Rain and Hot Pot

It seems that there is some rain just about every day in Nankang, the area of Taipei we are staying in.  Something to do with the mountains surrounding it and the clouds getting caught in it until they are so heavy they let go their water.  I prefer to think that they cry because the mountains trap them and keep them from seeing all there is to see in the rest of the land.  Lucky us get to travel around the mountains to the rest of the city.  And chances are that once we get around the mountains it won't be raining.  But the rain was pouring and it seemed a lazy day so we stayed home and looked at places we might want to see during the weekend.  A couple of times the rain stopped, but before we could venture anywhere it poured again.  Lunch was take-out from Academia Sinica:  roasted duck, strange but good veggies (some type of root I think), green beans, rice and a soup of beef and noodles.  

Most days the rain comes and goes every afternoon leaving a steamy evening, but this rain must have been a front because it was cool all day.  Venturing out for dinner, we found that it was indeed cool enough for a light jacket.  I can't remember the last time I went walking in the rain but it really felt good.  Two blocks from the apartment we stopped at a small little place with about 10 tables.   While we waited for a friend who was meeting us there, we saw people going in and out continuously so we figured it must be a good choice.  Going in, we get a table for 4 with individual Sterno hot plates at each place setting.  The only settings include chopsticks and a ladle.  There is a small package of napkins in the center just in case you need a napkin.  Forewarned, I come prepared with my own napkins, and a couple of cute kits from The Container Store that include a make-it yourself fork, knife, spoon, and/or chopsticks.  I feel like the ugly American with my own utensils until I see a native sitting across from me who pulls out her own cute little box and chopsticks.  She smiles at my little set, too.  Now for the meal:  two beef broth bowls with all kinds of vegetables in it, a curry bowl with vegetables,  and a vegetable broth bowl.  The server places each bowl on its own hot plate and turns on the heat.  A "refill" buffet by the kitchen offers two types of tea (barley and one that seems to be the choice of most other restaurants) and  extra condiments for the soup (scallions, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, etc.).  The pots start boiling and we get three plates of raw thinly sliced beef and a beautiful cornucopia of different veggies for the vegetarian broth. We also get sides that include udon noodles, white rice, and/or ramen noodles.   Here the fun begins, especially for me, the one person who has never been able to master chopsticks.  I actually use mine to spear the meat slices and drop them into the boiling soup.  They also become my stirrers for the mixture.  Udon noodles can be added to warm in the broth, the white rice comes ready to serve, and the ramen noodles "brick" needs to be added  to the broth.  When the meat turns from pink to brown, I use the ladle to pour a small amount of soup into a small bowl.  Now to explore the tastes.  Veggies include cabbage, tomato, roots (turnips?), etc; tofu; and several different fishy tasting ingredients.  Dinner takes a couple of hours with good company sharing food and conversation.  Today was a good day!  Rain included!