美食二三事　Cooking23s

◆ 草仔粿／菜包　 波斯菊開滿了田野　 春天也將悄然來臨　 採些野生的月桃葉　 自製菜包來過清明　 對臺灣的客家族群與部分河洛（閩南）族群來說，傳統上，當提到「菜包」二字，指的並不是包菜的麵食包子，而是這種類似包餡麻糬的小吃。由於外型很像古時候裝豬仔去市場賣的竹編籠子，所以客家人又稱之為「豬籠粄」。「菜包」外皮的口味有很多種，除了最常見的用艾草或鼠麴草做的綠色外皮，還有番薯口味的黃色外皮，以及原味的白色外皮等。常見的內餡則有鹹的菜脯米（蘿蔔絲）或高麗菜，以及甜的紅豆餡等。我們這次介紹的是最常見的包菜脯米的艾草口味菜包，客家人又稱之為「艾粄」菜包，也就是部分河洛人說的「草仔粿」。不過，客家菜包的外皮上方通常會捏出一道立起來的背瘠，河洛人的草仔粿則較少這麼做。 在古早時代，艾草或鼠麴草做的綠皮菜包（草仔粿），原是漢人於清明祭祖時準備的傳統食物。然而，時至今日，由於其獨特的香味與口感，已成為一年四季皆廣受歡迎的美食小吃。微甜的外皮，溫熱時軟嫩，放涼後 Q 彈，內餡搭配炒得鹹香的肉燥、蝦米、香菇，以及脆口的菜脯米，混在一起一口咬下，實是絕妙的天作之合。想隨時隨地吃到香噴噴的菜包嗎？現在就跟著我們的食譜來自己做吧。（文末附影片） ◆ Caozaiguo　 Cosmos flowers have bloomed in the fields.　 Spring will come before you know it.　 Let's gather some shell ginger leaves.　 And prepare caozaiguo for tomb-sweeping.　 Taiwanese caozaiguo's skin is made of sticky rice and the leaves of mugwort or cudweed. There are various kinds of fillings, such as savoury radish strips or cabbage, and sweet azuki (red) bean paste. Here, we show you how to make the mugwort-flavoured skin caozaiguo with th...

◆ 花生糖　 農曆新年又快到了　 該送親友什麼禮盒呢？  俗話說 吃甜甜 好過年　 來做以前阿公最愛的花生糖吧...  花生糖是一款常被臺灣人用來招待來訪親友的傳統甜點，尤其是在農曆新年期間。俗話說：吃甜甜，好過年；吃甜甜，大賺錢；吃花生，好事會發生。因此，花生糖也常被當做用來送人的伴手禮，尤其是純手工自製的花生糖，更是能讓人感受到十足的誠意。其實，只要照著我們這裡示範的步驟，自己做花生糖一點都不難。臺灣的花生糖有很多種，我們這裡示範的是古早味脆皮花生糖的做法。（文末附影片） ◆ Peanut Brittle The lunar new year is coming again. What kind of gift shall I prepare for relatives and friends? As the saying goes, "Eating sweets brings about a great new year." I'll make peanut brittle, which used to be Grandpa's favourite... Taiwanese peanut brittle (peanut candy) is a popular traditional dessert to treat guests (relatives and friends) in Taiwan, especially during lunar new year holiday. It is said that eating sweets can bring good luck in the new year and eating peanut can help you live a long life. Therefore, it's also a great choice of gift especially when it's made by yourself, which is quite easy if you follow our video tutorial. There are various kinds of peanut sweets / candi...