Taiwan

Jonny Hwang: The Man Who Invented 626 Night Market

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. After being born in Taiwan, then living in Kansas for three years, then–6-year-old Jonny Hwang arrived in Monterey Park, the city that's home to the largest concentration ... More >>

Dogs on a Plane

Tony, Bau Bau, Barry and Grace are wheeled through customs at the Tom Bradley Terminal at LAX last Monday. Barking in their crates, the four rescued retrievers are wheeled outside, where volunteers welcome them with food and water after a twenty-one hour flight from Taipei, Taiwan. They're accomp ... More >>

Dangerous Levels of Lead Found in Imported Rice

Researchers have found unacceptably high levels of lead in rice imported into the U.S., particularly from China and Taiwan, BBC News reports. Some samples exceeded the "provisional total tolerable intake" (PTTI) set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a factor of 120.

Open Today in West Hollywood: Pingtung Eat-In Asian Market

A new restaurant called Pingtung is soft-opening today on Melrose in West Hollywood. The restaurant, which bills itself as an "eat-in market," will operate as a casual cafe in the daytime, then go for a more glam vibe at night with cocktails and Asian nibbles. The restaurant is owned by Li Ping, a ... More >>

Eating Hot Foods in Plastic Bowls May Pose Health Hazard

That Hello Kitty bowl may be adorable, but plastic dishware appears to be a very bad idea healthwise. A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. finds that eating hot food from melamine bowls can expose you to high amounts of melamine, according to Fox News. Melamine is toxic crap ... More >>

Q & A with Boba 7 Founder Elton Keung: Green Tea Heineken, Labobatory Alcoholic Boba

Angelenos are no strangers to quality boba drinks. The city boasts some of the most diverse selections of bubble tea in the States -- from the chronically sweet selections at Half and Half to the aromatic brews at AU79 Teahouse. Elton Keung, a 24-year-old USC alumni, wanted to add another variety ... More >>

Monja: Like Eating at a Night Market in Taipei

Small plates Taiwanese style is what you get at the new restaurant Monja in City of Industry. Eating there is like browsing in a night market in Taipei, picking up noodles at one stall, fried squid balls at another, a soup with rice dumplings, wonton and vegetables somewhere else. These aren't trend ... More >>

10 Best Taiwanese Breakfast Restaurants In Los Angeles

For the Chinese, breakfast is the most important part of the day. A steamed pork bun and a soy milk for take-out is pretty standard, but if you want to make it a sit-down affair, try salty soy milk with crispy chunks of twisted cruller (also known as you tiao 油条), a large turnip cake with the si ... More >>

Q & A With Yisrael Aharoni, Israeli Celebrity Chef: Chinese Food In Israel, Hollywood Being A DJ

Israel Aharoni keeps himself busy. He's a chef, television show developer and host, journalist and cookbook author. Credited with being Israel's first celebrity chef and bringing Chinese food to Israel, Aharoni studied cooking in Taiwan and has owned and operated several restaurants in Israel, inclu ... More >>

Q & A with Ching-He Huang of Cooking Channel's Easy Chinese: Heritage Over Authenticity San Gabriel Valley's Tastes of Home

Ching-He Huang diplomatically avoids ranking U.S. cities when it comes to best Chinese eats, but will allow that San Gabriel Valley (and New York's Flushing) gives San Francisco serious competition for what she calls tastes of home. She'll even name examples available in the neighborhood: chou doufu ... More >>

Q & A with Megan Lee of AU 79: Tea Leaves, Language Barriers Changing Demographics

Megan Lee comes from a long line of tea experts. Her grandfather was the founder of Ten Ren Tea, Taiwan's largest tea chain, with locations in seven countries including the United States. But despite being a shareholder in the Ten Ren empire, Lee's father had a different vision for the company and b ... More >>

Taiwanese Surf Rock Puppetry?! Yes, Please.

Concord, in Cypress Park, is not your typical performance venue. Lining the hallway as you enter the space are wooden shelves covered in colanders, plates, pots, peanut butter, dried beans, hot sauce and the like, sorted and labeled: "Joshua" "Collective" "Marco" etc. Long fluorescent bulbs hang fr ... More >>

L.A.'s Idea of Taiwanese Food vs What Taiwanese People Really Eat

Okay guys, let's start by saying that Taiwanese food is definitely not orange chicken or broccoli and beef. The Taiwanese grandmothers -- or "ah-mahs" -- of the San Gabriel Valley would shudder at that thought. And it's not the same thing as Chinese food -- no matter where you stand on the politic ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 3/26 - 3/30

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Yes, pork lovers of the world, as of today, for just under $3,000, J&D's can send you off to your eternal sleep in a bacon coffin." Lighten Up Your Funeral With a Bacon Casket. "We foodists have a sense of humor, right?" ... More >>

Q & A with '626 Night Market' Founder Jonny Hwang: Community, Street Food, Stinky Tofu Taiwanese Pig Ears

​Debuting on April 14th in Pasadena, the 626 Night Market will be Southern California's first Asian night market. And with more than 2,000 fans on Facebook, the event is slated to be a huge San Gabriel Valley hit. Founders Jonny Hwang and his wife Janet come from Taiwan, where the night market, or ... More >>

World Cup of Baking Winners Announced in Paris

No culinary fragrance can compete with that of freshly baked bread. You can be comforted, exalted, seduced, relieved, or stimulated by nutty yeast tones gently wafting toward you. Or maybe you're just hungry. The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, or World Baking Cup, is an event that will make every ... More >>

The Pig Blood Cake The Controversy That Was (and Wasn't)

Jim ThurmanPig Blood Cake, Old Country Café, Alhambra​ Let's talk blood, specifically pigs blood. The use of pigs blood is somewhat common in Chinese and other Asian cuisines, where it usually takes the form of congealed cubes added to soups, stews and hot pots. However, the most interestin ... More >>

Din Tai Fung: 99 Essential Restaurants 2011

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Oktoberfest, Taste of Taiwan, GOOD Food Festival, KCRW Pie Contest, Pig Parts and Beer

Guzzle & NoshIt's always a party when you bring out the pig's head.​ Farid Zadi's 2nd annual couscous festival, originally scheduled for Sunday, was cancelled (of cous, it was) as the chef is in the process of opening his first restaurant, but you can still head out to Arcadia for the Greek F ... More >>

Taste of Taiwan: Free Food Festival This Weekend

Flickr user roboppy​ The Taiwan Tourist Bureau will hold the inaugural Taste of Taiwan, a free food and cultural event, at Hollywood's Kodak Theater this Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18. The Mighty Boba Truck and The Dim Sum Truck will prepare a menu of popular Taiwanese snack foods to ma ... More >>

Stinky Tofu Food Fight: Tofu King vs. Lee's Garden

Jim ThurmanTaiwan style stinky tofu, Tofu King​ Let's get it out of the way. Stinky tofu is, for many, an acquired taste. It's simply outside of the food comfort zone of westerners. We'll admit the smell can be off putting to the uninitiated, but its bark is much worse than its bite. And rea ... More >>

Eat This Now: Lukshon's Duck Popiah

davidwangla/flickr​ For people who eschew red meat yet eat poultry (you might hear them claim they "do it for the protein"), duck is a gateway drug, an opulent bridge between feathered and hooved things. It is the color of liver, encased in a scuba suit of fat, and drawn to fruit, spice, and ... More >>

(Video) Los Angeles Ravers Rejoice: Fluorescent Fish Headed To A Pet Store Near You (Some Day)

​As if the glow-stick nation in L.A., thes capital of raving, needs another trip toy, scientists in Taiwan have created what appear to be the world's largest glow-fish so far -- "medium-sized" angelfish that alight in fluorescent warmth. The Jy Lin Company reportedly took three years and almost $ ... More >>

Luster Fades, Fondness Lingers at Formosa Café

Flickr/stevendamron​ Now in its 76th year, this much-loved, occasionally ridiculed museum of old Hollywood has careened from glamor to self-parody and back again so many times, it's impossible for anyone--employees and patrons alike--to gauge whether the drinks are ironic or genuine. That said ... More >>

HOORAY FOR HONG KONG, ET AL

A Q & A With LOU Chef D.J. Olsen, Part 2: Life in Strip Malls & Why He's Not a Fan of Spittle on a Plate

In the first part of our interview with LOU chef D.J. Olsen yesterday, Olsen talked about life in the small kitchen of the Hollywood wine bar. Today, he discusses the relative happiness of strip mall food, the problem of culinary foams and the occasional hazards of eating in Taipei. And check back l ... More >>

Love, Shandong-Style: at 101 Noodle Express, a Beef Roll as Big as Your Arm

JTYH Restaurant: Heavy Noodling II

Knife-shaved pasta, the next generation

A City of Sadness: The Great 1989 Taiwanese Film at LACMA

Mexican Pride and the Reconquista

A Bunch of Smart, Funny Women, and Taylor Negron

What to do in L.A., December 12-18

Taiwan Film Festival Needs No Headline

Hunan Seafood: Top Catch

Fish head and pork belly above the rest

Get Naked for Gaia or Go Clean a Stream

Hoopla's Earth Day Edition

Domasan: Evening With a New Ropemaster

Ask Mr. Gold

Beauty in Chaos

Lands of Milk and Honey

Millennium Mambo and James� Journey to Jerusalem

Land of Milk and Honey

Millennium Mambo and James� Journey to Jerusalem

Ask Mr. Gold

Wonder Boys and Girls

Our year at the movies

Jive Token

Korean Comfort Food

Gook Soo is more than just a noodle

The Formosa Café

Dumpling Chic

Beijing snacks in San Gabriel

Gruel and Unusual

Chinese porridge in San Gabriel

Manohla Dargis' Hit List

Shanghai Gestures

Gruel World

Chinese porridge in Rosemead

A Blow to the Head

The 51st Cannes film festival