Elementary Explorations

When I went to Kaohsiung (in the southern part of Taiwan), we stayed at the Ambassador Hotel, which included a nice breakfast buffet. They were making omelets, but also had fried eggs. When I saw the plates lined up on the counter, I couldn’t help but smile. 

Growing up in the United States, eating eggs outside of the house usually meant scrambled, sunny side up, or over easy. I’d put on some hot sauce, or (more controversially) some ketchup, and eat it with the toast, ham, hash browns, or whatever else I had. 

But then there were these Ambassador Hotel eggs. They were cooked “over well” and next to them? A bottle of soy sauce. I hadn’t eaten a fried egg like this in ages. It’s the only way my mom would cook it, and I would always have soy sauce on it - always. I also remembered my parents always being turned off when sunny side up eggs always came out “uncooked” at restaurants. 

So I stood there with a stupid grin on my face. Why? Because even a fully cooked egg serves as a reminder that I really am a Taiwanese American - bringing the best from two freaking awesome countries.