Taiwanese Canned Food Recipe Ideas (Eel, Pickled Cucumber, Fermented Tofu & More)

Steps

1. 1
   Eel salad: warm the canned eel, reserving the packing sauce separately. Mix that sauce with mayonnaise to make a dressing, place the warmed eel over salad greens, then drizzle with the mayo dressing.
2. 2
   Grilled-style eel: tear the eel into pieces, place on a small grill rack with onion, grill until done, then serve as is—similar to a dish seen in Midnight Diner.
3. 3
   Eel rice bowl: tip the eel into a pan, warm gently over low heat, add onion or other vegetables, then pour in a beaten egg, let it just set, and serve over steamed rice.
4. 4
   Eel sandwich: mash the eel, mix with mayonnaise, spread between slices of bread, and add a few cucumber slices to make an eel sandwich.
5. 5
   Pickled cucumber dishes: blend the pickled cucumber and simmer with chicken broth and tofu as a soup base, or stir it into rice porridge to season it without adding extra salt.
6. 6
   You can also crumble the pickled cucumber and mix it into ground pork to make a pickle-pork dish or burger patties, adding a savory-sweet depth.
7. 7
   Fermented tofu chicken: mash the fermented tofu and mix it into the fried chicken marinade or batter, or blend it with spicy bean paste and mayonnaise to make a sauce to drizzle over fried chicken.
8. 8
   Pickled mustard greens (cai xin) dishes: simmer it in chicken broth, pan-fry it with beaten eggs as an omelet, mix it with tomato into a salsa-like dip, or use it as a sauce base for cold noodles.
9. 9
   Baby corn noodle soup: add canned baby corn to a light, unthickened hot-and-sour broth with chili and rice noodles, creating a dish reminiscent of Luosifen with a spicy, tangy, crunchy bite.
10. 10
    Seaweed paste rice: spread the canned seaweed paste over hot rice, sprinkle with sesame seeds, add an onsen egg on the side, and wrap with a sheet of nori for a simple, satisfying bite.