Left Taipei early this morning on the train toward Hualien, a smaller city in the southeast, then took a trip into the surrounding country. Here’s a pic of a (spent) field of lotus, which are grown in wetlands for their seeds, with the central mountains behind.
We visited an Indigenous village to see traditional fish farming. It’s an interesting process; they use three layers of vegetation to raise three types of seafood. The bottom layer is bamboo tubes that will attract and shelter what they initially described to us, rather puzzlingly, as “fish without clothes”, which turned out to be eels, which do not have scales. The layer above that is twigs, which attract and shelter shrimps, and the top layer is leafy palms that shelter fish with scales, such as tilapia and carp.
I had no desire to try things out for myself, but luckily my lovely assistant Geoff stepped forward to don hip waders, and while the eels and shrimps eluded him, he did manage to net a small fish.
Next, a soup-making demonstration. It reminded me of the kids’ story Stone Soup, which some of you might remember from grade school, and here is why. They didn’t use a fire to heat the broth — rather, they put cold water into wooden dishes with vegetables, plus fish or other protein. Then heated rocks (serpentines) to about 700°F, and dropped the said rocks into the soup, which boiled instantly and continued to cook for some time. And it was pretty tasty!
Note the soup on the left is boiling hard, from freshly-heated rocks!
In the evening, back to the nearby night-market for a street-food dinner. More sanitized than the night market in Taipei — really more like an outdoor mall, but the food was again very tasty. And still a lively scene. Food vendors, funfair contests like ring toss, places to gamble at mahjong, street singers, and home remedies!
The large spiny fruit in the bottom pic here is durian. It is famous for being so stinky that the airlines won’t let people on board with it! No, we did not buy one 🥴
Very interesting, Elizabeth, especially the fishing, very different than tradition east coast Canada!
I think I would be a little freaked out to be near a 700F rock in the cooking of it, though. Also, maybe check Geoff’s bags before you come home. He may try to sneak a durian by you, just for kicks.
You have a good point there! 😉
When you don’t want to do something yourself, it’s good to have an assistant! I agree with the comment above about checking geoff’s luggage before you leave!
😂
Fascinating. I would’ve gone in if you hadn’t mentioned eels. They would have done me in. Markets would be a lot of fun.
Elizabeth
Sounds like a great adventure by Geoff and you.
The traditional fish farming description was very interesting. Love all the photos.
Wishing you continued safe travels and a Merry Christmas.
Oh how I would have loved to explore that fishing farm!!! It is so fascinating to me :):):) love, love love it