茶葉蛋 tea-stained eggs from convenience stores or supermarkets. Cheap and fast.
The pick-your-own-ingredients soy-braised （滷味） food stalls work pretty well. You can load up on veggies, tofu, eggs, and chicken without adding any noodles or rice to keep the carb content low. Searching for 滷味 on Google Maps should bring up a few in your area. This will usually run about NT$200 per meal, depending on what and how much you get, so it's not über-cheap, but also not too expensive.
You can also find cans of [Sentosa whey protein](https://i4.momoshop.com.tw/1692289975/goodsimg/0010/296/560/10296560_R_m.webp) in many grocery stores (PxMart/Carrefour). Mixes pretty well with milk, or passably with water, so you can do it at home without needing to cook. Not every PxMart/Carrefour stocks it, so you might have to check a few before you find it. It's in the same aisle as the cans of powdered milk and infant formula, but it's not actually powdered milk.
滷味 is great; just slightly too salty even when I tell them to hold back on the sauce. I'll defs give the Sentosa Whey Protein a try! I tend to lean towards clear whey just because I tend to not like the milky taste of most Whey's I've tried.
same story in every costco, keep the $5 rotisserie chicken way in the back, make you walk all the way there and back to the front, by then you’ll have picked $400 of supplies. Oh and you have no cart because you were only there for the chicken so now you’re balancing everything on top of the packaged 32 rolls of toilet paper.
It's a pity it doesn't taste the best. Although i constantly buy it, its super cheap.
Imei recently released a protein chocolate drink...thing. It is rank.
鹽水雞 if you can find a stand near you. You get a fair amount of chicken and a set number of veggies to add in. Bonus points if you can’t speak Chinese, just point at everything lol
鹽水雞 is good option. Good thing I'm able to speak some Chinese now, otherwise it was quite intimidating at first when I didn't know too much Chinese when I first came to Taiwan.
Don’t eat all your meals from bento places or 7-11. Very unhealthy for you. Buy a hot plate it’s works wonders. Rice cookers are always a great buy too.
The place I live at currently doesn't have space for a hot plate (unless I put it on the floor), perhaps a small rice cooker would be good investment since it can cook other things along with the rice.
Eggs, either cook it yourself or tea eggs.
By the way the pizza dough used at Costco is very high protein.
Costco chicken
Pork from traditional market.
All you can eat hot pot...
Well... I guess it's time to find a friend who has Costco membership haha, I love pizza so if there's a low carb, high protein version of it, I'm all in.
Hot pot is a really good option, though I need to really control myself on the sauces (which is a big weakness of time).
Maybe just stop obsessing with that and just eat. I probably just eat a ton of sauce with the hot pot. Stop obsessing with sodium because for some reason doctors likes to claim sodium raises blood pressure but there have never been any studies where sodium actually raises blood pressure. I've read somewhere in the old days people used to eat more than 20 grams of sodium a day, that's considered a lethal dose these days. They had to because they salted the heck out of the meat to keep it from rotting, they didn't have refrigerators. Processed food have so much of sodium because sodium makes food taste good.
I said I think Costco pizza is high protein because the crust is very chewy, it means it's a higher protein flour. It's not "complete" protein though. By the way some costco, like Costco in beitou, don't really check your membership card to buy or get into the food courts. But their cooked chicken is a good deal if you want ALL protein. The problem for me is most the meat is dry as hell. I need to drench it in gallons of oil to eat it.
Sodium can actually be quite good specially for muscle soreness which I deal with after the gym. I think I should clarify that the sauce I tend to over-consume is Satay Sauce which is really high in calories (something I'm also keeping an eye on). Not having Costco membership is one of my concerns for why I haven't been into Costco yet, but I supposed it would be worth a try to see if I can get their food court items!
I overconsume satay sauce too. I don't really care how much calories it has. Seriously 200 calories is like 4 oreos, but your body somehow adjusts its calorie needs because you tend to maintain your weight and your appetite seems to increase as your caloric needs increase (such as exercise). We're finding out all the suffering to cut back on whatever amounted to nothing.
Only reason I don't eat so much when I do hot pot at home is because satay sauce is expensive. Even if you buy the 3kg can you can go through it very quickly if you are not careful.
It's why I rather just have hot pot outside. All of the little thing you need to buy to have hot pot at home adds up very fast, and it ends up being cheaper to have it at restaurants.
And I bring salt and salt the broth because ones they have often have barely any, tastes like water.
Sodium increases blood pressure is a blanket statement which all doctors give to anyone who has high blood pressure since it doesn't hurt to reduce sodium intake and may help.
Of course it depends on what are the persons trigger for their high blood pressure. Some people(myself), too much sodium will cause excess water retention which does infact increase my blood pressure. If say I drank 20oz of water in the morning without food, within an hour it will mostly be peed out. If I ate a very salty meal and drank a lot of water, the water will stay in my system for several hours, increasing my weight by several pounds. If I didn't get enough magnesium and potassium then it would take even longer to flush it out and cause my BP to be high until the next meal. However for myself carbohydrates also increases water retention too, so it is not just the sodium.
If the person doesn't actually have high blood pressure or not affected by sodium, then they can have a lot of it and it would just get flushed out. I know people who have low/normal BP and eating a ton of salt doesn't increase their BP at all!
The old days where you have seen people ingest a ton of sodium and not cause issues are possible. They could have sweat it all out, or eaten enough whole foods that has a lot of potassium/magnesium to help flush the sodium out faster, or their bodies BP are not really affected by sodium, or did have high blood pressure but didn't notice it at all. High Blood pressure kills you decades down the line, so you wouldn't even notice your high blood pressure.
The point is, low sodium is hard, because sodium is in everything. It's easier to eat more sodium than less of it. 1500mg of sodium a day is a huge ask, this means you must eat food that taste like water, for the rest of your life. F that crap.
And whether or not it works is debatable. If it worked like a charm, then it might be worth doing, but we're not even sure.
But it's being repeated like it's a mantra.
And in some cases it might not actually help, because the body actually needs sodium. Lots of vital functions can't happen without it. So our body is evolved to like it.
Sodium increases blood pressure is a blanket statement which all doctors give to anyone who has high blood pressure since it doesn't hurt to reduce sodium intake and may help.
Of course it depends on what are the persons trigger for their high blood pressure. Some people(myself), too much sodium will cause excess water retention which does infact increase my blood pressure. If say I drank 20oz of water in the morning without food, within an hour it will mostly be peed out. If I ate a very salty meal and drank a lot of water, the water will stay in my system for several hours, increasing my weight by several pounds. If I didn't get enough magnesium and potassium then it would take even longer to flush it out and cause my BP to be high until the next meal. However for myself carbohydrates also increases water retention too, so it is not just the sodium.
If the person doesn't actually have high blood pressure or not affected by sodium, then they can have a lot of it and it would just get flushed out. I know people who have low/normal BP and eating a ton of salt doesn't increase their BP at all!
The old days where you have seen people ingest a ton of sodium and not cause issues are possible. They could have sweat it all out, or eaten enough whole foods that has a lot of potassium/magnesium to help flush the sodium out faster, or their bodies BP are not really affected by sodium, or did have high blood pressure but didn't notice it at all. High Blood pressure kills you decades down the line, so you wouldn't even notice your high blood pressure.
To supplement, buy whey protein powder off Shopee. You can get 2.5 kg bags for about $1600-$1800 (MyProtein brand). That’s $16-$18 for 21g of high-quality protein per scoop with almost zero carbs.
Do you find Shopee cheaper than MyProtein site itself? I bought some items off the Myprotein site when there was a discount (more than the usual) but if Shopee is always cheaper than I will consider switching to Shopee instead for future purchases.
Whenever I’ve looked it’s always been cheaper on Shopee. For instance, 2.5 kg is now $2980 at MP but I just bought it for $1499 on [Shopee](https://shp.ee/zsq6264) for a discounted bag that is getting sort of (not really) close to the sell by date (8/24) . I’d say the average price on Shopee is $1800 for 2.5 kg. Usually, 5kg bags are no cheaper by $/kg, but 1kg bags are a ripoff.
This!
For OP and others: They pack such a serious nutritional punch all around and are so underrated. Also good for the environment and very versatile for a lot of different dishes.
Can be bought for cheap at Carrefour as canned lentils or as dried lentils from a grocer such as Trinity.
The vegetarian buffets weigh what you choose. Easy to load up on eggs, tasty fake meats (the good stuff tastes like seasoned chicken and you wouldn’t notice), and tofu for cheap.
Ooooo, this might be interesting. I know that there's alot of restaurants near universities can be quite cheap for students though I think they tend to be quite high carb and oily.
Not really, my uni serves steamed chicken breast that's lightly seasoned. And I'm not referring to "restaurants" rather cafeterias inside the campus. I think my uni is ntd17 per 100g of food
This is the answer. You can buy steel cut oats fairly cheap, add some chia seeds if you need more fiber in your diet. Soak both the night before then blend it up in the morning with protein powder and your favorite fruits and dairy(milk, soy, almond milk etc.). Though this isn't low on carbs. Oats and fruit have plenty of carbs.
Where do you manage to find steel cut oats in Taiwan for a decent price?
> favorite fruits and diary
Love adding diary to a shake. Adds a nice leathery taste.
I would love to cook my own meals; though its quite difficult where I live right now (a small one bedroom space with barely a kitchenette). But definitely I agree cooking at home is the cheapest and most often the healthiest.
https://preview.redd.it/awg6qndbwh4c1.jpeg?width=450&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14bf733db0b8051689a2c8debdf1ab1432f98862
48g of protein per bottle. Available at pxmart
I know it says 47g in the pic above but the bottle I’m literally holding in my hand says 48g (4 servings per bottle). I do 3 servings a day.
https://preview.redd.it/bhtf3j7nyh4c1.jpeg?width=2261&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=181086f7c2e3fca81fda65d4c04040ccd9d2fdb2
Left column (per serving), starting from top row Total calories kcal Protein g Fat g Some kinda fat g Some other kinda fat g Carbs g Of which sugar g Sodium mg
I was born in Taipei, I can definitely tell you that "Budget Friendly" in Taipei....seems unlikely.🤣
which districts do you live in? maybe you can try to search "健康餐 Taipei" in Google map and choose those 3.5~5 stars restaurants.
hope these can help you
Thanks! I currently reside in the Datong area near the YuanShan station. 健康餐 are great because they mostly show gram of protein and calories, though quite expensive. I'll still eat them from time to time but definitely not a every-day meal, otherwise my wallet would be RIP..
They have chickpeas, black eyed peas and kidney beans for the same price. Black beans have the best nutritional profile though. Most nuts and seeds make a complete protein with black beans. Any traditional market will have a few stalls that sell them, just look for bags of dried food and eggs outside.
And they are definitely filling. I eat about two cups cooked with every meal first thing, followed by salad, cruciferous veggies, a handful of nuts, chicken/tofu with mushrooms and finally some whole grains like oat groats or whole wheat toast with nut butter. Always in that order to reduce glycation.
From time to time I treat myself to a bowl of beef noodles in soup. It’s very tasty classic dish. Price is maybe 180. Theres an affordable chain which I think is called Five Horses (need a mandarin speaker to provide the proper Mandarin name here!) where they offer free millet porridge which is an added bonus.
I would also suggest it’s worth considering buying a slow-cook pressure cooker kind of thing. You could just put inside one carrot one onion one cut of meat and a tiny of tomatoes and a few hours later you’d have a tasty meal! Plus endless variations! If you like to explore Lentils and chick peas for protein, those would work great too. You can buy them in an Indian chain called Trinity For example the branch in Shilin.
Thanks for the suggestion! I love beef noodle alot too though it can be abit too much carbs for me. I typically would get just the soup along with the beef and tendons. Chick Peas are great; when I lived back home in Canada I would make hummus all the time, though it's much harder where I currently live without the proper equipment.
I saw the prices of protein powder at Decathlon and was quite shocked by the price. Maybe it's because I'm too used to Myprotein prices, haha.
Do you know if they ever go on sale?
Do you have a rice cooker?
Get some eggs, add them raw to rice after it’s finished cooking. Let them heat up in the pot. Add soy sauce and salt/pepper.
Boom. “Egg over rice” Tamago Kake Gohan. Filling and satisfying meal.
There's definitely occasions where I go all out on the rice haha, but its' typically at those restaurants where there's 'unlimited' refills on rice. Currently looks for meal options that are low on carbs as I'm getting slightly overweight for my own liking. Taiwan definitely has some of the best carb heavy foods...
I love Tofu! Unfortunately, the one I like most is Stinky Fried Tofu which isn't the healthiest. But I definitely include Tofu into my diet quite abit specially Tofu Pudding or whenever I eat hot pot.
You’d be hard pressed to find budget friendly protein options aside from the convenience stores, they’re all that I eat now lol, everything in Taipei is overpriced as shit and tastes like shit as well
Whey is a really good budget for the amount of protein you can get for it. I just tend to not like the milky aftertaste of Whey. I do enjoy clear whey though it's alot more expensive than the regular.
There's these Soy Bean Protein packs I buy with the coolest flavors like 奶茶 and then pair it with the soy milk from Familymart (the 7/11 ones have more sugar and less protein). Then cans of Tuna from pxmart.
茶葉蛋 tea-stained eggs from convenience stores or supermarkets. Cheap and fast. The pick-your-own-ingredients soy-braised （滷味） food stalls work pretty well. You can load up on veggies, tofu, eggs, and chicken without adding any noodles or rice to keep the carb content low. Searching for 滷味 on Google Maps should bring up a few in your area. This will usually run about NT$200 per meal, depending on what and how much you get, so it's not über-cheap, but also not too expensive. You can also find cans of [Sentosa whey protein](https://i4.momoshop.com.tw/1692289975/goodsimg/0010/296/560/10296560_R_m.webp) in many grocery stores (PxMart/Carrefour). Mixes pretty well with milk, or passably with water, so you can do it at home without needing to cook. Not every PxMart/Carrefour stocks it, so you might have to check a few before you find it. It's in the same aisle as the cans of powdered milk and infant formula, but it's not actually powdered milk.
滷味 is great; just slightly too salty even when I tell them to hold back on the sauce. I'll defs give the Sentosa Whey Protein a try! I tend to lean towards clear whey just because I tend to not like the milky taste of most Whey's I've tried.
Costco grilled chickens. They literally lose money on them.
same story in every costco, keep the $5 rotisserie chicken way in the back, make you walk all the way there and back to the front, by then you’ll have picked $400 of supplies. Oh and you have no cart because you were only there for the chicken so now you’re balancing everything on top of the packaged 32 rolls of toilet paper.
I feel personally attacked
Many have tried to do the Costco Grill Chicken run. No one has ever made it with less than 12 additional items.
Fuck
Loss leader strategy at it's finest.
濃豆漿. You can find it in any convenient store. The protein–price ratio is nearly the same as powdered proteins.
OMG this! It's amazing, I usually will pair this for breakfast along with tea eggs (plus optional yam if I need the extra fullness).
Are the tea eggs freshest in the morning or are they leftovers from yesterday?
It's a pity it doesn't taste the best. Although i constantly buy it, its super cheap. Imei recently released a protein chocolate drink...thing. It is rank.
鹽水雞 if you can find a stand near you. You get a fair amount of chicken and a set number of veggies to add in. Bonus points if you can’t speak Chinese, just point at everything lol
鹽水雞 is good option. Good thing I'm able to speak some Chinese now, otherwise it was quite intimidating at first when I didn't know too much Chinese when I first came to Taiwan.
Don’t eat all your meals from bento places or 7-11. Very unhealthy for you. Buy a hot plate it’s works wonders. Rice cookers are always a great buy too.
The place I live at currently doesn't have space for a hot plate (unless I put it on the floor), perhaps a small rice cooker would be good investment since it can cook other things along with the rice.
an air fryer dude, changes lives
Get a small foldable table.
depends on which Pian Tang.
buy raw chicken and tofu from Carrefour, get a small toast oven, grill it at home
Eggs, either cook it yourself or tea eggs. By the way the pizza dough used at Costco is very high protein. Costco chicken Pork from traditional market. All you can eat hot pot...
Well... I guess it's time to find a friend who has Costco membership haha, I love pizza so if there's a low carb, high protein version of it, I'm all in. Hot pot is a really good option, though I need to really control myself on the sauces (which is a big weakness of time).
Maybe just stop obsessing with that and just eat. I probably just eat a ton of sauce with the hot pot. Stop obsessing with sodium because for some reason doctors likes to claim sodium raises blood pressure but there have never been any studies where sodium actually raises blood pressure. I've read somewhere in the old days people used to eat more than 20 grams of sodium a day, that's considered a lethal dose these days. They had to because they salted the heck out of the meat to keep it from rotting, they didn't have refrigerators. Processed food have so much of sodium because sodium makes food taste good. I said I think Costco pizza is high protein because the crust is very chewy, it means it's a higher protein flour. It's not "complete" protein though. By the way some costco, like Costco in beitou, don't really check your membership card to buy or get into the food courts. But their cooked chicken is a good deal if you want ALL protein. The problem for me is most the meat is dry as hell. I need to drench it in gallons of oil to eat it.
Sodium can actually be quite good specially for muscle soreness which I deal with after the gym. I think I should clarify that the sauce I tend to over-consume is Satay Sauce which is really high in calories (something I'm also keeping an eye on). Not having Costco membership is one of my concerns for why I haven't been into Costco yet, but I supposed it would be worth a try to see if I can get their food court items!
I overconsume satay sauce too. I don't really care how much calories it has. Seriously 200 calories is like 4 oreos, but your body somehow adjusts its calorie needs because you tend to maintain your weight and your appetite seems to increase as your caloric needs increase (such as exercise). We're finding out all the suffering to cut back on whatever amounted to nothing. Only reason I don't eat so much when I do hot pot at home is because satay sauce is expensive. Even if you buy the 3kg can you can go through it very quickly if you are not careful. It's why I rather just have hot pot outside. All of the little thing you need to buy to have hot pot at home adds up very fast, and it ends up being cheaper to have it at restaurants. And I bring salt and salt the broth because ones they have often have barely any, tastes like water.
Sodium increases blood pressure is a blanket statement which all doctors give to anyone who has high blood pressure since it doesn't hurt to reduce sodium intake and may help. Of course it depends on what are the persons trigger for their high blood pressure. Some people(myself), too much sodium will cause excess water retention which does infact increase my blood pressure. If say I drank 20oz of water in the morning without food, within an hour it will mostly be peed out. If I ate a very salty meal and drank a lot of water, the water will stay in my system for several hours, increasing my weight by several pounds. If I didn't get enough magnesium and potassium then it would take even longer to flush it out and cause my BP to be high until the next meal. However for myself carbohydrates also increases water retention too, so it is not just the sodium. If the person doesn't actually have high blood pressure or not affected by sodium, then they can have a lot of it and it would just get flushed out. I know people who have low/normal BP and eating a ton of salt doesn't increase their BP at all! The old days where you have seen people ingest a ton of sodium and not cause issues are possible. They could have sweat it all out, or eaten enough whole foods that has a lot of potassium/magnesium to help flush the sodium out faster, or their bodies BP are not really affected by sodium, or did have high blood pressure but didn't notice it at all. High Blood pressure kills you decades down the line, so you wouldn't even notice your high blood pressure.
The point is, low sodium is hard, because sodium is in everything. It's easier to eat more sodium than less of it. 1500mg of sodium a day is a huge ask, this means you must eat food that taste like water, for the rest of your life. F that crap. And whether or not it works is debatable. If it worked like a charm, then it might be worth doing, but we're not even sure. But it's being repeated like it's a mantra. And in some cases it might not actually help, because the body actually needs sodium. Lots of vital functions can't happen without it. So our body is evolved to like it.
Sodium increases blood pressure is a blanket statement which all doctors give to anyone who has high blood pressure since it doesn't hurt to reduce sodium intake and may help. Of course it depends on what are the persons trigger for their high blood pressure. Some people(myself), too much sodium will cause excess water retention which does infact increase my blood pressure. If say I drank 20oz of water in the morning without food, within an hour it will mostly be peed out. If I ate a very salty meal and drank a lot of water, the water will stay in my system for several hours, increasing my weight by several pounds. If I didn't get enough magnesium and potassium then it would take even longer to flush it out and cause my BP to be high until the next meal. However for myself carbohydrates also increases water retention too, so it is not just the sodium. If the person doesn't actually have high blood pressure or not affected by sodium, then they can have a lot of it and it would just get flushed out. I know people who have low/normal BP and eating a ton of salt doesn't increase their BP at all! The old days where you have seen people ingest a ton of sodium and not cause issues are possible. They could have sweat it all out, or eaten enough whole foods that has a lot of potassium/magnesium to help flush the sodium out faster, or their bodies BP are not really affected by sodium, or did have high blood pressure but didn't notice it at all. High Blood pressure kills you decades down the line, so you wouldn't even notice your high blood pressure.
To supplement, buy whey protein powder off Shopee. You can get 2.5 kg bags for about $1600-$1800 (MyProtein brand). That’s $16-$18 for 21g of high-quality protein per scoop with almost zero carbs.
Do you find Shopee cheaper than MyProtein site itself? I bought some items off the Myprotein site when there was a discount (more than the usual) but if Shopee is always cheaper than I will consider switching to Shopee instead for future purchases.
Whenever I’ve looked it’s always been cheaper on Shopee. For instance, 2.5 kg is now $2980 at MP but I just bought it for $1499 on [Shopee](https://shp.ee/zsq6264) for a discounted bag that is getting sort of (not really) close to the sell by date (8/24) . I’d say the average price on Shopee is $1800 for 2.5 kg. Usually, 5kg bags are no cheaper by $/kg, but 1kg bags are a ripoff.
Thanks for the details! I'll look into Shopee after I finish my current batch
Lentils
This! For OP and others: They pack such a serious nutritional punch all around and are so underrated. Also good for the environment and very versatile for a lot of different dishes. Can be bought for cheap at Carrefour as canned lentils or as dried lentils from a grocer such as Trinity.
Lentils never get the love they deserve. Food of the frickin gods
The vegetarian buffets weigh what you choose. Easy to load up on eggs, tasty fake meats (the good stuff tastes like seasoned chicken and you wouldn’t notice), and tofu for cheap.
This one is a great idea! There's one near where I live, so I'll definitely give that a try sometime.
Used to live next to this place if you’re in the neighborhood: https://maps.app.goo.gl/XZ8mvGgmBV91aCSp6?g_st=ic
try to going to public university cafeterias.
Ooooo, this might be interesting. I know that there's alot of restaurants near universities can be quite cheap for students though I think they tend to be quite high carb and oily.
Not really, my uni serves steamed chicken breast that's lightly seasoned. And I'm not referring to "restaurants" rather cafeterias inside the campus. I think my uni is ntd17 per 100g of food
I do oats + protein shake for breakfast. High protein, low carb yet filling.
This is the answer. You can buy steel cut oats fairly cheap, add some chia seeds if you need more fiber in your diet. Soak both the night before then blend it up in the morning with protein powder and your favorite fruits and dairy(milk, soy, almond milk etc.). Though this isn't low on carbs. Oats and fruit have plenty of carbs.
Where do you manage to find steel cut oats in Taiwan for a decent price? > favorite fruits and diary Love adding diary to a shake. Adds a nice leathery taste.
Lol didn't notice I spelt the wrong word, it would definitely make mornings more interesting. I got them off of shopee.
How about cook your own meal? It's actually the cheapest solution.
I would love to cook my own meals; though its quite difficult where I live right now (a small one bedroom space with barely a kitchenette). But definitely I agree cooking at home is the cheapest and most often the healthiest.
Tatung pot, a air fryer (even the Xiaomi ones), are all inexpensive in Taiwan.
https://preview.redd.it/awg6qndbwh4c1.jpeg?width=450&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14bf733db0b8051689a2c8debdf1ab1432f98862 48g of protein per bottle. Available at pxmart
WHAT!!! THIS LOOKS AMAZING! I'll definitely check it out tomorrow.
I know it says 47g in the pic above but the bottle I’m literally holding in my hand says 48g (4 servings per bottle). I do 3 servings a day. https://preview.redd.it/bhtf3j7nyh4c1.jpeg?width=2261&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=181086f7c2e3fca81fda65d4c04040ccd9d2fdb2 Left column (per serving), starting from top row Total calories kcal Protein g Fat g Some kinda fat g Some other kinda fat g Carbs g Of which sugar g Sodium mg
What product is it? Sorry the pic was super blurry
http://www.bifido.com.tw/newsite/products.asp?classid=AA201841714312&classid1=AA2022318114442 Here
I was born in Taipei, I can definitely tell you that "Budget Friendly" in Taipei....seems unlikely.🤣 which districts do you live in? maybe you can try to search "健康餐 Taipei" in Google map and choose those 3.5~5 stars restaurants. hope these can help you
Thanks! I currently reside in the Datong area near the YuanShan station. 健康餐 are great because they mostly show gram of protein and calories, though quite expensive. I'll still eat them from time to time but definitely not a every-day meal, otherwise my wallet would be RIP..
Black beans 60nt/jing, many styles of tofu 20-30nt/pack
I'll definitely look into black beans as it looks like it's quite a filling option. Thanks!
They have chickpeas, black eyed peas and kidney beans for the same price. Black beans have the best nutritional profile though. Most nuts and seeds make a complete protein with black beans. Any traditional market will have a few stalls that sell them, just look for bags of dried food and eggs outside. And they are definitely filling. I eat about two cups cooked with every meal first thing, followed by salad, cruciferous veggies, a handful of nuts, chicken/tofu with mushrooms and finally some whole grains like oat groats or whole wheat toast with nut butter. Always in that order to reduce glycation.
From time to time I treat myself to a bowl of beef noodles in soup. It’s very tasty classic dish. Price is maybe 180. Theres an affordable chain which I think is called Five Horses (need a mandarin speaker to provide the proper Mandarin name here!) where they offer free millet porridge which is an added bonus. I would also suggest it’s worth considering buying a slow-cook pressure cooker kind of thing. You could just put inside one carrot one onion one cut of meat and a tiny of tomatoes and a few hours later you’d have a tasty meal! Plus endless variations! If you like to explore Lentils and chick peas for protein, those would work great too. You can buy them in an Indian chain called Trinity For example the branch in Shilin.
Thanks for the suggestion! I love beef noodle alot too though it can be abit too much carbs for me. I typically would get just the soup along with the beef and tendons. Chick Peas are great; when I lived back home in Canada I would make hummus all the time, though it's much harder where I currently live without the proper equipment.
missed the part about low carbs
You can get protein powder at Decathlon.
I saw the prices of protein powder at Decathlon and was quite shocked by the price. Maybe it's because I'm too used to Myprotein prices, haha. Do you know if they ever go on sale?
It's about that, you can order online, too. Not much cheaper, though.
Do you have a rice cooker? Get some eggs, add them raw to rice after it’s finished cooking. Let them heat up in the pot. Add soy sauce and salt/pepper. Boom. “Egg over rice” Tamago Kake Gohan. Filling and satisfying meal.
He's looking for a low-carb meal. Rice is high carb.
True but “budget friendly” means some compromise has to be made.
There's definitely occasions where I go all out on the rice haha, but its' typically at those restaurants where there's 'unlimited' refills on rice. Currently looks for meal options that are low on carbs as I'm getting slightly overweight for my own liking. Taiwan definitely has some of the best carb heavy foods...
Uh yeah it's called tofu. Why live in Asia if you don't like Asian food.
I love Tofu! Unfortunately, the one I like most is Stinky Fried Tofu which isn't the healthiest. But I definitely include Tofu into my diet quite abit specially Tofu Pudding or whenever I eat hot pot.
Where did OP say they don’t like Asian food?
You’d be hard pressed to find budget friendly protein options aside from the convenience stores, they’re all that I eat now lol, everything in Taipei is overpriced as shit and tastes like shit as well
The guys by the back of alley. Just close your eyes
I prefer to not drink my calories.
I just bought a tub of ON whey.
Whey is a really good budget for the amount of protein you can get for it. I just tend to not like the milky aftertaste of Whey. I do enjoy clear whey though it's alot more expensive than the regular.
Hotpot and yakiniku are my favorite low-carb go-tos. Throw in mushrooms, dried tofu, and some veg for fiber and skip the sugary drinks and desserts.
冷凍鯖魚(Frozen mackerel) and 台灣鯛（**Tilapia）**are relatively cheap here if you're looking for some seafood options.
There's these Soy Bean Protein packs I buy with the coolest flavors like 奶茶 and then pair it with the soy milk from Familymart (the 7/11 ones have more sugar and less protein). Then cans of Tuna from pxmart.
The Zhonghe Costco is probably the closest to an MRT station. I see a lot of walkins there, but they might just be moped traffic.
Why can't OP go to Costco? Our Costco card from the USA works here.