The most Taiwanese Mediterranean diet: Eating this way can reduce the risk of dementia by 40%!
1. Ten celebrities are serving dishes; you are welcome to take a seat.
Wang Wenhua, Cai Shiping, Zhang Shanzheng, Hong Lan, Yu Xiang,Lang Zuyun, Xie Jiajian, Chen Tingni, Deng Shixiong, Liu Xiuzhi Ten celebrities are serving dishes; you are welcome to take a seat.
We have all reminisced about those evenings at 6:30, nestled beside our mothers, enjoying rice mixed with cartoon characters. We also recall the innocent first love of making snacks for a crush. Then, as we entered marriage and family life, the unspoken love transformed into time-consuming "home-cooked dishes."
Fifty years have passed, and we still eat the same tomato and scrambled eggs, slowly accompanying our parents as they age. Occasionally, I miss my mother's steamed fish. As life moves forward, we inevitably start to forget, but we will always remember those dishes that accompanied us during every significant moment.
2. This Way of Eating Reduces the Risk of Dementia by 40%
Recent studies have confirmed that individuals who adopt a Mediterranean diet have a significantly reduced risk of developing dementia, by as much as 40%. Taiwan's top ten doctors—Wang Peining, Hsu Wen-chun, Chen Liang-gong, Chen Da-fu, Zhang Jie-wen, Ye Bing-qiang, Cai Jia-fen, Liu Jianliang, Lai De-ren, and Liu Jing-kuan—have come together to uncover the secrets of dementia. By eating this way, you can stay away from dementia.
3.The Most Taiwanese Mediterranean Diet
Does a Mediterranean diet have to include tomatoes and olive oil? Wrong! Taiwan, the beautiful island, boasts a rich variety of fruits and vegetables year-round, along with fresh seafood. With diverse local oils such as peanut oil and sesame oil available, there's no need to worry about unfamiliar tastes. Even popular night market dishes like oyster omelets and the commonly served home-cooked dish, tomato scrambled eggs, are all full of Taiwanese flavor and qualify as Mediterranean cuisine.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 1: Understanding Dementia with Ten Renowned Doctors
01. Am I becoming demented if I keep forgetting things?
02. Assessing the top ten warning signs; don’t overlook changes in mental health.
03. Is dementia just Alzheimer’s disease?
04. Ten renowned doctors teach you how to prevent dementia.
05. Reject dementia by starting with Mediterranean cuisine.
Chapter 2: Memory Table
01. Wang Wenhua / Scallion Pancakes from Memory: Can They Last Longer Than Forgetting?
02. Cai Shiping / Chopped Scallion Pancakes: Bursting with My Parents' Love
03. Zhang Shanzheng / No Feast Can Compare to My Mother's Steamed Fish
04. Hong Lan / Autumn’s Flavor: Braised Pork with Ginkgo Nuts, Slow-Cooked for My Parents' Love
05. Yu Xiang / The Queen in Everyone’s Eyes: Just Serving Seafood Congee for Dad
06. Lang Zuyun / Stir-Fried Mixed Vegetables: The Taste of Tradition Passed Down Generations
07. Xie Jiajian / Sour and Spicy Shrimp Made by My Cancer-Stricken Mother: A Mouthful of Bitterness
08. Chen Tingni / The Most Hated Braised Pork Rice: Became the Most Nostalgic After Leaving Home
09. Deng Shixiong / One Dish of Tomato and Scrambled Eggs: A Legacy of Half a Century
10. Liu Xiuzhi / Delicate and Time-Consuming: Five-Striped Fish, My Parents’ Hidden Love Recipe
Chapter 3: 10 Types of Ingredients & 50 Dishes
3-1 Whole Grains and Roots / Millet, Brown Rice, Purple Rice
01. Mushroom and Corn Five-Grain Rice
02. Savory Five-Grain Congee
03. Turmeric Seafood Risotto
04. Japanese Style Three-Ingredient Soba Noodle Salad
05. Chinese Eight Treasure Congee
3-2 Dark Vegetables / Carrots, Broccoli, Kale, Red Amaranth
06. Stir-Fried Kale with Fresh Mushrooms
07. Cold Tossed Dragon Beard Vegetable
08. Red Amaranth with Ginger and Sesame Oil
09. Romaine Lettuce, Avocado, and Salmon Salad
10. Fresh Vegetable Soy Milk Hot Pot
3-3 Fruits / Papaya, Tomatoes, Kyoho Grapes
11. Purple Rice with Mango
12. Fruit Platter
13. Fresh Fruit Almond Jelly
14. Papaya Stewed with North and South Almonds
15. Colorful Fruit and Vegetable Juice
3-4 Mushrooms and Seaweeds / Shiitake, Nori, Kelp
16. Stir-Fried Cilantro with Mixed Mushrooms
17. Cold Tossed Okra with Black Fungus
18. Cold Tossed Shredded Kelp
19. Soy Braised Kelp with Soybeans
20. Nori and Fresh Shrimp Asparagus Hand Rolls
3-5 Legumes / Soybeans, Edamame, Tree Beans
21. Snow Vegetable and Edamame with Tofu Skin
22. Chicken Soup with Ma Gao Tree Beans
23. Clove Tofu
24. Stuffed Tofu Pockets
25. Scrambled Eggs with Edamame and Shrimp
3-6 Dairy Products / Milk, Low-Fat Cheese, Yogurt
26. Baked Two-Color Cauliflower
27. Whole Wheat Bread Pizza
28. Pumpkin Cashew Cream Soup
29. Honey Fruit Yogurt
30. Energizing Milk
3-7 Fish and Seafood / Mackerel, Oysters, Cuttlefish
31. Steamed Sea Bass
32. Lemon Garlic Salmon
33. Grilled Mackerel
34. Taiwanese-Style Oyster Omelette
35. Garlic Steamed Fresh Shrimp
3-8 Nuts, Seeds, and Oils / Plant Oils, Black Sesame, Avocado
36. Cashew Stir-Fried Shrimp
37. Sesame Walnut Cheese
38. Walnut and Cashew Dried Anchovies
39. Chicken Nut Salad
40. Celery, Tuna, and Walnut Sandwich
3-9 Meat and Eggs / Lean Pork, Chicken, Eggs
41. Baked Eggs with Bell Peppers
42. Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
43. Chawanmushi (Japanese Steamed Egg Custard)
44. Appetizing Scallion Oil Chicken
45. Pork Shank Stewed with Ginkgo and Tofu Skin
3-10 Spices / Cilantro, Thai Basil, Turmeric
46. Fennel Water Dumplings and Cilantro Dumplings
47. Thai Basil Three-Cup Cuttlefish
48. Stir-Fried Chinese Toon with Tofu
49. Fennel Stir-Fried Pork Strips
50. Hakka Herbal Jelly Chicken
Preface
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Introduction
‧Wang Wenhua / Scallion Pancake Tofu
Trying to make scallion pancake tofu never matches my mother's. Later, I realized it was missing the "time and space" seasoning of that moment. If I were to lose my memory and forget all the delicacies, I hope I could still remember my mother’s scallion pancake tofu. The first bite would transport me back to my childhood evenings in the living room, accompanied by cartoon sounds, savoring the flavor of my mother's tofu.
‧Tsai Shih-Ping / Scallion Oil Pancakes
Gently sliding a pancake into the hot oil, I listen to the sizzling sound as the cold dough touches the hot oil. It reminds me of how my parents met, fell in love, and their story: an eighteen-year-old Hakka girl gazing at a soldier twelve years her senior. Did Dad make scallion pancakes for Mom on those cold nights in northern Taiwan? While kneading the dough, did he share stories of his hometown and his exile?
‧Zhang Shanzheng / Steamed Fish
Dementia is the gradual process of losing a loved one, like a long goodbye. I watched as my mother transitioned from speaking Mandarin and Taiwanese to only Japanese, and then the last time she called my name, I felt like I had "lost" her. But what can I do? During business trips to China, while eating greasy dishes, attending international conferences with fancy meals, or hosting foreign guests with exquisite cuisine, I always think of my mother’s simple steamed fish, seasoned only with ginger and bamboo shoots.
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‧Hong Lan / Braised Pork with Ginkgo Nuts
Braised pork with ginkgo nuts is the taste of autumn. The ginkgo nuts harvested in autumn go into the pot with pork belly, simmered slowly, seasoned with soy sauce and wine until the meat is fragrant. When my father grew older and suffered from diabetes, he gave up many things but couldn’t resist this dish. My mother, concerned for him, replaced the rock sugar with licorice. Although the skin of the pork wasn’t as glossy as it would have been with rock sugar, the flavor and love remained just as sweet.
‧Yu Hsiang / Seafood Congee
In the workplace, people call me "Queen" or "Godmother"; my son describes me as a mom who "can only make money." But in my father's eyes, I will always be the little girl who loves to be spoiled and cherish home. I couldn’t master my mother’s excellent cooking skills, but to accommodate my father, who has difficulty with his teeth and loves seafood, I pour my heart into preparing a bowl of seafood congee for him every day. The light flavor of the congee is my deep reliance.
‧Lang Zuyun / Vegetarian Mixed Dish
My father was a talented chef, and every New Year’s Eve dinner was overseen by him, featuring a vegetarian mixed dish with tofu skin, mushrooms, carrots, and bamboo shoots, all stir-fried to infuse flavor. My father said that every careful step was a family tradition passed down from my grandmother. After he passed away from dementia, I could only make it myself, recalling his advice and realizing the meaning of time in cooking, the silent communication with my father, and the profound memories of sharing the vegetarian dish at the dining table.
‧Hsieh Chia-Chien / Sweet and Sour Shrimp
My parents divorced when I was young, and I only regarded my grandmother as my mother. At school, when classmates sang loudly, "There’s no one like Mom," I sang happily, while my grandmother teared up in the back of the classroom. When I was twenty-one, my cancer-stricken mother, knowing her time was short, dragged her weary body to cook my favorite sweet and sour shrimp. The delicious and tangy flavor brought both joy and bitterness, as it now evokes memories of the hospital…
‧Chen Ting-Ni / Braised Pork Rice
"How about braised pork rice for dinner? No? Then how about braised pork noodles?" There’s a flavor I ate every day as a child; it became tedious. Yet after moving north to work alone for many years, I turned around and found that what I once "hated" had become what I missed the most. When I finally return home and act spoiled to choose dishes, watching my mother carefully jot down notes and shop at the market, I realize how willful I have been, taking for granted that family would do anything for me.
‧Deng Shih-Hsiung / Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
I remember the days when my family had fallen on hard times, where we had rice with lard every meal for ten people; I recall coming alone from Hong Kong to Taiwan for school, relying on leftover soup and a few bowls of free white rice. I remember seven years in medical school, eating tomato and egg stir-fry for all my meals just to fill my stomach and save money. Forty-eight years have passed, and I still love this simple dish, as it reflects the sweet and sour taste of life.
‧Liu Xiuzhi / Five-Spice Fish
My father ran a rice shop, and I watched him sweat as he carried heavy bags of rice. To replenish his strength, my mother would cover yellow croaker with bamboo shoots, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and shredded pork. This five-spice fish is a time-consuming dish, but it connects the long-lasting memories of our family. Now, both my parents have dementia, yet the name of that dish—fish piled high on a bowl of white rice—is still deeply ingrained in my memory.
Excerpt of Content
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Cai Shiping / Scallion Pancakes
Gently sliding a pancake into the pan, hearing the sizzling sound as the hot oil touches the cold dough, brings to mind the countless possibilities of love when my parents first met, got to know each other, and fell in love.
Did Dad ever fry a scallion pancake for Mom? In the cold winters of northern Taiwan, did Dad ever cook a bowl of beef noodles for her? Did he make dumplings and wontons while sharing stories of his hometown and his experiences of fleeing from different provinces with young Mom? Was she accustomed to such meals at first?
An eighteen-year-old Hakka girl gazes at a handsome soldier twelve years her senior, who speaks with an accent that she has to listen closely to understand every word he says about his affection for her. They were an ordinary couple, living a humble love story during a great era.
She should have known that this would be a family revolution; she should have known she would have a long period of instability, following a group of young soldiers as they constantly relocated, choosing a nomadic life for the sake of love alongside the man she chose.
Years later, after experiencing the seasons of youth, preparing flour, making dough, and cooking scallion pancakes for my younger siblings, I suddenly wanted to try my hand at making noodles again. I called Mom, and she gently shared all the details she wanted to convey. She has aged, and her words often repeat, but I listened quietly.
To her, I am still her grown child who never grows up. Even after all these years, she still treats me as the child she raised with such care, anxious and tender, even though I am now so grown up and old. On the other end of the line, she continues to explain the details from the flour and dough to frying them and achieving the perfect flavor of scallion pancakes. I listen quietly.
I will teach my daughter how to make scallion pancakes in the future. I want her to know how her grandparents walked through the sea of people, leading to me, to her, and to one scallion pancake after another.
