i like this stuff

Living in a foreign country, I have the privilage of trying intersting new foods all the time.  So, I have three "food policies":

1. I can try anything once.
   
   



2. If I can swallow it and keep it down once, I can probably try it again (but maybe later).
   
   



3. If I can swallow it and keep it down twice, maybe the third time I try it I might actually like it.

Over the course of the last ten years (I first came to Taiwan in 1997 for a month), I've tried all kinds of things.  And there is only one thing I will never put in my mouth again; however, there are many things that I didn't care for at first but have grown to LOVE.

Anywho, last week must have been the third time I tried this soup because I now know that I LIKE IT!

Can you tell what kind of soup it is?  The Chinese name for this soup is 酸辣湯 or "sour-spicy soup."  That's right--it is "hot and sour soup."  And it is yummy.

We have a version of it in American-Chinese restaurants, yet I've never tried it there.  So I don't know what the American version really looks or tastes like.  Because, yall, I used to be a proud card-carrying member of the "picky eaters unite" club.

So, I wanna know . . .  if you've tried "hot and sour soup" out side of Asia, does this here look like the Western-Chinese restaurant version of the soup or does it look totally different?

Oh, and here, it is not served in some little, tiny pre-dinner bowl.  It comes in a big fill-your-whole-tummy sized bowl and costs less than 60 US cents.  Or, if you are blessed it is free because the store owner likes you and wants you to try new things, so she occasionally gifts you with free soup or noodles. 

Nice, huh?  One more reason to love Taiwan.