November Expenses

Life in Taipei has been a lot of fun but it can get expensive very fast if we're not careful...

Review of Christmasland in New Taipei City 2018

If you're a foreigner living in Asia, then Christmas can be a bit different. But there are festivities here...

The Cost of Moving to Taiwan: The First Month

How much does it cost to move a family overseas? One important question to consider when moving abroad is: How much will this international move cost?

How to compare cost of living between countries

Will I spend more money in Taiwan compared to my home country? Less money?

Toy bank - aka the Taipei City Parenting Resource Center

Those of you who are parents probably know that kids tire of toys very quickly. So the Taipei city government has this great resource for parents with kids ages 0-6 years old, the toy rental bank!

Slide 5 Code End -->

Chanko Nabe

Lately, our family has been trying to gain weight (you have to walk a lot here and the kids appetites have been better) so I've been on a hunt to try to find recipes that will help you to gain weight, not surprisingly most recipes are for those who are dieting (><) and the only people I could think of who would be wanting to gain weight are sumo wrestlers and cancer survivors.

So here's a recipe from a sumo wrestling champion:
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8qejkb/chanko-nabe

for the meatballs:
1/2 lb ground pork
1 each egg
1/2 teaspoon miso paste
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 tsp sake
onion, minced

for the soup:
6 1/4 cups fish broth
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons mirin
1/4 cup daikon, sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced
1/4 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch nira, chopped (smaller green onions)
1 bunch green onion, chopped 1-inch pieces
handful cabbage, chopped
handful bok choy, chopped
12 ounces firm tofu, sliced

Directions
1. Make the meatballs: In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together. Using wet hands, roll meatballs into 1-inch balls and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. In a medium-sized pot, warm up the fish broth, soy sauce, sake, and mirin until hot.

3. Add chopped daikon and carrots to the pot, and cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes.

4. Add pork meatball in pot and cook 10-15 minutes.

5. Add shiitake, nira, green onion, cabbage, and bok choy, and cook for 10 more minutes.

6. Lower the heat and add sliced tofu (do not boil in high heat), cooking over low heat for 5 minutes.

7. Add salt and pepper, and soy sauce if you like.