Dieses Blog durchsuchen

Freitag, Februar 05, 2010

Sweet stuff

When arriving back at my desk from a meeting there was this delicious pot sitting on my desk...


It is basically what we call in Germany "Wackelpudding", a wobbling pudding which is a bit transparent. But the Taiwanese (most likely original Chinese) version does not have a fruity taste as most of the German Wackelpudding, but rather a taste like not so sweet coke, going a bit in the bitter and salty direction, but just a wee bit. It tastes pretty good actually and also the dumpling like big brownish blocks and the yellow sweet potatoe are not so super sweet. So if you come here from the West and are used to very sweet stuff, you will first feel strange, why a Taiwanese desert does not have as much taste as their counterparts in the West. I came to love this stuff after two years or so and let's face it, too much sugar is not good, especially in a very humid and often hot climate like in Taiwan.

If you make vacation in ThaiLAND (not Taiwan) then you probably know a similar desert, but there the dumpling blocks are almost always inside a very sweet sugary sauce, often coconut-based. We don't have that here in Taiwan, they cut the palm trees at the beach to make space for roads and car parks.

BTW, there are red beans inside the desert above, which are also not very sweet and a bit similar to chili beans, but not spicy.

Another surprise is Taiwan's (most likely again Chinese) "Linsen" soup, which is almost the same as Germany's Linsen soup (tiny little greyish seeds in little tablet shape in a soup), but the German version has vinegar, salt, carrots and maybe meat inside, while the Taiwanese counterpart is actually a bit sweet... Takes getting used to.

4 Kommentare:

Nachtgedanken hat gesagt…

What's the stuff called? I'll be in Taiwan in March and April and would like to try it.

Unknown hat gesagt…

@Nacht-Gedanken: I'm in Taiwan around that time to. What are you doing there?

Anyway, I know that stuff. Yeah, it's a wee bit bitter. Maybe you can get used to it ... But I don't know how it's called.

StefanMuc hat gesagt…

That's lentil soup, right?

"Ludigel" hat gesagt…

wife was busy, I ask her later. Me understanding words I don't know is not so easy.