Gregory's Meals

Being a 29 yr old single male, I often get surprised looks when I tell people that I cook all meals myself. Living in Taiwan has made it difficult to find certain ingredients, suited to Western cooking. Not having an oven eliminates many dishes.

For breakfast, I like to eat cereal. Especially high-fiber cereal containing, raisins, nuts, dried fruits, bran, etc. We should consume at least 25 grams of fiber per day. 100 grams of this cereal contains 357 cal: 9.4 grams of fat (4.5 grams saturated), and 8.4 grams of fiber. I eat it with low-fat or non-fat milk.

500 grams of cereal - NT$175 - US$5.46

100 ml of milk - NT$25 - US$1

I also like eating sandwiches. Not the regular "peanut butter and jelly" kind, but more gourmet-type sandwiches. I love sundried-tomatoes, and I spread this on the bread before adding toppings. I also like smoked ham and natural cheddar cheese (not the processed kind). I know most Taiwanese do not like natural cheese and many have never heard of sundried tomatoes or olives. In the US, I would spread avocado on the bread, but since this is only available during one month of the year in Taiwan, I usually have to live without it. Sometimes I will spread cream cheese on the bread then add Smoked Salmon. I will always add slices of tomatoes and lettuce, topped with 1000 Island Sauce. I usually go for the Taiwan brand which is extremely sweet.

Sourdough bread - NT$80 - US$2.50

Sundried tomato spread - NT$220 - US$7

Smoked Ham (10 slices) - NT$135 - US$4.20

Cheese (100 grams) - NT$135 - US$4.20

Olives - NT$79 - US$2.46

Smoked Salmon - NT$?

Often I do cook spaghetti. In addition to the Prego's Spaghetti sauce, I usually add some whole canned tomatoes and freshly diced tomatoes.

Prego's Tomato sauce - NT$130 - US$4.30

Ground beef - NT$120 - US$4

Mushrooms - NT$50 - US$1.90

Onions, tomatoes, olives and coursely ground pepper

Soy sauce, wine, garlic

I try to consume as much protein as possible, which means eating fish and steak. I often buy boneless salmon fillets. Squeeze lemon and add coursely ground pepper, then pop in the grill for 20-30 min at 200 degrees C.

Salmon fillet (one meal) - NT$60 - US$2

When I buy steak, I only get Tenderloin cuts because they are very tender (and expensive). I cook it medium-rare or medium. When I have a chance to go to Costco in Taipei, I buy 4 pieces of steak (one kilo) for NT$1100-1600 (American beef). Tesco's Australian imported steak is more expensive. Shame that Taiwan does not slaughter beef for consumption. All beef is imported, which is why the high cost. Chicken is much cheaper since it is local produce.

Tenderloin beef (Fillet Mignon - one meal) NT$400 - US$12

I do eat some Asian-influenced food. I buy chicken tenderloins (strips of boneless thigh) and cut them and marinate them with BBQ spare rib sauce or peanut sauce. Always add soy sauce and cooking wine, then leave in the freezer. I quickly stir fry these chinese-vegetables. Then stir-fry chopped onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, then add marinated chicken. Served with steamed rice (Jasmine Thai-style rice for fragrance).

I love ANZAC biscuits but it is difficult to find "golden syrup" outside of Australia or New Zealand. So I have to settle with whatever regular maple syrup I can find. But it is the golden syrup that gives these biscuits its special fragrance. Also, finding an oven in Taiwan is almost impossible; so I have to use my small toaster-oven instead. The ingredients I used are: 1 cup of: flour, musli (oatmeal cereal), sugar, coconut powder, 1/2 cup of butter, 2 tablespoons of hot water and Golden (or Maple) syrup. Baking soda should also be added, but I could not find this in Taiwan, so I lived without it. Baking is definitely a rare thing in Taiwan.

I also use my toaster oven for grilling chicken drumsticks (marinated with BBQ spare rib sauce). It does take a while to cook thoroughly though; up to 1 hr because my toaster oven does not insulate heat very well.