An Afternoon in Taiwan

We had a wonderful opportunity a couple of weeks ago to head to Houston's very own China Town. In any other circumstance I suppose I would consider this your typical jaunt into another urban Asian center. China Town, New York? Been there. Great Beef and Broccoli! China Town, San Francisco? Been there too. They also have a tasty Beef and Broccoli.

This was no ordinary adventure. We had a home grown, grade "A" for authentic tour guide. His name is Scott Huang, a school buddy of Andy's who has quickly become part of our Galveston family. Scott is from Taiwan and he has come to Texas to work with his mentor on viruses transmitted by mosquitoes. I have often suggested that instead of working on the viruses he should consider working on a magical potion that will wipe these nasty creatures from the face of the planet! He has the perfect testing ground here in Galveston! I have gladly offered our yard for his first efforts.

The man loves his mosquitoes however. He's got quite a collection of stuffed mosquitoes, wooden mosquitoes - all in tribute to the little bug that is going to win him the Nobel Prize for his work. I have learned more about mosquitoes than I ever thought I could know from many a Friday afternoon chat on our porch. He's a special guy, that Scott.

Now a year away from home, Scott is understandably missing his homeland. So he organized a trek on over to West Houston. The order of the day was a traditional Taiwanese meal for lunch and then grocery shopping for a Taiwanese dinner to be made back at home.

Lunch was incredible. I think the best part was how happy Scott was to have all of his homeland delicacies right at his fingertips. I think I stopped counting after the 15th sigh followed by "this is soooo good." We asked Scott to order what he would typically order back home so we could try some of the more unique foods. He got our waitress and other staff in on the game of "teach the Americans all about Taiwanese food" and by the end of the meal we were given free treats to take with us on the road.

Above is a picture of our meal. I was surprised by all of the variety! My favorite was a tofu dish that Andy and I called "Taiwanese Chili" for lack of a better description. Nice and spicy with the cooling taste of tofu in the middle. There was an oyster dish, drunken chicken and a lovely brothy soup to try among other things. It was all very unique. No beef and broccoli to be found, I might add.

Next we headed to an Asian market called Ranch 99. This place could easily compare to a Wegman's or HEB that specialized only in Asian fare. It was incredible! Who knew there were so many different kinds of soy sauce! Lots of fruits that I wasn't familiar with. And a few other cool sights...

Yes. Those are ducks.

The evening ended with a home cooked meal with all the ingredients we picked up at the store paired with Asian beer. Yum Yum! What a great time to spend with a wonderful friend.