The Sweetness Of Home Cooking
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
The best thing after a long day of school is to come back to the smell of home-made food, spices, and the heat from a just-used stove. I think it’s really lucky to eat food that’s made at home instead of store-bought meals.
But, not everybody gets to eat food that’s prepared in their homes. So, that’s why I wanted to share with you a night of cooking with my grandma (well, me following her around the kitchen)!
Shrimp and pork dough dumplings (麵疙瘩) have been my favorite meal since I was little. In fact, this dish is only available, to the best of my memory, in grandma’s kitchen. My parents don’t even know this secret recipe. The combination of the pork and shrimp works so well and just creates an explosion of amazing flavors —— salty from the pork and sweet from the shrimp. It’s also our family’s heritage recipe, so getting to eat this dish is like having a little taste of the past.
The shrimp that grandma uses isn’t easily found everywhere in Taiwan, only the mid-southern part has it. With the name red soldier shrimp(紅燒蝦), it’s known for being red and also really tasty. Plus, you don’t have to take the time to peel the shell off each tiny shrimp, so it’s also very easy to prepare.
The first thing my grandma does is to wash all the vegetables that she needs: green onion, cabbage, and spinach. She says you need to make sure that it’s rinsed thoroughly so you don’t accidentally eat pesticide, “Better safe than sorry!”
While the vegetables are getting rinsed, grandma starts to make the part I’m most excited about —— meat (yay!), in a hot skillet she pan-fries the shrimp, pork, and green onion until they’re nice and toasted, then after adding a splash of soy sauce turns off the heat. Of course I couldn’t just let the meat sit there, so I sneak in a few bites while I think she isn’t looking, but grandmas know everything,
“Is it good?” “
Just like I remembered it!” While the meat is cooking, I decide to ask her some questions while she prepares the vegetables by boiling them in a pot of water until they’re cooked but still a bit crunchy.
For the first question I ask her where she learned this dish from. She replies by smiling and looking as if she’s seeing into the past, “My mom used to make this for us. My sisters and I would always rush towards the dining table in order to be the first one to eat. Later, she taught me how to make it, so that I could also make it for my family.” Hearing this I could almost picture her as a kid, running full speed to the table just like I do when I hear we get to eat this delicious meal.
“Also, you’ve told me before that the shrimp you use is a Tainan specialty, so is this a special dish to Tainan regionally, or is it a Taiwanese dish in general?”
”Well, I do know that some other places in Taiwan use this shrimp in their dishes too, but it’s typically known as Tainan cuisine.”
After my round of questions she prepares the dough by combining water, flour, and a pinch of salt, then kneading it until it forms a dough. This next step is where all the magic comes in. As my grandma tears little chunks of dumpling dough into the pot, I look over in excitement; this is the magical land where the dough starts to flip and spin around like kids at the trampoline park (it’s chaotic)!!! The final thing she does is to combine all the components together in a large bowl, also adding egg in while I watch with a watering mouth, I can’t wait to dig in!
Taiwanese cuisine may seem homogenous to the outsider, but in reality, there are subtle differences between the different regions. In Tainan, where I am with my grandma right now, sweetness takes over your taste buds. However, tomorrow, when I travel back up north to Taoyuan, I will crave the savoriness of 板條, or flat rice noodles.
Homemade food isn’t just for your stomach, but also something that lets you connect with your family and friends. So, next time someone invites you to a homemade meal, take them up on it! It’s really an experience that’ll stay with you even after the meal’s finished!
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