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 Short Lived Gingerbread House

Setting: Gloomy day in the living room, pardon my yellowish pictures.
*(been rainy for weeks in SoCal, glad it finally stopped right before Christmas)

Intent: Having a beautiful gingerbread house for my Christmas display.

So what happened?
Let the pictures lead you through my gingerbread house experience 2010.

Got this gingerbread house kit on the day before Christmas Eve -

It comes with some premade house-shaped gingerbread cookies -

So far so good, even though my hands were covered in sticky icing -

Ground work completed -

Wait for 15 minutes...then it's time to decorate the house! -

After battling with gooey icing and uncooperative fingers -

Snowman close-up -

Immediately after taking the picture...

Cindy's gingerbread house 2010 - lasted for 5 minutes,
I blame it to the weather.

"Healthful" Chocolate Wafer Sticks from Taiwan

Imagine constraining yourself inside a tiny space where you can't even fully stretch out your legs for 13 hours,
Yes, 13 hours straight! That's how long my flight was from California to Taiwan,
Well, I shouldn't even be complaining because the guy next to me had even longer flight,
After 13 hours from CA to Taiwan,
This plane ride mate has to wait for another transfer flight from Taiwan to Thailand,
Seriously, I don't know how he can do it,
Or how can his back or neck do it,
Mine was as stiff as a wooden chopping board after 13 hours.

My initial intention was to show you some restaurant reviews from Taiwan,
Yet this long-haul flight has brought another side effect to me - jet lag, which made my restaurant reviews plan...impossible.

And my poor mom,
She has to drag me out of the bed every night since I started to fall sleep around 6 p.m.,
You know what time is it as I first start writing up this blog post? 5 a.m.!
My sleeping schedule is all messed up.

As a result,
I'm currently not capable of going out to enjoy some good food and sharing that with you,
What can I say,
I really don't wanna fall asleep and land my face on the plate during dinner.

But! But luckily there're some wafer sticks at home that I can share with you first,
Let's just start out with this popular snack in Taiwan before I can dine at the restaurants without getting my face stick with veggies and meat?

Wafer sticks -

Flavors from right to left:
Chocolate, strawberry, brown sugar, peanut, sweet milk, and coffee.

Somehow people over here are crazy about these wafer sticks,
You can't even find them in a store or supermarket,
The only way to get it is through phone orders.
Since there's a limited capacity regarding the production volume,
Sometimes the wait can take up to months after placing the order.

Name-wise, it's called "healthful."
I'm guessing, partly is due to the meaning of "health,"
And partly is due to its pronunciation,
Healthful sounds a wee bit like "black chef" in Chinese,
Healthful = Hei Shi Fu = Hei (Black): Shi Fu (Chef, or master chef).

Chocolate wafer sticks -

So how come I get to enjoy 6 buckets of wafer sticks earlier than other people?
Well well well, connection is key,
My dad's friend knows someone from "Healthful" so we get to have these snacks right after placing the order.
Called that unfair? Nah.

I haven't open the other ones besides the chocolate flavored wafer sticks,
It's not as sweet as the ones you find from both Taiwanese and American grocery stores,
And the texture is more "condensed" instead of "crunchy, and fluffy."
Not bad at all!

Now I gonna keep my fingers crossed the whole time that my jet lag can go away faster,
I need to stay awake while enjoying my spicy hot pot, fried chicken, and all other yummy good eats!!

Healthful Wafer Sticks
http://www.healthful.com.tw/

Mitsuwa Giant Blue Fin Tuna Cutting Performance

Yesterday I went to Mitsuwa to see the giant blue fin tuna cutting performance,
You know? Where your lovely otoro came from?
I even marked my calendar 10 days ago just to make sure I won't miss out this event,
It was written clearly in blue ink, "Sat 2 p.m. Costa Mesa Mitsuwa."

So this is what I saw when I got there around 1 p.m.-

Ehh??? What happened to my giant blue fin tuna?
Where's the whole fish? Where's the head? How come only the body left?

A giant piece being left on the side waiting to be cut into smaller portions-

I walked towards the back, they even started selling the fish already-

Next to the stand I saw a sign saying something like performance started at "12 noon."
What? 12 noon?
No way, no way no way,
I was looking forward to take the very first picture of the whole fish, the one with head and tail...
This can't be happening...

My friends kept saying I must wrote down the wrong time,
We even bet on taking two shots,
If I did remember the wrong time, then I'll have to punish myself with alcohol (nice..)

So I checked online again, it said 12 noon...
Luckily, I still kept one of the flyers in the magazine rack,
Here it is, "2 p.m."-

Gosh, what a relief, now they'll have to take those two shots!
HA HA!

Anyways, the head and tail were gone...
As I wiped out my tears....(I really really want a big tuna head picture!)
Me and my friends decided to get a small box of otoro and just finish it at the dining section right next to it-

We also got some aji sashimi from the market-

Good thing we're still in time for the best part - otoro,
It just melts in your mouth,
Yummmmmmm.

Now, my friends, please take these two shots!!!
(I'm so gonna pour shots into two gigantic beer mugs for them! evil grin*)

Spicy Hot Pot Flavored Instant Noodles 滿漢大餐

Allow me to introduce one of the possible best friends for college students, who doesn't know how to cook, who prefer to eat at home, and who wish to save a lot of money,
Here it is, spicy hot pot flavored instant beef noodles,
滿漢大餐麻辣鍋牛肉麵-

See the price mark on the right?
It's only $48NT, that's less than $1.5 U.S.!!!

I was gonna bring this baby back to America,
By the way, I'm back to California from Taiwan already, wee bit homesick...that means Taiwan.

So yeah....I got way too many shoes...for work of course! Yes, that's my legit explanation for exploding luggage.
As a result....there's no way I could fit in any food inside my luggage,
I mean two luggages...
Very sad..I was gonna get green bean paste mooncakes from 犁記...
Deep sorrow....
Shoes or food...shoes or food......what a tough decision,
At least I found an ultimate solution for the instant noodles, let's eat it now!

First open the cover till half way through,
Wait, we all had instant noodles before yeah? Should I introduce the "cooking process" step by step?
Mmm...this product is kind of different from the ones in the States...
So here it goes~

You will first find packs of sauces, spices, and meat chunks inside-

Here is the evil one, since it's spicy hot pot flavored noodles, you get this chili powder pack-

On the package, it marks 33 degrees (little bit spicy), 66 degrees (medium spicy), and 99 degrees (tastes like chewing chilies),
I'm definitely going for the whole pack!

Otherwise what's the point of getting spicy hot pot flavored noodles!

So you open all the tiny packs for sauces and spices and pour on the dried noodles, but do save the one with meat unopened,
Pour in the hot water till 80% full, close the lid and place the meat pack on top,
Wait for 3 minutes-

Open the lid and the meat pack, pour the meat (including the juice) back to the soup,
Voila-

Instant noodles with real beef chunks!!!

You get about 4 to 5 pieces of beef inside the package, not a bad deal for $1.5 yep?

Cindy's special rating for instant meals: 7

*Can't compare this with real fresh food.

Royal Riviera Pear - The Sweetest Pear I've Ever Had

Feel like I haven't write about fruits for ages,
Well, lately I've been eating the same fruits over and over again,
Bananas, cherries, and grapes.

Why is that?
When you have to work with computers the whole time,
These fruits became my top three choices since they can be stored outside the fridge, no pre-cutting required, and create least mess at my desk.
*Imagine me trying to cut a kiwi and eat it at work,
I'm 100% sure that you'll see drops of green liquid on my keyboard.

But I do get tired of the same thing once a long while.
I can't eat bananas, cherries, or grapes every single day!
And I guess that's how this sweet little thing seduced me to grab it, and put into my grocery bag-

It even comes with its own plastic protection,

No wonder the name is called "Royal" Riviera.
Too bad the plastic cover doesn't work for me,
Because I just ripped it apart and cut the pear into pieces!

Muahahhahaha-

I'm not kidding, it tastes almost like honey,

I believe if I leave it at the counter, uncovered,

Millions of ants will sense its sweetness and race toward the delicate pear,

(I just got a chill thinking about the scene).

Unlike most of the Asian pears,

Royal Riviera is very soft, and the skin is a little bit rough,

I would love to copy and paste the description on the retailer's website,

But I don't feel like doing any advertisement for them,

I'm only writing this blog because the pear was so sweet!

Google it well ya?

Chocolat Roll from Hokkaido Festival ~ Mitsuwa Market Place

This is what I got from the Hokkaido Festival at Mitsuwa last weekend,

Everyday there was something special on sale,

Some cookies went from $1.89 to $1,

One big lunch box with 20 sushi costs less than $10,

They even had a live show of taking the whole tuna apart for sashimi.

In the area between the food court and the supermarket, there were some small stands,

They sold snacks, Japanese dango (snack balls mainly made of rice flour), cakes, tea, even seafood.

And I couldn't resist the temptation of getting this little cake-

It actually tastes pretty good,

Not too sweet, but yet pretty flavorful.

Especially the creamy part in the center,

I always eat around it and save the middle part last, then just swallow the whole thing at once.

Let's just pray that I can still buy it since the Hokkaido Festival had passed already.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Zoolbia & Bamieh

I'm down to try new things! Especially food!

As I consider myself pretty adventurous making that statement,

One challenge shortly pops up in my face.

My friend bought this box of Zoolbia & Bamieh from the Whole Foods Market in Irvine-

At first I wasn't even sure that "zoolbia" and "bamieh" are the names for these mysterious objects.

Totally unfamiliar with Iranian snack.

Let me smell it first.

Mmmm.....I was getting worried about putting it in my mouth...

Let me read the label then.

Wheat flour, corn oil, egg, rose water, and some chemicals that I can hardly pronounce.

Should be ok, all the ingredients looked safe to me.

So I gracefully asked my friend to have one bite first, and saved the other smaller half for me to try.

--Chewing it--

Mmmmm.....

I....I hate to say this...but I am really not a fan of this Iranian delicacy...

(As I was searching for other food to eat in order to wash away the taste, my friend was enjoying the zoolbia as if he's in heaven..)

Sakaeya (Hachimitsu Castella) - 蜂蜜蛋糕

Saw this little thing when I was "shopping" at Mitsuwa,

Yes, shopping in a supermarket,

It's like my routine ritual now, I go to the supermarket about twice a week.

What can I say, you can find almost everything inside a supermarket nowadays.

This Award Thing Gave Me the Confidence to Buy the Cake-

So How Does It Tastes?-

It was actually way better than what I expected.

The first few bites were great, but it still falls to the sweet side towards the end.

However, it does tastes good in comparison to most of the cakes on the shelves though.

Cindy's Rating: 6

Rainier Cherry

I've been munching on these little beauties for the past few days.

Never really a big fan of cherries, but these....are just too good to be true.

Rainier cherry needs special care in order to grown to its highest sweetness,

Farmers have to watch out for slight changes in temperatures, winds, and rains closely.

Washington State even has its own standard for the sweetness level,

Only the ones surpass "17 brix" can call themselves--Rainier Cherry.

These cherries don't come along easily,

Thank God that it's the season now,

Plus I am in America,

Should enjoy Rainier's wonderful flavor even more since the price is crazy back in Asia.

Dessert from Ralph's

Feeling a wee bit weird putting this entry under "dessert places" since Ralph's is more like a supermarket.

I was there buying ingredients for tomorrow's meal,
Somehow I ran into these yummy-looking desserts,
Since when did Ralph's start serving cakes that look so good?

Cakes-


I couldn't resist the temptation of trying it out,
So I bought the middle one,
Caramel Fudge Brownie Cheesecake.

But....
I dropped in on the floor 5 mins later,
Only 5 mins later....

Woo....

Food Poisoning

Ok, I've been laying on my bed the whole day,
Why?
Cz the bad chicken I ate yesterday.
I had the same symptom last Saturday, which was the day after ISA bonfire.
Suspect: Chicken.

Later on I made some fried rice with those suspicious chicken,
I didn't want to throw them away, thinking that by cooking them more than 10 mins should do the trick,
Apparently not, the day after I ate the fried rice, my illness came back.
Dizzy Dizzy Dizzy and I couldn't get rid of this puking feeling.

I finally got up from my bed, went downstairs with my frustration,
And,
I threw all the fried rice away, only that yummy stir-fried noodles left.
Standing alone in my fridge.
Final words, I still ate some noodles, not the leftover one,
I ate the one I cooked with soup base, along with some chicken (good ones!) and Common Yam Rhizome (山藥)

See. I can still eat even though I was sick.
I even ate a chocolate chip cookie afterwards.
What can I do? I was hungry.

Here's my buddy that gone through the whole uncomfortable stages with me this morning:


Smart Water-



And the label says-


The back of the label-

Cindy's Rating: 10 You can't live without water.