Got an email this morning about a new restaurant called Xiao Ye in lower east side will have delivery service, too bad I aint no Manhattan, I live in Queens, so pass to Ann Marie instead.
The thing caught my eye in the first place is its name “Xiao Ye” because it’s really an important meal of the day for Taiwanese people, more then breakfast, and especially for my family.
My whole family are alcoholic (forgive me, father and mother, you are! A bottle scotch a day is the standard for alcoholic) but they drink in a good way! I remember I had a conversation with my cousin who visits me a year ago, Ruru, aka the girl cant drink she has to call for daddy’s help. Because the way we dine here is pretty different from Taiwan, he is American who love to cook, I am Taiwanese who’s role is more like a Mexican, dish wash, food prepare and eat (come on! just laugh, ok!) Our dinner is always in one plate, but in Taiwan, the standard is 4 dishes, one soup with a bowl of rice on the dinner table. Here, we put everything in one plate on the lap, eat, chat and watch TV at the same time.
So we start have this conversation about different way of eating, here and Taiwan.
Ruru told me one thing that I can’t forget “don’t you think in Taiwan, when dinner is ready, all the dishes on the table, plus a bottle of any kind of drink with alcohol will be perfect?” that’s right! Since I was little, grandpa always needs half glass of rice wine with his meal, and we always have enough rice wine inventory in the house(note, rice wine aint no regular wine, it has a higher alcohol content (18-25%) than wine (10-20%)
Even now, when I go home visiting, my brother Sean aka who cant drink either and need to call his big sister ME to clean his puke, he always has a beer next to his rice bowl and my dad would have water down scotch refillable shot glass (note, shot glass in Taiwan is bigger then here, like 5 time more!) next to his meal, so, what’s up with the drinking thing in Taiwanese?
Well, as most of you know Asian are more shy, which I don’t approve at all (hell no!) have you seen them drunk? My dad can speak English when he has alcohol in his body! (I will video it when I go home this time, very amazing! Didn’t know alcoholic have this side effect) anyway, alcoholic help them loose, well help everyone loose but somehow for Taiwanese, well, at least for my family, alcoholic is the key for communication, family members who has beef between them, will use this method to speak their mind, the result? Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad.
And “drinking ability” is the way to see your “status” in my family, you can’t drink the 25 years single malt scotch unless you old enough or married, like me. If you are “young” you can only do beer or the 12 years water down scotch. Plus, where you sit is also another hard to explain knowledge, depend on your age, sex and married or not. I have a baby father cousin who’s status is still in the 12 years water down scotch because he is young and not married even he got a boy. It’s interesting, right?
Anyway, you found out my family are alcoholic, its fine, we love to drink and have a good time, remember to train your drinking ability when visiting, or you will end up sitting next to my 17 yrs cousin and drink water down 12 years scotch which is yek... so not smooth!
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