More Camping At Yuchi

Photos (most geotagged) by MJ Klein, including FOOD PHOTOS!

 

Yes, we went “camping” again at the same place in Nantou.  I say “camping” because if you’ve read the previous articles, what passes for camping in Taiwan just isn’t quite what we did back in the USA.  But it was fun just the same.  In this installment we’re going to concentrate more on the food than previously.

Here’s the setup: Charcoal burning in a square grill with a quad-pod in the background, ready to hang a Dutch oven.  Nothing bad can follow that!

The ladies begin preparing food.  They’ve got a pretty nice kitchen set up.

Cutting celery.

Look at all the beautiful ingredients.

I start out by browning the meat.  It was still a bit frozen in the package, so I added a tad of water to steam it gently.  The meat unfroze nicely.

Next, I’ve added garlic and sliced onion.  I browned those up well also.

Not shown, are the potatoes and the cilantro (coriander) that I added to the pot before the cover went on.  Here you see the Dutch oven hung over the coals at a height which allowed it to cook slowly.  I added enough water to cover the meat, but not the potatoes.  That way, the meat braised, but the potatoes baked.

In the meantime, chicken was being prepared.

Some fatty pork went into the frying pan.

The Dutch oven cooking slowly.  Notice that very little steam was escaping.

Replacing the top coals, I raised it up a tad to keep it on the slow side.

This is what the pot looked like after cooking – the potatoes were perfectly baked on top.

The other men in the camping group kept themselves busy.

Dusk falls as preparations begin to come together for the evening meal.

Oh yeah!

This is diakon radish, pickled with vinegar and spices, made by Hui-chen’s sister.  This dish rocked!

Top left: tempura.  Top right: mushrooms.  Bottom: Taiwanese style sausage – all cooked on the grill over charcoal.

Another picked dish – vinegar and garlic made this one memorable.

Remember that fatty pork?  Salted and peppered to perfection!

A lemon sauce goes onto the cucumbers – fantastic!

There was even soup!

This is chicken in the frying pan – the beginnings of a new dish.

Sliced onions, part of a Thai style salad (more in a minute)

Back to the chicken in the pan….  See those green beans on the left?

What a fantastic combination!

Now back to the Thai salad.  Fresh baby tomatoes are added.

Then green onion and cilantro (coriander), plus cooked squid and shrimp.  Words fail the awesomeness of this dish!

Dishes being laid out on the table.  Almost time to eat!

Just because you cannot have too many photos of a fantastic Thai seafood salad!

It was raining lightly, but we were under a roofed shelter.  Braving the sprinkles, Hui-chen and Phoenix join a group going out to see fireflies.

The next day was nice and clear.  Here we see some serious interaction going on with the kids.

All too soon it was time to leave.  We gathered at this area for photos because of the white flowers for a backdrop.

The group coming together for the standard end-of-camping-trip-photo that I always take.

And here it is 🙂

While I had that backdrop, I snapped a few photos of Phoenix and Mommy.  Phoenix is holding her bubble gun.

Next, the adults wanted the kids to get together for a few photos.

This is pretty funny.  The adults told the kids to jump, and the older kids did it right away – but not Phoenix.  She didn’t realize what was going on.  So, Hui-chen told her to jump up in the air for a photo.

Now she’s got it!

The final shot says it all!

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