Anyone have any idea whatsoever of where to get any sort of beef broth or cubes in Taipei? The Thai store in Neihu used to have them, but we bought them all. Now they are saying that they don’t sell well enough so they won’t be bringing them back in :loco: ???
I haven’t been able to find them at all anywhere else. Mind you, I saw some sort of thing on the news about Bovril a few weeks ago, but it was at the gym and without sound, so I am not sure what it was about.
I want to get into some French cooking, and the Beef broth is a must. Unless someone knows where to get decent beef bones in Taipei so I could make my own???
This is one of the few things that I still ask friends to bring back for me from overseas. I occasionally score some from Vietnamese restaurant-stores here in central TW, and have made it a habit to run in and check all such stores only for this. If you know anyone going to Guam, there is a great U.S. made beef paste sold there that is better than bullion. Come to think of it, I think the product name actually is “Better than Bullion”.
Don’t know if it’s still illegal, but yes it has been illegal to import beef stock commercially in any form for years … beef stock is made mainly from bones, and beef bones from certain countries are off limits in Taiwan.
Because the trade in offal and bones is a global trade I guess the Taiwanese government wouldn’t let beef stock in as they couldn’t assure the origin of the bones used in the product sold.
What I don’t understand is that they never blocked gelatin from entering Taiwan, perhaps the manufacturer had to prove that it’s only made by using skin and bones from other animals, chickens, pigs or other …
Anyways, most wholesale companies can supply commercial kitchen size packing beef stock, powder, paste … illegal or not, they can … probably by certification form country of origin.
And, yes … there is only a small market for it in Taiwan … pig, chicken and vegetarian ‘stock’ (incl. MSG), cubes or granules are the biggest market …
To answer your question, I have it in powder form, not the best I would like to have but it does the job for what I use it … I could get better though, but price and need, shelf life play a roll too.
Oh, and some meat importers, distributors sell beef bones too …
I buy eight or ten boxes of the beef bouillon cubes every time I go to the US or Mexico, then freeze them immediately upon return. They last a good year or two, that way, and they’re very compact so they hardly take up any space in the freezer. I mostly use them for hotpot and beef noodle soup.
I’ve seen beef bouillon cubes at the Zhongxiao Fuxing City Super, but that was quite a while ago - I haven’t looked recently.
Like others, I bring back beef bouillon cubes from trips back to North America - although last summer I instead brought back a few jars of the Better than Bouillon that Chaon mentioned. Definitely a superior product, although the chicken jar didn’t last long.
(Yeah, I know I should make chicken stock, but I persuade myself that I just don’t have the freezer space.)
I find it useful to keep some bouillon on hand but also made the jump to making my own stock when I have time, and can do it without using freezer space. When you buy chicken for, say, chicken soup, get the chickenmonger to remove the skins and bones and give you both in a bag separate from the chicken, and just saute some garlic and onions, perhaps some green onion, celery, etc., add the bones and a little of the skin (not all, or it will be too oily), and water, then simmer for an hour.
I do pork stock the same way, but just the bones, no skin. Shrimp stock uses the heads and shells. I use a potato masher to mash the heads while they’re boiling, then strain. I haven’t made beef broth, though, since there are no beefmongers at my local wet market that I know of.
But then what do you do with the stock - how do you store it? Can you go through it that quickly? My freezer seems to be constantly packed already, and putting in a couple of liters of stock just seems impossible.
One of these days I’m going to persuade myself to get a separate freezer unit, but for the moment I just can’t bear the idea of putting a freezer in the living room or spare bedroom. Generally I’m fine with apartment living, but I do wish there could be a separate larder (then I could shop at Costco too!)
To add a little to the topic: boiling canned stock, or stock from cubes, with bay leaves or thyme or whatever can add a lot of flavour.
I use it immediately, making it only when I need it. I just start the chicken soup or paella an hour or more earlier than I would. I occasionally freeze a few bones for making it, since they’re smaller in volume.
Me too. I’m shopping for one soon, I think.
Absolutely! You can also extend it by adding whatever bones you do have around and a bit more water, some onions, garlic, celery and so on.
I make quite a few things in bulk and freeze in meal-size portions. I saw a tip on a Japanese cooking show. Freeze your items in small bags, with food sitting flat. It makes it easy to stack in the freezer, and will defrost and cook more evenly in the steamer or microwave. I store all leftover rice, stocks, shredded cheese from the costco packs, meat patties, etc like this and it works really well.
Whereabouts is his stall?