Erin Chen 怡玲 Artist. Stanford Chiou Photography. Doyers Street New York City.

1. THE BOOK

E.N Anderson : A wonderful review from E.N Anderson.

This is one of the best food books I have ever read--authoritative and densely packed with facts, but extremely readable and delightful. It is more of a food ethnography of Taiwan than a food history of Taipei, but all the better for that. One very good detail is that the linguistic transcriptions are excellent and sophisticated, not only from Mandarin (in standard Pinyin) but also from Hokkien, the usual spoken language of Taiwan. Hokkien is a most unappreciated language--beautiful, flexible, adaptable, creative, with an incredible oral literature, and I am glad to see it get some love for once (it is slowly dying out as China pushes Mandarin on everybody). There are also some words from Hakka and Cantonese, and from Austronesian languages. This book is a linguists' and ethnobiologists' delight.
Particularly unique and interesting is the material on the Austronesian-speaking Aboriginal peoples of Taiwan, a diverse and fascinating group almost unknown in the English-language literature. They have a range of unique crops, including a species of quinoa, independently domesticated from the South American one--a striking case of parallelism. They also eat wild boars and various wild leaves. This book brings back memories of Taiwan 50 years ago. The best mapo toufu I ever had was in a tiny, rough shack, with an old Sichuanese (presumably ex-soldier) cooking; the dish was about equal parts bean curd, minced (not ground) pork, chiles, garlic, and hot bean paste, with plenty of Sichuan brown pepper. Taipei street food used to be wonderful--mostly fairly simple, but good. I got yelled at by one Mainlander vender for making the mistake of addressing him in Taiwanese (Hokkien).
A tiny problem is occasional careless translation. Water spinach is translated two different ways on p. 102, and "mei" (East Asian apricot) is mistranslated "plum" on p. 105. Otherwise, this is an exceptionally carefully done book, in marked contrast to too many books on Chinese food.
If you are at all interested in Asian food, you need this book.

Rachel Laudan: just before publication: “Katy, they sent me a pdf of the proofs and asked for a blurb for the back. I sent them this. ‘This wonderful book made me yearn to take a plane to Taiwan immediately so I could eat my way through the country’s tumultuous recent history: moist castella sponge cakes from the Japanese era, seasonal jams of Russian ancestry, beef noodle soups brought by Muslim soldiers from northern China, flying squirrel in the traditional style of the original inhabitants, fine restaurants specializing in Chinese cuisine, and breakfasts of crullers and hot soy milk with twin origins in China and the U.S. Even those who can’t take the trip will be fascinated by the multifarious contributions to this booming gastronomic center.’ It’s a fascinating book.”

Steven Crook: “When writing non-fiction, few things matter more than clarity.” “Since finishing A Culinary History of Taipei, some people have said to me: “Surely co-authoring makes writing a book quicker and easier.” To this I always reply: “I’m not sure about that, but compared to doing it all by yourself, I’m convinced you end up with a book that’s twice as good.”

List is updated on a regular basis - Of the common questions I get asked to: 1. How and why you did this? 2. Beef noodle soup history 3. How do you do your research, how do you discover? 4. Why title is Taipei and not Taiwan? (Answers are provided in the posted links. )

A Culinary History of Taipei - Beyond Pork and Ponlai

Eating their way through Taiwan’s complex culinary history

Author Interview bookish.asia

(This interview with visuals - a blog post)

Author Interview The News Lens

Why and How We Wrote a Culinary History of Taipei

2. The News Lens

"How American Aid and Trade Changed the Taiwanese Diet"

"From Rouzao to Potsticker, Taiwanese Show No Signs of Giving Up Meat"

"From Taboo to Treasure: Beef in Taiwan"

"The Paleo Diet: What the Ancient Taiwanese Ate"

3. Taiwan Business TOPICS

"Getting a Handle on the Taiwanese “Hamburger” (Guabao)

"Fungus Among Us – The History of Mushrooms in Taiwan"

(Authentic vs. innovative. Quoted)
"Growing Appreciation for Indigenous Cuisine"

Why and How We Wrote a Culinary History of Taipei

The Sweet Potato’s Rise and Fall – And Rise Again

The Biandang from Japanese Days to thePresent

Eating Our Way Through Hualien

Not Your Traditional Agriculture

Feeding the Departed: Taiwan’s Food Offering Traditions

A Trifecta of Traditional Taiwanese Sweets

Embracing Legacies in Taipei’s Historic Datong District

South China Morning Post

"How Taiwan’s Food Traditions Are Falling Out of Favour, and One Chef’s Quest to Keep Them Alive"

4. Podcasts

EAT YOUR WORDS with Cathy Erway (Heritage Radio Network) episode 358 The Culinary History of Taipei

(Brooklyn. New York. Nov 11 2018)

Taiwan Context - A Culinary History of Taipei, featuring Katy Hui-Wen Hung
The Taiwan Context hosted by Michael Turton, with special guest Katy Hui-Wen Hung, offering some surprising twists and turns.

5. Taipei Times

A gastronomic recounting of the Sino-French War at Tamsui

In Southern Taiwan, a Portuguese name for Spanish mackerel?

Lee’s culinary cross-pollination

Beneath the betel nut palms

Rediscovering the heritage photographed in 1871

In Palau, no coronavirus — or tourists

6. Blog and Youtube

https://katyhuiwenhung.blogspot.com/

A Culinary History of Taipei (A FUN ADDITION based on notes taken from research of the book. Originally shared as photo albums on Facebook )

Details HERE. https://katyhuiwenhung.blogspot.com/2020/12/a-culinary-history-of-taipei-beyond.html

7. Documentary/Film Contribution

Maria the Korean Bride: Ghost Marriage

A brilliant example of how I contributed knowledge and experiences from researching the culinary history book and what I made-to-happen significant aspects of the documentary.