old school taiwanese chive box (asia series 3, etchings, chive boxes)

etchings

Prior to 2024, I had made a self note to make my way back to Taiwan in order to start capturing old childhood recipes that I really enjoyed from my mother and grandmother.

I finally started doing this after having realized that I was trying to plan too much and needed to just make it happen. I had documents about "interviewing" my parents and prior posts talking about visiting them on a more regular basis. That kind of preparation shouldn't be necessary. I just had to make it a priority.

When I heard from my dad that my mom and her sister were going to China to find their lost aunts and uncles, I was like "ok, this is a trip not to be missed - when else am I going to get this opportunity to see some great-aunts and uncles?"

For all those who still don't know how to capture your family history or to generate moments, it's easy - pull out your phone and just start making videos and taking pictures. If you want better perspectives, buy a cheap ass tripod that you can easily stick anywhere. I have some random $20 one that my friend gave me because he wasn't using it. Set it up in the corner and go about an evening - worst case you capture some bullshit and laughs, best case it's something you'll have forever just in case something cool happens. I filmed expressions when my mom met her great-aunt, when we conjured up half of a completely wrong neighborhood looking for folks 😂, and of course, made chive boxes with my mother.

I think I'm going to do this every time I return to Taiwan, even for the mundane stuff. Digital storage is cheap. I can always do pruning and editing later.

chive boxes

That being said - Taiwanese chive boxes. They're basically a fat dumpling box stuffed full of pork, shrimps, scrambled egg, chives, glass noodles and whatever else you want to put in there (but those are pretty popular fillings). I still remember the days my mom would make a big-ass batch of these for dinner and I'd just destroy like 10 before feeling decently full. Before I embarked on this trip, I told my mom "hey I want to make chive boxes when I'm in Taiwan." She helped me make it happen. It's been a hot minute since I had one.

This time, I recorded it so I'll always have the recipe (more or less) when I need it. Fast forwarded that shit and added some comments - and we're sharing it to the world!

those fat ugly ones are mine 😂

what could be better, honestly?