...."Red Bean Buns: Even the food in Taiwan has to be cute
The level of cuteness in Taiwan continues to astound me. Clothing, car advetising and even digital cameras; it seems nothing is off limits to marketers wanting to take advantage of the ludicrous pursuit of ultimate cute.
This pursuit seems to have taken hold of most of the female population of Taiwan and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
I was in a restaurant in Taichung recently and had no idea what I was doing. Not being able to read Chinese I kind of have to take a peek at everything when it comes to self serve.
On one bench was a whole bunch of wicker baskets that I was slowly making my way through. Some of the food looked alright and some of it I had no idea what I was looking at.
As I lifted the lid off one particular basket I was overcome by a rush of ‘awww…’
…then I realised these things were meant to be eaten.
Underneath the basket lid was an army of little bite sized bunny rabbits., each detailed with pink eyes and a speckled paintjob along its back.
I looked down at the bunnies and smiled, they in turn looked back up at me with their pink eyes, pleading not to be eaten.
I didn’t have the heart to add one to my plate so I put the lid down and carried out the great exploration of wicker basket treasure.
I noticed though, walking back to my table, that these bunnies were everywhere. Every second person had one on their plate and no matter which table I looked someone was biting a chunk out of these poor things.
In a buffet restaurant that sat about 200-300 people these cute little red bean paste buns were easily one of the most popular dishes by far.
Proof I guess that if you can afford to pay someone to sculpt bunny art out of a steamed bun you’re probably going to be in business for a very long time.
Meanwhile I didn’t know whether to be moved by the steamed bunny’s plight or horrified. Sometimes you just have to accept the abundant cuteness in Taiwan, no matter what form it takes.
June 1st, 2010 at 9:24 pm LC(Quote)
That is so funny!! Love your light hearted articles of your experiences in Taiwan.
These ones I allow my primary school age daughter to read and she giggles with such enthusiasm. She loves to share them with her friend in another state. Both loved the skill tester bread machine article too.
Keep up the cultural enlightenment.
June 2nd, 2010 at 2:21 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
No worries mate. Glad you and your daughter are enjoying the quirks of my journeys as much as I am
.
June 2nd, 2010 at 9:28 pm Yi(Quote)
the sushi looks a bit ordinary.
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:39 am ozsoapbox(Quote)
Yeah it was an all you can eat place so none of the food was anything special. The massive variety of foods available more then made up for it though.