Pouteria Caimito/Abiu Tasting

Pouteria caimito, caimito, or simply abiu. In Taiwan, this jelly-liked treat is called "the golden fruit."

Again, I found this interesting thing from a street vendor close to the mountain/scenic area in Taiwan (I also found an interesting Ta Gu vegetable the other day from one of these vendors).

The street vendor kindly cut a big chunk of the fruit for me to taste before making a purchase. This imported fruit was originally from South America and introduced to Taiwan around 12 years ago.

The texture is similar to jelly. As I cut the fruit into wedges, the shape and look reminded me of orange peel jellos.

Not much seeds inside abiu, the most about 2 large black seeds in the center -

I ate the fruit just like how I always eat the kiwis. Simply take a spoon and scrape against the inner skin to scoop out the meaty part. 
 
The flavor is similar to feijoa or sugar apple. The price tag? A whopping $2 US per abiu, I can buy a pork chop bento with that amount of money here in Taiwan!

I'm still a newbie to this exotic flavor, and its price surely does scare me away. However, if trying the fruit few more times, it's possible that'll grow to like abiu one day (but the price needs to go down first).

My New Found Favorite Stinky Tofu - 阿灶伯當歸羊肉湯、臭豆腐

Mmmmm...stinky tofu,
The name might frighten you a bit.
In fact, the taste might actually scare you away -

It might be one of the top five all time street food favorites in Taiwan,
Just like cheeses, while brie and mozzarella are welcomes by nearly all crowds; gorgonzola and stilton are considered as "acquired taste."
The same reasoning applies to tofu! Most people enjoy products such as soy milk and silken tofu, but definitely not the case for stinky "fermented" tofu.

Have you ever watch the show Bizarre Foods hosted by Andrew Zimmern?
Well if you do, you probably know the power of this little chunky thing,
The brave and adventurous TV host eats literally everything; I mean EVERYTHING - ranging from brains to live worms.

So far I believe only two things almost got him puke:
1. The king of fruits - durian
2. Taiwanese's favorite street food - stinky tofu



Please remain calm and stay on your seat,
As I warned you earlier, it's an acquired taste.
Maybe try the tofu with some Taiwanese style kimchi on the side, I bet it'll make you feel at least a little better~*

The picture shown in the beginning is my new found favorite stinky tofu,
For most stinky tofu, you get a semi-firm center while biting into the crunchy skin. However, this one has a semi-runny center, should I call it stinky tofu - lava cake style?
So good.

If you plan to visit Taiwan, please ask the locals see where can you find a good stinky tofu stand. That way you get to try true smellest tofu instead of mediocre kinds (that's a good thing or bad thing?)  

One little bite won't hurt you,
Well, maybe later on if you have a weak stomach.
But that's all part of traveling fun yeah?

Here's the address for my lovely stinky tofu stand:

阿灶伯當歸羊肉湯、臭豆腐

宜蘭縣羅東鎮民權路羅東夜市第1094攤
Yilan City. LuoTong Town. Min-Chuen Road.
LuoTong Night Market Stand #1094.
(03) 954-7736

My Very First Cicada...Followed by Even More Cicadas...

What is the weirdest thing you've ever ate?
Bears? Snails? Crocodiles?
Organs? Brains? Testicles?
Well, being a local born Taiwanese plus spending numerous years in America,
I can proudly say that I'm very familiar with the above mentioned items,
However, there is still that one category of semi-popular ingredients around the world that I have not ventured into - BUGS!

Bugs can be a rare find in the states,
However, they are one of the stable ingredients in other parts of the world,
Some are used in alcoholic drinks,
Some are made into candied sweets,
Some are deep fried and served as snacks.

"Luckily," I got my bug-fix last weekend at a restaurant serving Hakka food,
It was fried cicadas that I ate -

There're supposed to be a whole plate of fried critters instead of a few from a paper cup,
Apparently I was the only person from our table that is willing and daring enough to try,
So my generous waitress actually secretly grabbed a few from the kitchen and let me try for free.

The thoughts of eating fried cicada was indeed frightening,
I actually had to turn the bug with the back facing my eyes, so that I won't see so many legs while downing the protein-packed snack.

This is how I conquered my psychological barrier,
Cicada is just like shrimps or lobsters,
Seriously, they both got many many legs with bodies wrapped inside segments of shells,
Don't you think?

I've got to embrace this opportunity and carefully savored the bugs, especially chances of having friends tough-it-up to try the critters with me or running into nice waitress handing me small samples all the time are slight...or more so - impossible.

Even better with peanuts! -

The texture is  just like tiny soft shell crabs, or small fried oysters with fish scales on,
You can kind of imagine what I'm talking about right?
Taste-wise, not as earthy as I expected,
Basically there's no strong aroma present, I can only taste the seasoning and the fried crumbs, and it was in fact...pretty good!

Will I order it again? Probably not,
But will I eat it again? I actually don't mind at all,
Maybe fried tarantulas next time?

Ensenada Street Food - Cactus Fruit with Chili Sauce

I went on a cruise recently to Mexico, Ensenada,

During the offshore excursion, I saw this small stand lining up with cactus fruits,

I had to order something from there.

Not too sure what I got from the lady (since she only speaks Spanish),

She peeled the cactus, chopped it up in big chunks, and asked if I want chili sauce with it,

How in the world do I know what she was asking for?

Well, at least I know chili, or chile, either way, I got my cup of chopped cactus with chili sauce-

The sauce tastes kind of like the plum powder people use for guava,

Just...spicier,

As for the cactus itself, it has a slight sweet taste, the texture is similar to dragon fruit, but a little bit harder...

By the way....I didn't expect so many seeds in the middle....

Good experience though! Never had fruit with chili sauce before!