Which dessert best represents Taiwan? Instead of pearl milk tea, pineapple cakes or sun cakes, “xuehua ice” has been listed as one of the top 50 desserts in the world, according to an article by pastry chef-turned-food writer Jen Rose Smith on CNN. Xuehua ice (literally “snowflake ice”), a popular local frozen treat, is known as “shaved ice” or “snow ice” in English.
“Taiwanese snow ice is an invitation to get as creative as you’d like,” Smith wrote in her article, titled “50 of the World’s Best Desserts.” First, you need to shave the ice into a pile of crumbling ice flakes. Then, you can blend it with your favorite treats such as red bean paste and fresh fruit such as mangos, strawberries or pineapples, along with syrup, chocolate sauce or sweetened condensed milk.
Other top Asian sweets chosen by the foodie include sesame balls in China, egg tarts in Hong Kong, light cheesecake in Japan, cendol in Singapore, sticky rice with mango and tub tim krob in Thailand, and gulab jamun and kulfi in India.
Photo: Wu Chun-feng, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者吳俊鋒
(Eddy Chang, Taipei Times)
什麼是台灣最具代表性的甜點?不是珍珠奶茶,也不是鳳梨酥、太陽餅,而是被CNN列為全球五十大最佳甜點的「雪花冰」!該報導由點心廚師轉行美食作家的史密斯女士所撰寫。雪花冰是本地受歡迎的冰品,英文叫「shaved ice」或「snow ice」。
史密斯在這篇名為《全球五十大最佳甜點》的文章裡寫道:「台灣的雪花冰簡直讓你的創意大爆發。」首先你要把冰刨成一堆細碎的雪花片,然後和你最喜愛的紅豆沙等配料混合在一起,加上芒果、草莓、鳳梨等新鮮水果,最後再淋上糖漿、巧克力醬或煉乳即可。
這位美食家選出的其它亞洲最佳甜點還包括:中國的芝麻球、香港的蛋塔、日本的輕乳酪蛋糕、新加坡的煎蕊(珍多冰)、泰國的芒果糯米飯和椰香石榴冰、印度的玫瑰漿果和牛奶雪糕…等。
(台北時報張聖恩)
Taiwanese cuisine boasts a rich culture of thick soups, with various options available at street vendors or high-end restaurants. In English, this style of dish is typically called “thick soup.” Western cuisine typically uses flour, cream, or mashed vegetables to create a creamy consistency, while in Taiwan, thick soups are made by simply incorporating food starch into the soup and creating a smooth and silky texture. Tutuo fish in thick soup is such a soup with fried tutuo fish chunks, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and wood ears. 台灣羹品飲食文化豐富,無論是巷口小店或是高檔餐廳,都有提供羹料理。羹在英文稱作「濃湯」,西式濃湯是以麵粉、鮮奶油、蔬菜泥等達到濃稠的口感,台灣的羹湯用太白粉即能做出濃稠絲滑的湯頭。土魠魚羹就是在勾芡的羹湯中加入炸土魠魚塊、香菇、竹筍、木耳等食材的料理。 boast (v.) 擁有(令人驕傲的事物) consistency (n.) 濃稠度 chunk (n.) 厚塊,大塊 wood ear (n. ph.) 木耳 The star of this
Huge stretches of coral reef around the world are turning a ghostly white this year amid record warm ocean temperatures. On April 15, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed the world’s fourth mass global bleaching event is underway — with serious consequences for marine life and for the people and economies that rely on reefs. WHAT ARE CORALS? Corals are invertebrates that live in colonies. Their calcium carbonate secretions form hard and protective scaffolding that serves as a home to many colorful species of single-celled algae. The two organisms have evolved over millennia to work together, with corals providing shelter to algae,
A: So who were Hollywood’s highest-paid stars of 2023? B: No. 5 to No. 2 were: Matt Damon with US$43 million, Ryan Gosling with US$43 million, Tom Cruise with US$45 million, and Margot Robbie with US$59 million. A: Didn’t Tom Cruise top the list? B: Nope, Adam Sandler was No.1, having made US$73 million, which is about NT$2.34 billion. A: Wow, maybe I should change my career to acting. A: 好萊塢去年的片酬排行榜前幾名是誰? B: 第5到2名是︰麥特戴蒙、4300萬美元,雷恩葛斯林、4300萬美元,湯姆克魯斯、4500萬美元,瑪格羅比、5900萬美元。 A: 冠軍竟然不是阿湯哥? B: 是亞當山德勒、片酬7300萬美元,大約23.4億台幣! A: 天啊或許我也該轉行當演員啦。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
A symbol of purity and cleanliness, the color white is the standard color for coats worn by doctors. While this has been the case for well over 100 years, it hasn’t always been so. In fact, before the late 19th century, doctors wore formal black attire, which was similar to that worn by clergymen. Black was chosen for practical reasons—it hid stains from medical procedures and presented a sense of seriousness. The major reason for the color change of the doctor’s coat was to distinguish qualified, professional doctors from those with little or no medical training. Since medical science