The Story of a Meal

So much has happened since I landed in Taiwan less than a week ago, too much to recount all at once or else you’ll feel as overwhelmed as I do. But quickly, here’s what I’ve done, in summation: landed in Taipei, flew to Hualien City, got my ARC (Taiwanese Green Card), opened a Taiwanese bank account, attended teaching workshop, went to the beach, saw a native tribal dance performance, and took a hike. To keep it simple, I’m going to tell you one story from my trip so far: the story of a meal.

Ordering food in Taiwan is always an adventure. I don’t speak Mandarin yet and menus are all in traditional Chinese characters, so to order food, I’ve mainly been pointing to things and hoping for the best. So far, I’ve accidently ordered a breakfast hash brown and a vegetarian hot pot. Even accidents in Taiwan are delicious.

The accidental hot pot, complete with a mini stove.             

The most unexpected, most unique meal of my life happened last night. The former high school host family of one of the other ETAs (English Teaching Assistants) offered to take our whole group out to dinner. They said they were taking us to a world-famous Hualien restaurant, so I expected typical Taiwanese cuisine, with some form of noodles, rice, and soup. Then, the waiter brought out the first course of algae, some mysterious fruit, and the skin of a wild boar.

Left to Right: Algae, Fruit, Skin of Wild Boar

It turns out, we were in a restaurant that specializes in the traditional cuisine of Hualien’s aboriginal culture. What followed was a multicourse meal of pig belly, snail, fish, wild hen, veggie patty, and barnacles, all unique and delicious. The restaurant prepared the skin of the wild hen sweet and crispy. The snails tasted like how the ocean smells. The barnacles (who would have thought one could eat barnacles?) tasted of the salty soup they were soaked in and beneath the hard shells, the meat was soft.

 

Left to Right: Fried Wild Hen, Sea Snail

Our waiter joked with us throughout the meal. “Better than McDonalds?” He asked us with a smile as we ate. He teased me for finishing my portion of rice before the third course (I just really like rice, okay?). Afterwards, the dad of the host family gave us a ride to Hualien’s cultural center, where we were going to watch a traditional native dance performance. We thanked the dad for planning such an incredible meal. He said no problem. He knows some people choose to take Westerners out to Western restaurants when showing them around a new country. But his family wanted to take us some place special. And special it was.

Left to Right: Barnacles in Soup, Cracked-Open Barnacle