So I have this thing going with a friend--it's becoming a bit of a tradition--where about two months before Halloween we swear off all candy (at least) and (potentially) all sweets until Halloween. Now, she says I have the advantage this year because I'll be in Asia and let's be honest, Asia doesn't do desserts. Now, there's two sides to that. On the one hand, yep, a typical "sweet" in China or Taiwan might be a steamed bread bun full of sweetened red bean curd....er, yum...
However, I see more and more Western imports, as well as indigenous innovation in the sweet department in Asia, and Taiwan is no exception. Long story short to say, it is not so easy to avoid random sweetness around here but so far I have persevered. We will have to settle one thing though--clearly the Japanese influence is huge here and I want to know--does mochi count?
It is mostly rice, after all. ;)
