My Several Worlds needs some light-heartedness after my previous post. So, now I’m back on track again…sorta.
As I’ve mentioned before, some of the best Taiwanese food we’ve sampled here can be found at local food stands and carts, which are in every nook, cranny, back alley and corner of Taiwan. Taiwanese street food is great and provides good quality dining for low costs. It’s quick, easy and fits in with our busy lifestyles.
When I first moved to Asia, I didn’t really enjoy Chinese sausage that much, despite the hoards of people who enjoy it here. I found it too sticky and sweet for my tastes. Occasionally, I would indulge in some dried smoked sausage (làcháng ??) while in Northern China, but for the most part, I left it alone. Since moving to Taiwan, my opinion has changed somewhat.
Have sausage, will travel? We found this sausage stand on the back of a motorcycle in front of KTV Partyworld last weekend.
Lately, we’ve discovered the joys of eating Taiwanese pork sausage. Taiwanese sausage differs from Chinese sausage because it’s not dried, it isn’t as fatty and it tastes a little sweeter. We’ve stopped at several sausage stands over the past month to sample these local treats, which are often made by local butchers and sold at the markets. It isn’t available outside of Taiwan, which makes it extra special.
Sausage photos of the month? Hmm…a strange subject, but then again, some of the food here in Taiwan is strange. Personally, I love the variety.
We stopped for a break at an observation platform while traveling along the Su-Hua Highway last month and noticed a large group of people crowded around a cart, so we lined up too. The vendor was pleased to tell us a little bit about his product while we waited.
In addition to making his own pork sausages, he drives his sausage cart to an observation platform next to the Huide Trail for a few hours every day to provide light snacks for tourists passing through. On a really good day, he can expect to bring in $1200NT. On a bad day, he barely clears $300NT. On average, his sausage sales at Huide Trail bring him an extra $10,000NT a month.
His sausages turned out to be the best snack of the day! We enjoyed our sausages while looking out over Taiwan’s magnificent eastern coastline. When we returned for another, he had sold out. Sadly, he had no more sausage for us, but we learned that sometimes it’s worth jumping in a huge line just to see what all the fuss is about.
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they are great… but i’m usually scared to eat them… too many horror stories about what’s packed inside them. it’s basically mystery meat.
Hmmm….yeah, I could see that being a determent. I ate so much mystery meat while I was in China, that it doesn’t really bother me anymore.
I have a problem with anything sweet in meats. I like spicy not sweet.
In Taiwan, the bread is sweet, the sausages are sweet, etc.
After going to Costco, I relished eating the Hungarian salami again.
Oh man. Costco. I love Costco.
Everything’s sweet it seems. I’ve just learned to live with it, although I can’t stand the sweet popcorn served in theaters. And sweet mayonnaise. Can’t stand the stuff!
haha… yup, that’s china for ya. there was this one time i went on a business trip to china with an american colleague and we were having dinner with a bunch of folks from china. they served this one dish which i didn’t even know what it was. we asked one of the guys and he said pork. a couple minutes later we asked again about that same dish and he said chicken. we just drank beer the rest of the night.
I can’t begin to tell you how many mystery dishes I’ve eaten in China. Some were quite tasty. Others made me violently ill. It’s one of the many pleasures and hazards of traveling. I used to frequent a Korean restaurant in North East China and was a regular customer there for three years. I discovered in my last few months there that they served dog and I had partaken in it almost everytime I’d eaten there.