Oh Snap! Let's Eat!

Pork Knuckle Dinner at Chef Teng

Chef Teng is a well known restaurant chain in Taiwan.  Like any other chains though it started with one restaurant.    I learned that the background of Chef Teng is that he studied some french cuisine in Japan a while back and incorporated some French cuisine in to Taiwanese food, which I found interesting.  The most popular dishes are Beef Noodles Soup and Stewed Pork Knuckles.  Chef Teng’s has been around for years, and now there are several different locations, including at the Kaohsiung Airport!

This is where I had my last meal in Taiwan before returning to the states.   I had a BLAST even though most of the time it was about visiting family.  The food has been spectacular!

Pork Chunks Meal with Pumpkin soup at Chef Teng

Of course before going back to the states, I wanted a yummy milk tea from Taiwan!  You can actually find them in Atlanta at many Asian restaurants too, but for some reason it is just not as good as right there in Taiwan. (In case you’re wondering Bubble Tea originates from Taiwan!  If you don’t know what that is, you’re gonna need to try it soon, it’s delicious!)

Milk Tea at Chef Teng

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Bada Forest Paradise, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

I’ve spoken of Bada Forest in Pingtung, Taiwan before in a previous post.  Well, I got to visit it again a second time.  This time we had the chance to enjoy some tea in a forest of Mahogany trees.

I don’t mean we sat there and dipped some tea bags in a mug and called it ‘tea time’. I mean we did the whole Tao of Tea (茶道).  The word Tao (sometimes spelled Dao) means “the way” or “the philosophical concept”.  I couldn’t recall all the different steps, but it was something similar to the Gongfu Tea Ceremony.   If you’re too lazy to click on that link, there’s basically complex procedures for:

• Preparation of the Tea
• Brewing the Tea
• Serving
• Aroma Appreciation (smelled very good!)
• Appreciation of the Tea Leaves at the end
• Clean up!

Tea Time in Bada Forest of Taiwan

Tea Time at Bada Forest Paradise

Now for one of my favorite parts: Snacks!!

The snacks available from the vendor in the forest:

• Dried Shitake Mushrooms
• Dried (another type of) Mushrooms
• Dried Roselle Flowers (google image them! they’re pretty!)
• Dried Okras
• More dried snacks!

Snacking at Tea Time

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