Pungent New Fragrance Takes Taiwan By Storm

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Taiwan is known for its strange trends like cartoon backpacks [link], cat cafes [link], and crazy music videos [link][link]. But as TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s Taiwan correspondent Andrea Chu has reported to us, Stinky Tofu perfume? We’re not sure about this one, Taiwan. Though most of these fads don’t really affect others, this olfactory trend is causing quite a controversy. Like the food itself, people are loving it or hating it. Taiwanese knock-off fragrance maker “Jaime” released…

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The Food of Taiwan Cookbook: NYC Launch Party & Event

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Join Cathy Erway & friends for the exciting launch party & events for THE FOOD OF TAIWAN--the new Taiwanese cookbook (and first from a major U.S. publisher!) releasing March 24th! *UPDATE* "The Taiwanese Table: Cuisine & Identity" panel is now SOLD OUT! For folks who couldn't make it, WNYC (NPR affiliate) will air the show live at this site (embedded video will appear day of).    Tuesday, March 24th @ 7 pm - THE TAIWANESE TABLE: CUISINE & IDENTITY - All-star Taiwanese…

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The Year of Taiwanese Food

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Photo Credit: Jetset Times' "50 Foods in Taipei You Need to Eat" / The Food of Taiwan cookbook / Ho Chie Tsai/@hochie71 Food writers, photographers, entrepreneurs, chefs and more—we want to hear from you! Do you enjoy writing about Taiwanese food? Do you love cooking and/or posting videos or photos of Taiwanese food? Do you work with Taiwanese food in some way? If 'yes' to any of the above, join us in celebrating Taiwanese food this year! TaiwaneseAmerican.org is excited to…

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Support Youth Programs with Purchase of Taiwanese Homestyle Cookbook

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We love Taiwanese food… It fuels us. We bond around it. Our friends and family ask us “chia̍h-pá—bē?” or “have you eaten yet?” as an expression of hospitality. Most importantly, it reminds of us home, family, and what it means to be of unique Taiwanese heritage. Last year, TACL-LYF and NATWA-NC joined together to create the second edition of Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan. The book includes suggested menus for various occasions and quick guidelines for prep time, complexity level,…

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Big Bah-Tzangs: The Hungry Monster

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Wouldn’t someone dressed up in a giant bah-tzang costume be funny?? This simple image was the inspiration for Karen Lin’s “Hungry Monster,” a web series that gives viewers a creative way to learn about ethnic foods (such as bah-tzangs), their origins, and how they are prepared. Named after the Taiwanese saying yao gui, “Hungry Monster” was created for people of all ages to learn about unfamiliar foods, including Taiwanese foods. Each episode features a different food and a “Hungry…

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Travel to Taiwan! A Lunar New Year 2014 Edition

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For many of us living in the United States, a visit to Taiwan can be as infrequent as “that time in 4th grade and all I remember was it was very hot.” A lucky number of us, however, do get to visit Taiwan more often, especially during the holidays. This past Lunar New Year, TaiwaneseAmerican.org staffers-at-large Eric Kao [Social Media Manager] and Kristina Lin [Admin Director] made it their mission to hit up iconic and “hidden gem” destinations around Taipei. They asked resident…

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Rediscovering Ramen: A Chat with Toki Underground’s Chef-Owner Erik Bruner-Yang

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[caption id="attachment_9985" align="alignright" width="199" caption="Photo by Hannah Colclazier"][/caption] Erik Bruner-Yang may have opened Toki Underground in Washington, D.C. two and a half years ago, but lines at the modern ramen shop haven’t gotten any shorter. A casual survey of Yelp reviews shows three or four hour waits on weekends—and customers willing to stick around. “We’re lucky that we have such a good clientele and that we’re busy every day,” he says. “We’re still…

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Taiwanese Homestyle Cookbook Now Available

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We love Taiwanese food... It fuels us. We bond around it. Our friends and family ask us "chia̍h-pá—bē?" or "have you eaten yet?" as an expression of hospitality. Most importantly, it reminds of us home, family, and what it means to be of unique Taiwanese heritage. TACL-LYF and NATWA-NC have joined together to create the second edition of Homestyle Cooking of Taiwan. The book includes suggested menus for various occasions and quick guidelines for prep time, complexity level, and significance…

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Taiwanese Oyster Omelette Reduxe

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*This is a post-script to "Flipping Out: An Irreverent Photo Essay on Making the Taiwanese Oyster Omelette" (“Oh-ah-jen” 蚵仔煎) since people inquired about recipes As Mrs. Lin did not use a formal recipe (like all venerable grandmother chefs, she comes from the "a pinch of this" and "a handful of that" era), below are tried-and-true recipes from two tasty Taiwanese food sites: Taiwan Duck and its excellent step-by-step video on how to cook (and flip) the oyster omelette. Mrs. Duck—okay,…

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Flipping Out: An Irreverent Photo Essay on Making the Taiwanese Oyster Omelette

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Ah, "Oh-ah-jen" (蚵仔煎). Oyster omelette. Taiwan night market staple. Street food favorite—and rare find in the United States. McD's does not exactly have an Oyster McOmelette on the drive-thru menu. So, last Saturday, several of us made the pilgrimage out to Union Church in Astoria, Queens to take part in TAP-NY's "Cooking Series" (aka Cooking 101 with a Taiwanese "Ah Ma"). Mrs. Lin, our oyster omelette Yoda, introduced us to the main ingredients of sweet potato starch, eggs, oysters…

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