For many people, their idea of pure comfort food involves sinking their teeth into a juicy grilled meat patty.

Not me.

Instead, I find the ultimate contentment in a tender meat patty that’s steamed.

The kind that emerges from a bamboo steamer in its own deep pool of delectable juices and flavorings all beautifully co-mingled, and just begging to be spooned over a bowl of steamed white rice.

“Steamed Preserved Greens and Pork” is that kind of dish. It’s from “Made In Taiwan” (Simon Element, 2023) of which I received a review copy.

This beautiful, acclaimed book is the work of Clarissa Wei, a Taipei-based food journalist who has been writing about the cuisines and cultures of Taiwan and China for more than 10 years.

While Taiwanese cooking has often been lumped under the all-encompassing umbrella of “Chinese food,” Wei takes pains to give this fiercely independent island nation of 23.5 million people its culinary due. When she describes Taiwan as being shaped “like a sweet potato — curvy and fat in the middle, gently tapered off at the ends,” you know you are in for a mouthwatering time, as well as a captivating read.

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