Finding Comfort in the Familiar, Taiwan

The longer we’ve been away from California, the more I realize how great food is there. Where else can you get strawberries year round (for cheap too)? For us, deciding on dinner always started with, “What do you feel like - Japanese, Italian, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai?” There’s Mediterranean, Eritrean, Burmese, Indian, Carribbean. .. I really miss the fusion options too: Kung Pao spaghetti, BBQ chicken pizza, fish and chips with Wasabi mayo…

The Chinese food is excellent here. It is a lot of fun to explore because it is very different than the Chinese food in the states. But after being accustomed to such a varied and exciting diet, our taste buds crave variety.

I’m learning how to use what’s on hand to make food we crave. We're starting off with some basic American comfort food.

We started out without an oven, so I researched recipes online and learned how to make stove top biscuits and stove top apple cobbler. The biscuits were actually pretty easy to make. It was just flour, baking soda, milk, and butter.

To satisfy our sweet tooth, we made French toast topped with homemade whipped cream and golden kiwi.

Lacking the proper tools, we had to refrigerate the bowl of whipping cream between 10 minute sessions of vigorous whipping sessions. To get the cream going faster, Eric forged a whisk using four chopsticks, a rubber band, and a folded up piece of paper. It probably took a good 40 minutes to make and my wrist injury was reactivated, but the results were worth it.


Did we mention there's a Costco here? The Costco here sells American goods for roughly the same price. We stock up on cereal, tuna, salmon, and cheese there. It comes complete with a food court too. They sell all the normal Costco food court items with a Taiwanese twist. Pizza options are peking duck, seafood, or Hawaiian. There's a chicken bake or bulgogi bake. I got the hot dog with sweet bread and soda combo.

Homemade cheeseburgers with burger patties, cheddar, and a giant tub of mayo from Costco.