PDF file - Community Services Center

Practice
TexT & Image: mauro SaCCHI
lifestyle
TexT & ImageS: IvY CHen
DRIED SHRIMP
蝦 米 [xiami]
D r i e d s h r i m p
(shelled and sund
r i e d) i s o n e o f
the key flavoring
i n g r e d i e n t s i n
Chinese Cooking.
Choose dried shrimp which have a natural-looking
orange color and are completely dry. Don’t buy any
that are dull in color, or are slimy to the touch. Dried
shrimp should be stored in the refrigerator after buying,
and is cooked with various vegetables, stir-fried with
rice noodles, and used in the famous XO sauce. There
are three types of dried shrimp found in the market.
Shelled orange shrimp is the regular type, used for all
kinds of cooking. Small pink shrimp ( 蝦 皮 xiapi, still
in the shell) is a special type from Penghu ( 澎 湖 ), and
is often used in ‘chive box’ ( 韭 菜 盒 子 jiucai hezi) and
Penghu-style cooking. Another red orange kind, with
a slightly larger shell, called sergestid shrimp ( 櫻 花 蝦
yinghua xia) comes from Donggang ( 東 港 , south of
Kaohsiung). This is a precious and protected shrimp,
which may be caught only between November and May.
DRIED SMALL
FISH 小 魚 乾
[xiao yugan]
Dried small fish
is a group of smallsized
fish and baby
fish, such as anchovy
or sardine. They
are very nutritious
and rich in calcium. Choose hard and very dry fish
rather than soft (moist) ones. The fish heads should be
attached to the bodies rather than falling apart. Dried
small fish should be stored in the refrigerator after
purchasing. Chinese use dried small fish to make fish
stock or cook them as a starter or tapas.
FRIED PEANUTS
WITH DRIED
SMALL FISH
花 生 小 魚 乾
Ingredients: 150g
dried small fish,
1C fried or toasted
peanuts, and one
each of sliced green
and red chili
Seasoning: 1T soy sauce, 1T sugar, 1t rice wine
Directions:
1. Heat 3C oil, fry dried small fish for 1 minute or until
they turn golden; drain well.
2. Heat 1T oil, stir-fry chili until fragrance is released. Add
fried fish and seasoning; toss with fried peanuts.
I
fell in love with Taipei five years ago, when I spent time in residency
at the Taipei Artist Village, and decided to move here to see if I
could connect my art and my heart into a cohesive whole. Looking
for challenges, I found plenty - sometimes too many. I’ve lived
many lives here: currently, I’m a theater/dance practitioner, a fulltime
graduate student at the Taipei National University of the Arts, a
copywriter, a teacher of physical theater and contact improvisation.
I love Taiwan with a passion, but it can get messy: Taipei has its way
of feeling at once small-townish and huge, friendly and overwhelming,
comfortable and insanely intense. It has everything - an affordable mix of
East and West that is both haphazard and fascinating - so how to choose
How do you make a life as an expat here, while doing something
meaningful for yourself and others How do you keep a balance, albeit
a constantly shifting, surprising one How do you overcome your
struggles, and truly learn
Which community do you tap into for support
Aside from the big funky family of Taipei artists, I’ve been blessed
to find correspondence and helpful practices within a supportive
community of people who, like me, are interested in meditation,
Qigong, Taoism, Buddhism, Taichi, and delicious tea. We’ve made a
‘home’ for ourselves here in Asia at the Tsalpa Kagyu Center, located
near DaAn MRT station, under the guidance of the Venerable Kenchen
Rinpoche, who is versed in Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, Taoism,
internal and external martial arts and, well, the art of life. It is a
comfortable, welcoming, powerful place: a place to focus and breathe,
to study and share, to unwind from our daily chores and discover the
space within and without.
We come from all walks of life (and all continents, except Antarctica!);
we meet to learn about our mind and about compassion, to understand,
in practice, that meditation is not just sitting with your legs crossed and
your eyes closed: it is in every moment of every day, anywhere, and it
begins and ends with a calm awareness of one’s mind and thoughts.
As it happens, ‘practice’ is not just for athletes, or musicians, or artists.
It is for one’s life: for a better, happier, truly more artful life.
Despite the hectic pace of my life as a non-famous artist, I’ve been able
to incorporate bodily and mental practices I’ve learned at the Center into
my daily routine: more and more every day, I experience how these very
practices are what help me stay grounded, more healthy, more in touch
with myself, more open to others. Try this, now: sit where you are, relax
your neck and shoulders, smile, and breathe deeply, softly and consciously
into your belly a few times. Then do the same every morning upon
waking, with awareness. You’ll soon notice the subtle difference it makes.
And if you feel like practicing and experiencing more, if you’d like
to come visit, and become part of our community, get in touch with us:
there’s surely something interesting for you to learn here at the Tsalpa
Kagyu Center.
You can find us online at http://tsalpakagyucenter.blogspot.com, or
email us at tsalpakagyucenter@gmail.com.
The Tsalpa Kagyu Center will be organizing weekend-long
meditation retreats in the greater Taipei area in the next months.
Contact us directly for more information.
Mauro studies dance and theater, writes, performs and teaches
workshops in movement, physical theater and contact improvisation.
Mauro loves beets, bumblebees, cooking, rhythm and laughter.
He is very thankful to his many teachers. You can reach him at
maurocsacchi@gmail.com.
Apr 2010
15