and Warsaw, at least (and I intentionally went to Czech and Polish restaurants, although the one in Prague was in a food court) . You won’t find duck on most menus in the US.
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what % fat milk? whole, 2%, 1%, non-fat?

My ma has always said that Asian and Eastern European cuisines seem to have a lot in common. Borscht, for example, ain’t really so far removed from beef noodle soup.

I drank whole milk growing up, but as an adult I drink 2%, and it’s lactose free.

I’m kind of the reverse. Grew up on whole milk in U.S. and when drink the whole milk in Taiwan it’s kinda “blah” in comparison. those cows in Taitung County not eating the right grass or something

Anyone here in the 70s have their mom make milk from powder? Mine did for a few years. Now that’s…

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The cabbage they use in borscht is the kind they have in Taiwan. They don’t have the US Napa cabbage in Taiwan.

borscht is better than beef noodle soup (no offense to beef noodle soup).

Yep. It wasn’t the same, but I didn’t hate it, either. Then again, I have very few standards when it comes to food. While it’s not a hard and fast rule, I generally prefer that it’s dead - and that’s about it.

So why not drink whole milk now? And are you somehow lactose intolerant now?

taiwanese and western foods are very similar.

pizza / cong you bing (also advertised as taiwanese pizza, which inspired marco polos real pizza) virtually identical.

hamburger /gua bao (taiwanese hamburger) VIRTUALLY IDENTICAL!

also not to mention noodles… otherwise known as taiwanese spaghetti.

There is lactose-free whole milk.

I’m not lactose intolerant but I have elevated liver enzymes and lactose-free milk is more easily digestible.

And I started drinking 2% after my metabolism slowed.

Haka cuisine even has an emphasis on savory, not spicy or sweet or sour. Some sour, but mostly savory flavors.

My dear departed pa, who refused to eat garlic in any form (too spicy) and refused to eat raw onions (same reason), could have lived on a Haka diet, I think.

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Cabbage and pork, Perogyis (dumplings). Except for the lack of paprika in dishes lots of things can be converted to my Hungarian tastes.

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If it made a difference, then it made a difference. Whatever works.

But in the US, for non-lactose milk, you end up with more carbohydrates per unit of milk once the fat is removed. Whole milk is the min-carb version unless you go with half-and-half.

It’s the carbs with the fat that make you store fat, most likely. If you cut back on carbs and consumed only heavy cream your metabolism would magically pick up, most likely.

No, I actually don’t have any proof it works. Thanks for the suggestion. I will go back to drinking whole.

It’s the fermentation and preservation methods perhaps ?
Real Chinese food was and is often fermented to preserve it and add some new properties or flavours. Perhaps the East Europeans maintain some of that older fermented cuisine that also used to be common in Western Europe but died out. British people used to eat kippers (smoked fish ) for breakfast.

Yeah low fat milk isn’t going to help you if there are more carbs . The same con with yoghurt. Usually more fat will be better than more sugar which is a metabolic bomb.
To be honest it’s best to avoid milk almost completely it has far too many calories.
I’ve recently looked at all the different milks to revamp my diet and soya milk isn’t bad, almond milk seems to be the best calorie wise.
I’ve seen some different cal numbers stated so this is just for reference.

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I could never have a Supertramp breakfast of kippers , too many bones . However , we used to have grilled smoked haddock cooked in milk I think with an egg on top for breakfast .That is if one could get to that silver serving dish at the buffet table before the other family members got there :wink:

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No disrespect to your lovely Ma, but…

Borscht is beets, carrots, ham bones, and sour cream.
Beef noodles has none of these???

She was really just referring to the cabbage and the cuts of beef involved.

My mom is known for her rather sporadic connections between things, which are even more mysterious when she chooses to make observations in her non-native language, but I can always pick up what she’s putting down…

Also, our family recipe does include carrots. And radishes.

You guys are Russian, right? Not Ukrainian.

:ukraine: :poland: :taiwan:

My dad is second gen, though. He don’t know much about the old country.