Northern Taiwan Zongzi 台灣北部粽子

It's that time of the year for the Dragon Boat Festival also known as Duan Wu Festival 端午節!  This festival celebrates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan 屈原 (340-278 BC) who advised against an alliance to the displeasure of the Chu emperor who then exiled him.  When the alliance led to the eventual downfall of the Chu kingdom as he had foreseen, Qu Yuan threw himself into a river in grief and despair.

Apparently he was well loved for the local folk rushed out in boats (ie dragon boats) to try to save him.  When that failed they dropped balls of sticky rice (ie zongzi) in the river so that the fish would feed on the rice and not on Qu Yuan's body.  Kinda of a disturbing ending but whatever...

Taiwan Braised Beef Noodles 台灣紅燒牛肉麵

Yum, yum, yummy! This yummilicious bowl of noodles of worldwide fame, the Taiwan Braised Beef Noodles 台灣紅燒牛肉麵, is filled with comforting chunks of meltingly tender beef and tendon and just cooked noodles all nestled in a deliciously aromatic spiced beef soup.

This noodle dish first appeared in Taiwan not too long ago, sometime after WWII when the Kuomintang 國民黨 relocated to Taiwan, bringing with them many of their own regional Chinese food influences.  Since then this delicious beef noodle has become a firm classic of Chinese cuisine.  So delicious and addictive and best of all easy to make right at home!