That looks amazing! May I ask where you get your ground beef?
As an aside. Does anyone know a Taiwanese source for dried Mexican style black beans (not black soy)? Only found in cans, and they add nasty goop to them.
Costco, there are 3 ziploc sandwich bags full of the rest in the freezer. Grabbed some taters and gonna do salisbury steak later in the week
Check this thread
Also, check with the Mexican owner at Don Burrito in Kaohsiung next time youāre here, he must have a sourceā¦
Pretty good, yeah. I turned off the heat when I threw in the cilantro but it still killed the flavor (should have kept it aside and put in the bowl).
And there are another 7 bowls left for the freezer
We finally got ourselves a separate freezer unit, and Iām looking forward to spending much of the Lunar New Year week making stews and soups to store in it. The freezer atop our fridge has been too full of bread lately, so I havenāt been able to build up the leftover supply I like to have. Soup or stew + a piece of decent bread ā¦ yum. And super easy. Well, super easy when averaged out over one time cooking + four to six meals.
Cilantro, however, shall not be involved, flavor killed or not. Blech.
Time to figure out what I can do with all those big bags of Costco frozen ingredients that Iāve never previously had the storage space for.
It looks good. I wonder about the shape of the tacos though. Why not cut them in triangles and put them around the edge. Or even better: get a Taiwan shaped cookie cutter and present it as the forumosann national dish? Extra n to add an essential aboriginal hint.
A proper freezer is a game changer. Get ready for loads of awesome food and a very nice bump in your savings account!
As far as the kitchen goes, the best investment one can make in my opinion. Allows people to take advantage of things when they are cheap.
Have you tried culantro? Works better with cooking/heat than cilantro, and itās available in Taiwan. I quite like it. But havenāt really experimented with how hot/how long it can go before the flavor starts going off.
Never heard of it, but will keep an eye out for it!
Way more robust than cilantro in my opinion.
In Mandarin. åŗč«č½. Easy online. I have seen fresh for sale where se Asian produce is sold
Show us your recipe!
I use it interchangeably with cilantro. The only difference is if I bake a burrito, I can put culantro in and it doesnāt go off if everything is cooked then assembled, cilantro just becomes nasty after that brief heat. If using it fresh, like a garnish on top of something, I still use cilantro just cause itās more common and easier to buy literally anywhere.
I find it fascinating that both types of cilantro/culantro are used in SE Asian and Latin American cuisine.
Believe it or not, my current source of what we call āwildā culantro back in the old country is Carrefour of all places. In the organic produce aisle they have a corner with fresh herbs pots. They are tiny but so far they have survived longer and better than the bigger ones Iāve bought at the Jienguo plant market.
And yes, where it comes to flavor, culantro is a true game changer. Try it the next time you make chicken soup. We use it in stews and beans in the old country.
That is really amazing. I wouldnāt have thought Carrefour would have it. Could you take a picture next time you see it there? I am not doubting you, but this seems almost unbelievable. What a bounty of options Taiwan now has!
No problem. This is in Xindian Carrefour and I 'd like to know if other Carrefour have it. I also couldnāt believe it the first time. I was just browsing among the potted herbs and hit jackpot.
Iāve always been kind of reluctant to buy (or rather eat) the herb pots they sell at Carrefour. Iāve seen one or two nice-looking Thai/holy basil and mint plants from time to time in the Ximen store, but I was never sure whether they were intended to be ornamental or for eating (especially as theyāre usually mixed in with definitely ornamental plants), they donāt seem to have a very high turnover, and who knows what pesticides etc. they spray them with to keep them alive during distribution.
Iād be inclined to leave them alone for at least a couple of weeks before eating anyway, to give whateverās on them a chance to break down (though I also try and do that for the ones from Jianguo, and it might not necessarily be much different from herbs/vegetables bought at wet markets).
To be fair, they come from all the big wholesalers as nurseries and flower markets. Very few will grow their own. I also suggest reporting with new soil and give a good rinse between reporting. I also wait a few weeks and only eat the new growth
Growing from seed is certainly preferable. But they are probably still better than the sprayed stuff on supermarket shelves haha
Made macaroni and cheese. My grandmaās recipe was WAY better, but to be fair the cheese availability in Canada even then was far beyond here, I am using Costco cheeseā¦
Anyway, not healthy. Horrible food, but absolutely heavy and gross deliciousness. I havenāt made this in over 20 years. Made kraft dinner, which complete crap. But this is at least heart attack friendly level happiness 
Note, we use Taiwan style fire burners. So I used a thick bottomed hi top pan with a small drying āgrillā (not sure the name) on the bottom. This separates the actual thing crap stainless pot I used from. The bottom pan. Then filled with water. Aka, a water bath. Easiest way for people without money to spend on loads of kitchen ware. I can make this on a campfire easily.
Ingredients:
Butter 50g
Flour 43 g
Milk 401g
Cheese 303g (Kirkland brand from Costco, sharp cheddarā¦not good. But all I could get)
1 teaspoon Oregano (dry)
1.5 teaspoon rosemary (dry commercial crap)
1 teaspoon thyme (also dry commercial crap)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Cumin
No salt needed as that Kirkland cheese is extremely salty. But can add to taste.
Black pepper at end to taste.
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Melt butter 50g
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Add a bit of milk, about a third. Just for more liquid. Add herbs to allow to soak in some liquid (not just fat, they need water to expand and expell flavor).
2.1 add milk as herbs soak up milk to avoid burning.
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Add cheese. I did 1/3 at a time. Always stir non stop.
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Once cheese is fully melted, add the rest of the milk.
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Sprinkle flour lightly while stirring with a whisk type utensil to avoid clumps. Easy when slow and low heat.
Key point, just keep stirring.
Notes. My old grandmaās recipe was FAR better. But I think thatās because she had actual properly sharp cheddar. Not Costco crap. I used to buy Tillamook small blocks of extra sharp cheddar at Costco once in a while, that would likely work better as Costco cheddar is light and salty. Rather than sharp and salty.
It is still not thick enough not cheddar like enough, but it is ok if people like a more watery sauce. I donāt like adding flour, seems a cheap solution. More stronger cheese for me next time haha.
Just used random macaroni pasta from the supermarket. It seems good enough, but I am not a picky person when it comes to pasta. Just not slimy.
Forgot to add I added 1 fat clove of fresh garlic. Smooshed then cut fine. Added half way between the cheese melting.
We ate it. Had a food coma. Only 1 bowl each. Roughly 400ml bowls. We had a whole night of work planned. Wife tapped out 30 minutes after eating. Said sorry, showered and passed out curled up. I lasted 2 hours. Same problem. feel so shitty just shower sleep, deal with work tomorrow. Damn this dish is HEAVY. Not recommended if a person needs to do physically active work after. Horrible feeling. Craving raw lettuce and light protein now hahaha.
The mouth feel while chewing was absolutely fantastic though. Which is all I wanted, have craved this dish for I guess 20 years? Wonāt make again unless just have a full day to sit in front of the tv/computer 
Gonna try eggplant again, this time Iāve coated it with corn starch and plan to use a lot of hot oil.
Edit: oh yeah, thatās amazeballs. It took me years to figure this out. Corn starch and lots of oil, i just dumped the excess which is wasteful but worth it
The eggplant has the textures of a perfectly toasted marshmallow
Overall the dish could be more mala, but still the best eggplant I have ever cooked and possibly the best eggplant that will be cooked in Taiwan today (unless you like it goopy)
And I added soy sauce and oyster sauce, forgot to get out for the first photo