Foodies make pilgrimage to Miaoli for traditional sticky rice with ginger

2022-09-16

Sticky rice is one of the most comforting foods in Taiwan’s cuisine. In one restaurant in Miaoli’s Zhunan Township, a family keeps alive a classic recipe that you won’t find just anywhere.This family has been making sticky rice with ginger for four generations. Foodies come from far and wide to enjoy the nostalgic dish.

A gigantic wok fries ginger in sesame oil.

Shrimps and mushrooms are added to the mix. Then it’s time for hand-cut meat and soy sauce for a marinade. These are the key ingredients in this moreish, traditional sticky rice recipe.

The rice itself is steamed in a cypress bucket. The chef uses a giant ladle to stir the mixture thoroughly and ensure each grain is equally coated in that delicious marinade. She says that ever since the beginning, this family restaurant has made sticky rice completely by hand, and nothing about the method’s changed.

Liu Yu-lin
Third-generation restaurateur
Ginger and sesame oil are the best combination. For sticky rice, you have to fry the ginger in sesame oil to get it tasting and smelling delicious.

In other restaurants, you’ll often find sticky rice made with flakes of onion. But here ginger does all the work. The first generation didn’t even have a restaurant to work from, but sold their rice on a street stall. It proved unexpectedly popular, and the reputation of Zhunan sticky rice spread far and wide.

Fang Chih-chiang
Fourth-generation restaurateur
Some customers would always ask, “Don’t you want a restaurant floor?” Some people come here on their motorbikes from Longtan just for our sticky rice.

The chef here also cooks up thick pork soup and sesame chicken, which altogether make for a very authentic and heartening Taiwanese meal.

檜木桶蒸糯米老攤古早味油飯飄香三代

2022-09-16

苗栗竹南有一間古早味油飯，老闆每天堅持用檜木桶蒸飯，再用麻油加上老薑以及傳統香菇配料炒香，拌入米飯內，讓每一顆米飯呈現飽滿又Q彈，飄香數十載，還有老饕專程從桃園騎車到苗栗，就是要吃道地的古早味。

用大炒鍋以薑片、麻油爆香。

再加入蝦皮和香菇繼續爆炒，再來是手切肉條和醬油滷煮，這就是古早味油飯好吃的關鍵配料。

糯米飯是用檜木桶蒸出來的，老闆娘手握大鏟，在鍋中全力翻動，要確保每一粒米飯，都能沾附吸收湯汁入味。老闆說，從第一代到第三代都是純手工製作，方法沒有改變。

[[第三代老闆劉玉雲]]
“薑跟麻油的話，是最搭的，油飯的話就是一定要加麻油爆薑，油飯才會香才會好吃。”

外頭的油飯多數加的是油蔥酥提味，但這兒的油飯提味則用老薑取代。而祖傳油飯，原來沒有店面，是從擺攤開始，沒想到受到歡迎，竹南油飯的好味道，也傳遍各地。

[[第四代老闆方志強]]
“賣到一些客人一直問要不要店面，有人從龍潭自己騎摩托車，下來要吃油飯的。”

除了古早味油飯，老店也賣肉羹湯和麻油雞，配油飯剛剛好，一餐滿足。

US and European Parliament show support for Taiwan

It’s been a week of support for Taiwan both in the U.S. and in Europe. The European Parliament earlier this week passed a nonbinding resolution calling for closer ties with Taiwan. The text calls for deeper exchanges in areas like trade and investment. Over in the U.S., the State Department said the Biden administration would continue to deepen its partnership with Taiwan. The statement comes after the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee passed the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, which contains a wealth of pro-Taiwan provisions.

Mao Ning
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson
The bill seriously breaches the U.S.’ commitment to China on the Taiwan question.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, which was recently approved by the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Among many provisions, the bill calls for Taiwan to be treated as a major non-NATO ally, offers US$6.5 billion in military aid to Taiwan over five years and proposes renaming Taiwan’s representative offices in the U.S. The bill also threatens sanctions against Beijing officials and military leaders should they take hostile actions against Taiwan.

Su Tseng-chang
Premier
We are very grateful that they want to offer even more support for Taiwan. That’s the only way to prevent that totalitarian country from doing something reckless and foolish.

The State Department thanked lawmakers for their bipartisan support for Taiwan. It added that the Biden administration would continue to deepen its partnership with Taiwan through diplomatic, economic and military support. During a routine briefing State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked whether the department was concerned that the Taiwan Policy Act would further damage U.S.-China relations. He said that the administration would continue to communicate directly and privately with the people involved.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding pro-Taiwan resolution on the situation in the Taiwan Strait, in a vote of 424 to 14. The text condemns China’s escalation of its military intimidation against Taiwan, and asks China to respect the median line on the Taiwan Strait, and stop all actions and intrusions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. The text also firmly rejects Beijing’s economic coercion against Taiwan, calling for further exchanges between Taiwan and the European Parliament.

Nicola Beer
European Parliament vice president
Europe will not allow China to change the status quo, to keep threatening Taiwan’s democracy, to keep pushing the line. Taiwan is our democratic ally, our democratic friend.

Charlie Weimers
Member of the European Parliament
To counter Chinese belligerence against Taiwan or others in the Indo-Pacific. To decouple form China and secure stability in the Indo-Pacific. To strengthen our and Taiwan’s economies by enacting new mutually beneficial trade and investment agreements.

Calls for deeper relations with Taiwan are intensifying, both in the U.S. and in Europe.

2022-09-16

CECC expects current COVID wave to peak as early as Sept. 21

2022-09-16

Kaohsiung cultural park sets up bronze statue of late Japanese leader Abe Shinzo

A temple in Kaohsiung’s Hongmaogang Cultural Park took delivery of a bronze statue commemorating the late Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo today. The temple says the statue will allow the Taiwanese public to remember Abe, who was an outspoken supporter of Taiwan. The temple will hold the statue’s formal unveiling ceremony on Sept. 24, three days before Abe’s state funeral in Japan.

This crane gently and carefully lifts the bronze statue and maneuvers it to a patch of grass in front of the temple.

Once in place, the bubble wrap and red cloth are removed. It’s a life-size statue of former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, standing 1.7 meters tall. Friday was the first time it was shown to the media.

Member of the Public
I think it is the right thing to do to set up this bronze statue because Prime Minister Abe Shinzo was very good to Taiwan. He once said that a Taiwan emergency was a Japan emergency.

Member of the Public
Prime Minister Abe Shinzo made all kinds of friendly contributions to Taiwan. It’s something we all saw.

Chang Chi-hsiung
Hongmaogang Cultural Park
We joined up with some good friends in Taiwan to raise money to make this bronze statue for him. We can’t attend his state funeral on Sept. 27 but we have a place to remember him. People can come here to lay flowers.

The temple, which has close contacts with Japan, is located in the cultural park in Fongshan District, and it is the only temple in Taiwan dedicated to Japanese warships and soldiers. To show its gratitude for Abe’s support for Taiwan during his lifetime the temple is setting up a memorial garden with the bronze statue, which will soon be joined by a laser engraving of a calligraphy work personally penned by Abe saying “Go Taiwan!” The work will be unveiled on Sept. 24.

Chang Chi-hsiung
Hongmaogang Cultural Park
The state funeral is set to be held on Sept. 27. If we synchronized our event with Japan’s, it would be inconvenient for people who work in offices, so we decided to change the date to be Sept. 24.

The temple says it will hold a concert at the unveiling ceremony, inviting members of the public to join in and remember Abe.

2022-09-16

Multicultural film festival screening nationwide till Sep.25

Friday is Day 1 of the 2022 World Ethnic Film Festival, which will run until Sept. 25. The festival’s program features 17 international films about various ethnic groups. FTV reporter Stephany Yang gives us a preview.

The 2022 World Ethnic Festival features works of directors covering the lives of people from different ethnic groups around the world. The opening film was "Remember Me," a film set in the Mongolian Revolution of 1990. It’s a story about a boy trying to save his books amid the destruction of libraries.

The closing film will be "Never Forget Tibet: Dalai Lama’s Untold Story,” which reveals the untold story of how the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet. The film is recounted by the Dalai Lama through his own words, as well as through the private diary of the Indian political officer, Har Mander Singh, who led him to safety. The documentary film will have its Asia debut premiere at the "2022 World Ethnic Film Festival" organized by the Ministry of Culture.

Lee Yung-te
Culture minister
We hope to show the multicultural world of human beings through film, to foster mutual understanding among every ethnic group, so I support this kind of film festival very much. The Ministry of Culture will continue to support it and make it grander each year. Every film is carefully selected. There are films of some different ethnic groups in neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and there is even a series that reflects modern warfare, so there is also Ukraine. I especially recommend the opening film "Remember Me" and the closing film "Never Forget: Dalai Lama’s Untold Story."

The festival features 17 international films about different ethnic groups. Two films from Taiwan have been selected: one is “Blue Brave: The Legend of Formosa in 1895,” which tells the love story between a volunteer fighter and his wife during the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895; another film set in Taiwan is “Hang in There, Kids!” a story about boys in an Atayal tribe. The program was curated by the Ministry of Culture’s Mongolian and Tibetan Cultural Center, whose mission is to enhance the knowledge of cultures, languages and religions.

Gene Yao
Curator
In addition to planning the opening film and closing film, we’ve specifically divided the program into 4 sections. The four sections are: "The Vision," which describes the current state of various ethnic groups; the second is “Asian Impression," which is a description of the recent hot topic of Southeast Asia; the third is "Panorama," which describes the current global situation; the fourth theme is "New Waves," which features the empowerment of the upcoming generation of different ethnicities around the world.

The festival will hold 57 free screening sessions in Taipei, New Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung from Sept. 16 through 25.

2022-09-16

Wall Street and the Taiex take a beating ahead of anticipated US rate hike

2022-09-16

Preorders for iPhone 14 twice as high as last year’s iPhone 13: telecom companies

Apples’ new smartphone model, the iPhone 14, went on sale across Taiwan on Friday. Telecom companies say interest in the new phones has doubled from last year, when the iPhone 13 launched. They say the most popular model is the new purple iPhone 14 Pro. Some iPhone enthusiasts on Friday said they had been queuing for dozens of hours; some had even been standing guard outside sales outlets since Tuesday.

With the new iPhone 14 in his hand, he beams at the camera. Mr. Hsu works for a mobile phone retailer, and he was first in line to buy the new model for clients. It was a team effort, with 18 employees taking turns queuing over the past three days. It was not only just to buy a phone, but also to get vouchers offered to the first 80 buyers. When the shop started allowing people to formally line up for the new iPhone at 5:30 a.m., buyers rushed to nab a spot.

Mr. Hsu
iPhone buyer
I was very apprehensive, because there are so many reporters. I’ve never been photographed so much before. But of course I’m very happy to be the first one. My colleagues and I have been standing guard since Tuesday, since 6 or 7 p.m.

Hiseh Chi-mau
Telecom company chair
The number of preorders and inquiries is about double of last year. Interest in the iPhone 14 is double that of the iPhone 13.

The iPhone 14 Pro model, which offers a dynamic island function and a deep purple color, has been particularly popular with Apple fans looking to upgrade. The phone model makes up for 70% to 80% of preorders. Telecoms companies say the first batches of some models have already sold out, adding that number of preorders is twice as high as for last year’s model.

Lin Tung-min
Telecom company chief business officer
Preorders became available on Sept. 9. And in the first week, the number of orders was double that of preorders last year. Of course, there will be some issues with the stock of the better-selling models. We have received double the number of preorders.

Ching Chee
Telecom company president
Sales for the first month should be about double from the same period last year. It’s selling extremely well.

Some sellers offered promotions for their first buyers, prompting some to spend the whole night in line.

Mr. Wu
iPhone buyer
I didn’t think I’d be the first in line. But when I came, I realized I was the only one.

Mr. Yen
iPhone buyer
I came at 11 p.m., so I was in line for about 10 hours. I left work, took a shower, rested for a bit, and then came here to queue.

Every year, Apple’s new smartphones get people queuing in long lines all around the world. In Taiwan, lines were somewhat shorter last year due to COVID, but this year, the iPhone craze is back in full force.

2022-09-16

Ocean Eagle Festival back in business after two years’ break

After two years’ break, the Ocean Eagle Festival in Keelung is back again this Saturday. Emerging from its COVID hiatus, the festival is bigger than ever this year. Fifty-two groups from around the world will perform, including a circus group from Ukraine. And there are lots of exciting artworks and floats handmade by locals, giving the Brazilian carnival a distinctly Taiwanese flavor.

A giant golden eagle spreads its wings to take flight.

A stingray with an eight-pack carries a drum and prepares to play a duet with a red shark. The singer? This mahi mahi with a microphone and the attitude to go with it.

Children in cute costumes play the drums, and these dancers wear Brazilian carnival finery with feathered crowns. After a hiatus of two years, the Ocean Eagle Carnival is back!

Liao Chih-chiang
Taiwan Art-Life Association
We were inspired by the name of the festival to use the eagle and sea creatures in our design, for example the mahi mahi as the singer. He’s carrying a microphone and singing. The shark has a large drum, the jellyfish is a dancer. It gives a joyful perspective.

These floats have all been made from scratch by Keelung locals, with support from artists. They will be shown off at the carnival.

Tseng Tzu-wen
Keelung City Tourism and City Marketing Dept.
We have very many participants at the Ocean Eagle Festival this year: Keelung communities, schools, special performing groups, and teams from outside Keelung. It’s the most participants we have ever had.

Groups of eagles can be seen soaring in the sky above Keelung at all hours of the day. Their magnificent presence inspired the city to hold the first carnival 12 years ago. But in 2020 and 2021, the festivities had to halt for the pandemic. Now, with COVID precautions in place, the festival is back, and bigger than ever, with 52 groups of performers coming from across Taiwan and abroad.

Tsai Shih-ying
DPP Keelung mayoral candidate
We have the most eagles every year in September. It’s also the best season for watching the eagles. It holds a special meaning for us, to hold the carnival at this time of year, to turn it from a community event into a citywide event.

The festival organizers say that MRG circus from Ukraine will also attend, giving locals a rare and exciting opportunity to experience Eastern European culture. If you’re a fan of the Brazilian carnival atmosphere, Keelung is the place to be.

2022-09-16

Periphery of Typhoon Nanmadol to bring rainy and cool weather to north and east

2022-09-16

Foodies make pilgrimage to Miaoli for traditional sticky rice with ginger