Costco in Koahsiung unless you try the DIY shops in Tainan. I know you can get the beans and some other stuff in Welcome and sour cream from the Diy stores. Last night I went to carrefour and saw they had pre made frozen mexican food. Don't know what it is like though.Always make my own salsa

I've seen sour cream, salsa and even canned refried beans at Klin at the corner of Nan Men Road and Fu Qian Road.

I've also seen dried black beans at Carrefour.

Salsa's pretty easy to make though and easily shames the bottled variety. Here's my simple recipe:

3 chopped ripe tomatoes (skinned and seeded)
1 chopped med onion
1 cup lemon juice
1 chopped clove of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

variations and notes
1. add up to one small green pepper for ranch style/cooler taste
2. will last a long time in the fridge (due to lemon juice?)
3. canned tomatoes can be used instead of the ripe tomatoes. Since they're full of salt, you should omit adding it later though.

I have heard Klin has some things like tortillas and sour cream. Do you have a name and address of a DIY store that would have some of the stuff (hopefully at a lower price)?

There's a food ingredient store called: "Me Too" on Hewei Road, just west of Yude Road. If you know where the night market is on Hewei and Haian, just head east from there on Hewei. It's about a two minute drive and can't be missed because there's a huge sign with a picture of a cartoon guy in a chef's hat.

They have tortillas, sour cream, grated cheese, even salsa. They have lots of spices, though I'm not sure if they'll have mexican ones. Take a look. It's huge and has tonnes of imports.

Good Luck!

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I will go there tomorrow!

I dropped by that store and added it to the directory:

http://www.tainanbulletin.com/tainan-guide/tainan-markets/meal-chain/167

speaking of Mexican food...does anybody know where to find good avacados in Tainan?

In Taiwan, I have only seen the big, smooth variety, which (compared to the Mexican and Californian variety) are almost tasteless and never ripen properly, and so are unfit for guacamole.

Mexican Food Found!

Not only do I love making mexican food at home, but I was tired of being disappointed with the 'nachos' being served up in various places around town.

If you're willing to make the trip and buy a membership (if you can't latch onto a friend that already has one), go to Costco in Kaohsiung.

Salsa, Taco Shells, Soft Tortillas, Tostitos Chips, even a Mexican Blend of shredded cheese.... yes, you too can enjoy the taste of delicious, homemade nachos.

No avocados though... it seems they have a very short season here. Darn.

Avocados, splurge at Jason's in Kaohsiung. It's the supermarket in the basement of Hanshin, soon to have a new store on the KMRT line. They sometimes have imported avocados... with prices that may cause you to soil yourself... but... they're avocados!!!

Not to mention the falafel mix, custard powder, blue cheese, fois gras, and hummous.
Take your credit card.

I would be very happy to have some nice hummous. It sucks to have to go all the way to Kaohsiung for it though.

I'll save some for you next time. I'd hate for you to have to go 'all the way' to Koahsiung. The Greek place on Gong-Yuan sells pita, by the way. And they bake it fresh too.

I guess I miss out on a lot of Kaohsiung because of this attitude. It just seems whenever I go I get caught in monumental traffic jams.

The Greek Place also has hummus, but I feel like there should be some better stuff out there for the price.

Costco is such gold... Bring about 10K with you and you will probably wish you brought more....

Yes the hummous is second-rate (so is the pita for that matter). The answer is to make your own, but I tried it before and it is something of an art. It's difficult to get the balance of garlic, lemon and salt. The stuff in Jason's is a pre-prepared mix you add to water, and it isn't much better than the Greek stuff.

It's so worth it though... such a nice change to have some different food than you can find at the local RT Marts or Carrefours.

Does Klin's have soft tortilla's?  I saw someone wrote that before, but I'm not sure if they do.

Thanks

I bought them at Kiln's about 3 years ago. I almost bought sour cream but it was expired (and conveniently hidden under the Klin tag)

Thers a place next to the B&Q (the one where Dongmen sec. 3 becomes Jhongshan road) that has soft tortillas, sour cream, black beans, and refried beans. They also have jalapeños, although they weren't exactly top quality.

From what my friends tell me, they're not that expensive (I've never bought the tortillas myself). The beans, though, were NT$50/can last time I checked, and the jalapeños were about NT$100 for the jar.

Here are the google earth coordinates: 22°58'21.35"N   120°14'42.36"E

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Glad you are doing oki in Tainan! :)

As for your salsa recipe, you absolutely need to include fresh cilantro and a healthy dash of something spicey like tabasco sauce. Also lime juice is nice too. The chunkier the salsa the better. Also makes a nice marinade for a white fish.