Kajitsu - March 26, 2011

According to the quintessential shojin ryoyi bible, Dogen’s “Tenzo Kyokun (FN1)” there are four cooking principles:

1. Five cooking methods must be used: Raw, stewing (boiling), grilling, frying, steaming;

2. Five flavors must be present: Sweet, spicy, sour, bitter, salty;
3. Fiver colors must be present: Red, white, green, yellow, black
4. Each ingredient must be utilized fully so that there will be no leftovers.

The corollary of the fourth principle is that in order to taste each ingredient, the seasoning must be kept to minimal and, therefore, stimulants must be avoided: e.g. garlic and nira (Chinese chives).

Shojin Ryori is the cornerstone of Japanese cuisine:  Prior to the development of shojin ryori, the dishes were prepared in a rather laissez-faire way so that the diners had to season their own dishes.  It was the teachings of Zen Buddhism that introduced the concept of appreciating food in all its stages - the creation, the service and the consumption – because everything one did was could be a part of the pursuit of understanding.  Therefore, historically, the position of a tenzo, the cook, had enjoyed a high status in the hierarchy of a temple.  

Dirt Candy - December 22, 2010

I confess: I am a queue mania. When there is a line forming (a rare sight in North America somehow – not enough good restaurants or not enough enthusiasm?), I lose control of my faculties and better judgments and end up at the end of the queue, quite involuntarily, I must add. Even in the virtual world that we live in these days, there is not escape for a queue mania. Whenever the apologetic little window pops up on Opentable.com informing me that there were no tables available in any of the days or times I have grudgingly offered as substitutes, I take it personally and, very badly, at best: There is a queue and I am not getting what they are getting. A capricious clicking then becomes an obsessive stalking – Operation Outsmarting Opentable.com. Dirt Candy had become one of the hardest tables to snatch, so snatching I had to do. (The poor quality of photographs is not due to my lack of skill, although truly wanting, but because of the eerie lighting of the restaurant.)

Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine in Taiwan (Part 4 of 4)

My last humble learning experience was at 玥飲軒 (yue-ying-shuen), which was actually a tea salon. We originally wanted to have tea here, but was just too intrigued by their culinary offerings: Milk tea hot pot, 客家 (ke-jia, one of the diverse Taiwanese ethnicities) 擂茶 (this ke-jia specialty is made of about a dozen different ingredients – barley, sesame, toasted rice, various beans – all ground together in a bowl with green tea, quite restorative and healthy, not to mention delicious) hot pot and vegetarian lion’s head (a.k.a. meat balls). So, we came back for dinner the next day to try out these very dishes.

The milk tea hot pot turned out to be the famous Taiwanese tapioca milk tea hot pot with black tapioca pearls. It was not sweet, don’t worry, and it was not bad, really, just totally befuddling. The fried dough, yo-tiao, dipped in the milk tea was actually delicious. But as the pot cooled, the soup (did I mention the importance of the soup base?) really turned into tapioca milk tea and it was just, well, weird. It is worth a try, once in a lifetime, you know, I must say.

Tapioca Milk Tea Hot Pot

客家擂茶hot pot, compared to the tapioca milk tea, was just uninteresting: The seeds and beans of the客家擂added depth to the soup, so it was more like soy milk hot pot than anything else. Therefore, even as it cooled, I had no problem finishing this one.

客家擂茶 Hot Pot

Curried lion’s head was the best dish of the night in terms of tastes. Its curry sauce was complex with spice and yet mild and creamy with coconut milk and just went down into my stomach really fast with the tea rice (just rice cooked with tea). The “meat balls” also had a perfect tenderness and complemented the curry sauce. Vegetarian or vegan or whatnot, it was a delicious dish.

Curried Lion’s Head

One word about service, again: The service was slow (the boy) and sulky (the girl). They say you get more energy, animalistic energy anyway, from eating meat. So, is the slow service due to the lack of meat? However, this is a tea salon and they have other omnivore dishes…so, this theory fails. On the other hand, what about sulkiness? Tea is supposed to calm the mind and give you time for introspection. Perhaps the girl needs to sit herself down and brew a pot of tea, huh? The good news is that they are looking to hire some new people, so you may have better luck than we did.

Restaurant Info:
玥飲軒:　 台北巿溫洲街80號　(02)83693963　
http://www.yys95.netfirms.com/

Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine in Taiwan (Part 3 of 4)

My rematch with vegan food was at the food court of a department store at a place called可楽鍋 (ke-le-guo). For those who understand Chinese, the word, “可楽,” must have already sent a red, flashing warning sign (or have at least awaken a few readers): It means cola, yes, as in Coca-Cola. Regrettably, this review is not about the fascinating cola hot pot in which the cola is supposed to soften the meat, but about the “meat” in one of their more conventional tomato-basil hot pot (the place actually features international hot pots – other varieties include Thai curry, which we also tried, and German sauerkraut, which we did not try). Thealleged “meat” were supposedly made of the stalks of shiitake mushrooms. How the beguiling fungus metamorphosizes into “meat,” I do not know. What I know is that it was “meat” and it was a stringy, healthy, lean red meat. Just see for yourself (if not taste for yourself): It is brown and it has the fiber and it has the taste.

No, I am not kidding you: These are the real pictures. You want more proof? See if these look like short ribs to you! I can tell you that these were softer and juicier than the previous “meat,” just like some good, tender short ribs… Crazy country, is Taiwan, I am telling you…

My Quest in Taiwan will continue tomorrow… Stay tuned.

Restaurant Info:

可楽鍋: Located in the Dayeh Takashimaya. http://www.dayeh-takashimaya.com.tw/food/food.html

Vegan and vegetarian Cuisine in Taiwan (Part 2 of 4)

My omnivore self was put to test for the second time at 衆流素食 (zhong-liou-xu-shi). We ordered a kind of cactus with passion fruit sauce, squid sashimi, braised fish with 樹子 (xu-tsu, type of indigenous fruits, which are bit like the leftover soybean after making soy sauce, which is used in many cooking – yes, I know you have no idea what I am talking about; this blog is not for the uninitiated), stewed dried bamboo shoot with 香椿 (xian-chuang), a crazy Taiwanese herb which I will explain more below, soup dumplings with 糸瓜 (si-gua, a type of melon) and sautéed vegetables. Now, we are talking about serious and quite inventive vegan cuisine (and I will skip the more mundane items, such as the sautéed vegetables), and let me start from the first wondrous eye-opener: The squid sashimi.

Squid Sashimi in a Melon Bowl and Cactus with Passion Fruit Sauce

The squid was made of konnyaku, supposedly. It had the perfect texture of raw squid, but the wonder did not cease here. This sashimi of allegedly fake squid had a squid taste. It really did. You don’t believe me? OK, I am willing to consider that maybe I was just shocked into believing by the supreme reality of the appearance and texture. However, my mouth assures you that it had a fishy taste.

The second wonder was the stewed, dried bamboo shoots with 香椿.

Stewed Dried Bamboo Shoot with 香椿

I took a scoop and put it in my mouth and I was totally dumbfounded: Why do I taste lamb? This herb, 香椿, confirmed by my vegetarian host so that I was not high on something else as to mistake its taste, had a lamby taste! The reason that I actually disliked the dish was because it was too lamby… believe it or not. My host told me that the first time she tried it in a fried rice, her rice was so lamby and gamey that she almost suspected that the pan used to fry the rice was actually used to cook lamb before her dish (but she were dining in a vegan restaurant). So, in Taiwan, a.k.a. “the treasure island”, you can grow herbs which taste just like lamb (and a very lamby lamb at that). Crazy island…

The third wonder of the day was the braised fish with樹子.

Very simply put, it was “fish.” Do I need to say more? The “fish” was probably made of taro (I am new to this game of guessing what my “fish” is made of, OK?) and it had seaweed wrapped around each slice of the “fish fillet.” My amateur educated guess would be that this piece of seaweed gives the “fish” its “fishiness, although this does not explain the squid, sorry, the fake squid. Once this “fish” was stewed with this indigenous Taiwanese fruit (no, it is not fishy fruit; one lamby herb is enough for one country, no?), which has a very strong flavor and umami (this word has got to be standard culinary word by now, right?), you have a beautiful braised fish. Do not frown until you have eaten it: the taro even gave it the fiberish texture of fish, if you know what I mean?

One word on the service: Our waitress, looking more porcine than vegan, together with a manager-looking woman with a heart not quite Buddhist, hurried us through the meal since the kitchen was closing swiftly at 8:45PM. It is healthy to be a vegan, no?

My Quest in Taiwan will continue tomorrow… Stay tuned.

Restaurant Info:

衆流素食:　 台北市龍江路102號1樓 （02-2516-5757 ）
http://www.wewi.com.tw/chongliu/

Vegan and Vegetarian Cuisine in Taiwan (Part 1 of 4)

As a die-hard omnivore, I have an inbred suspicion toward the word, “vegan.” Although my brain understands that some of my favorite foods can be quite easily vegan – chocolates, baguette, salads… Well, I have to admit that my imagination dries up there: if I started counting mango, papaya, dragon fruits, etc., it would be kind of cheating, wouldn’t it? However, what little did I know about the world of Taiwanese veganism! I am not talking about soy milk, tapioca pearls, grass jelly, taro pearls, sweet soft tofu and the endless variations of shaved ice, although on which I will happily substitute for three months, or longer, if you will allow me to include dairy products so that I can have my naisu bread (奶酥麺包 – an addictive concoction of butter and powdered milk, used as filling of bread, such as “the bomb,” in its most glorious form) as well. I digress. Here, I am talking about real and actual dishes, cuisines, creations or whatever you may call them, some of which are more real than Madame Tussauds’ wax figures (well, they are tacky anyway).

My first cognizant encounter of vegetarian food in Taiwan was at 佰菇園 (baiguyuen – a garden of hundred mushrooms – but please do not rely on my pinying): I went there to humor my vegetarian hosts who were graceful enough to suffer my free board for two weeks and also to bolster my vegetable intake as my body was getting worried to live on mostly carbohydrate. This restaurant was a part of a hot pot chain focused on literally a hundred kinds of mushrooms domestic to Taiwan and foreign. Of course, I had to pick the most enticing mushroom on the menu – the monkey head – among other kinds which my memory just could not retain. The key to a good hot pot, if you do not know, is the soup base: The ingredients otherwise can be mediocre (of course, the better the ingredients, the better the end product, what do you expect?) but the hot pot will still come out fine. Their soup was made of Chinese herbs and mushrooms, yet it did not have the typical medicinal and bitter taste of such herbs; in fact, it was quite delicious. Into this soup, we dumped in mushrooms, vegetables, konnyaku (a kind of jelly-like food, with no calories but lots of fiber, made from an indigenous root in Japan), tofu, and various vegan balls.* These vegan balls would have fooled me if we had not ordered a vegetarian course. Nevertheless, the hurdle of this first round seemed too low because, after all, we were having a hot pot of mushrooms, not exactly a full course vegan extravaganza. I have to mention, just in case you are vegan, the hot-pot vegetarian course comes with hand-made, freshly steamed mini buns, to be dipped into sweet, condensed milk. I am sorry if you are truly vegan because it was good. On the other hand, this is cheating, isn’t it?: How can anything to do with condensed milk be bad?

*A common ingredient in a hot pot is “fish cakes,” as translated on restaurant menus in the U.S. I think this translation is erroneous. These are not cakes: These are more correctly translated as “balls.” The main ingredient of these balls is usually fish (although sometimes shrimp), pounded into a paste and rolled into balls. Therefore, as you now know, they have nothing to do with “cakes.”

My Quest in Taiwan will continue tomorrow... Stay tuned.


Restaurant Info:

佰菇園:　 台北市仁愛路4段71巷17號　（02-8773-3160）

Pure Food and Wine, June 2010 (with Personal Compliment to Patrick Roger)

Aside from eating fresh fruits and vegetables, the only good things that are vegan and raw (let's not talk about salads because that is cheating) that have ever passed my mouth come from Pure Food and Wine. I take my hat off to them for making vegan and raw food so enjoyable, indeed so enjoyable that I am happy to become vegan here every three months (well, after all, there is only so much variety with vegan food when its raw).

Spring Salad of Mache, Saved Fennel, Rasberries and Toasted Almonds: Simple, crisp and fresh, this salad was the epitome of a good salad - vegan or not.

King Oyster Mushroom Scallops: Simple and a little plain - perhaps a little marinade would have helped.

Zucchini and Tomato Lasagna: It is definitely not lasagna, maybe they should stop calling their creations what they are not. Vegan/vegetarian food does not need to mimic meat (i.e. mock chicken? Does it sound delicious to you?); similarly, raw food does not need to be what it is not (i.e. lasagna), does it? Initially suspicious that the sweet and tender zucchinis would be overwhelmed by the tomatoes, this suspicion was immediately dispelled by my first bite. The intense tomato sauce alone is worth ordering this dish.

Sweet Corn and Cashew Tamales: This used to be the crown jewel of Pure Food and Wine. What has changed in the 12 months that I was away? The attractive sweetness of the tamale was gone. It was no longer the creamy plump bundle of sweetness; instead, I find small, yellow paste with spice. It is still edible (very edible), but.

Lemon Cheesecake: This cheesecake, yes, cheesecake, righly deserves its name. It has exactly the texture and tastes of a perfectly lemony cheesecake, and a very good cheesecake at that.

Chocolate and Mint Sundae: Sundaes used to be off-limits to the novices because they were not on the menu. What is the point of leaving a delicious item off the menu, I never understood. But the word has got out and now you know what to order. The other sundae - I am not interested; it just cannot be as good as the Mint Sundae.

Strawberry Shortcake: No. 3 of the my favorite dessert list.

Chocolate Passion Fruit Tart: I have never liked chocoalate and passion fruit together - one is bitter-sweet and the other is sour and pungent. Give me a good reason why they should not start fighting on my palate. (My credibility in this area might have suffered a plunge: I used to detest chocolate covered orange peels or rasberry flavored chocoates...especially chocolate covered orange peels. However, Patrick Roger has changed my view forever. Yes, my reputation can suffer all it wants for some of the amazing Corsica...)