Comments on: Taiwan Lunch at Ao Ba : Greenleaf Restaurant

By: Nancie McDermott

Nancie McDermott — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 05:41:55 +0000

Sounds like the Mandarin word and the Japanese word are first cousins, or at least classmates! Nobody can eat like this at home, and if I did, I could never leave home….I’ll be delighted to eat what you cook someday, anywhere! And to visit Japan on y’all’s tour, should that ever down the road become “a thing”. Cheers from not so far away as usual.

By: yukarisakamoto

yukarisakamoto — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 09:41:15 +0000

Oh no, never should have looked at these before dinner. Not only is my stomach growling I know whatever I cook will not be as good as these dishes.

In Japanese the water spinach is called “kushinsai” for hollow stemmed vegetable. We are addicted to it in Singapore and have it often.

By: Nancie McDermott

Nancie McDermott — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:09:00 +0000

Weird questions are my favorite, Greg, and I agree with you, it does taste distinctive to me, not like any of the other sugars traditionally found in Asian pantries and not like the sweet-thangs of the West. If I were at home, I’d go look at Barbara Tropp’s Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking first of all; her glossary of ingredients is stellar and detailed beyond imagining. (She was such a genius and a generous inviting teacher. I was thinking of her today while zooming along in a Taipei taxi, wondering about her life here as a graduate student, before she was starting her food work.) Or Irene Kuo’s The Key to Chinese Cooking. Or Bruce Cost’s Asian Ingredients. Our Friend Google isn’t much help in a case like this; I found one reference to its being a mix of honey + brown & white sugars, but that doesn’t ring true. You’ve got me interested, and I’m going to the market tomorrow (browsing, not a cooking trip). You know rock sugar would travel really well. I’ll see what I can see and report back…

By: Nancie McDermott

Nancie McDermott — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:48:47 +0000

Kian, how cool to know that. Did you make the wrappers at home, or buy them? I see the very very thin sheet wrappers in the markets, but these were quite soft and more like a very delicate tortilla, they had that gluten-y “give” to them, lovely. “Lunpia’ sounds like a Filipino word I’ve come across for fresh soft spring rolls. I’d never had any rolls like this. Pork belly? We had two versions at one meal, which makes no sense except I’m not here often, and I’m an NC native. Therefore, PERFECTLY rational choice, right?

By: Nancie McDermott

Nancie McDermott — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:40:06 +0000

Love that thought — it’s a blessing, really! Let’s do some cooking with CHOP NC…

By: sippitysup

sippitysup — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:10:04 +0000

Great restaurant. But I have a weird question… do you know why rock sugar tastes different than regular sugar? Or is it my imagination? GREG

By: Kian

Kian — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:40:21 +0000

I am jealous! What a feast. I love the soft spring roll. We call them “lunpia” in our Fujian or Taiwanese dialect, or “run bing” in Mandarin. We used to roll our own at the dining table with all kinds of filling. Lots of fun. And of course pork belly galore! Have a good trip Nancie.

By: Hadassah Patterson

Hadassah Patterson — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:33:08 +0000

So true – Much more fun to get a little of everything and share the experience with a group of people you care about! Better than tearing through one plate, lol! Lovely thought NancieMac:) May every meal be a sharing!

By: Nancie McDermott

Nancie McDermott — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:50:42 +0000

Thanks, Hadassah. Such a pleasure to be food-focused here in Taiwan. So many people share our passion for cooking and ingredients, and eating out is a pastime, more the merrier. More people, more dishes to order and share. I love being able to sample many many dishes at one meal; to go to a restaurant, even one I love, and get my big plate of chicken while you get your big plate of porkchops, and different sides on each, it’s so personal, but I’d rather have tastes of everybody’s food, and that doesn’t work unless you’re really pals (lol) or related. So the sharing-all-dishes idea makes me really happy. And centering on rice. Love that.

By: Hadassah

Hadassah — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 21:32:21 +0000

Wow! That looked amazing!