Taiwan
A-Gei
阿給
Fried tofu pouch stuffed with glass noodles, sealed with fish paste, steamed and served under a sweet chilli sauce.
eastern-asia
Taiwan
Explore 77 foods connected to Taiwan, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
77 foods12 leading categories2 Essentials guides
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Tainan Essentials
10 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
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Traditional foods from Taiwan.
77 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
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Taiwan
Aiyu Jelly
愛玉
Jelly set by washing the seeds of a Taiwanese fig in water, served cold with lemon and sugar syrup.
Taiwan
Alishan Oolong
阿里山烏龍
High-mountain oolong grown above 1,000 m in Chiayi, lightly oxidised and rolled into balls that open over several infusions into a creamy, floral cup.
Taiwan
Ba Wan
肉圓
Translucent sweet-potato-starch dumpling the size of a fist, filled with pork and bamboo shoot, steamed or oil-poached and served under a sweet red sauce.
Taiwan
Beef Noodle Soup
牛肉麵
Wheat noodles in a beef broth built on soy, star anise and doubanjiang, with shin or tendon braised until it gives way, topped with pickled mustard greens.
Taiwan
Big Sausage Wrapping Small Sausage
大腸包小腸
A grilled sticky-rice sausage split lengthways and used as a bun for a sweet grilled pork sausage, with garlic, pickles and wasabi.
Taiwan
Brown Sugar Boba
黑糖珍奶
A modern Taiwanese bubble tea variant with tapioca pearls simmered in caramelized brown sugar syrup, layered with fresh milk for a striking tiger-stripe pattern, a global boba trendsetter.
Taiwan
Bubble Tea
珍珠奶茶
Black tea shaken with milk and sugar and poured over chewy tapioca pearls, drunk through an oversized straw — invented in Taiwan in the 1980s.
Tainan, Taiwan
Coffin Bread
棺材板
Thick slab of white bread deep-fried, hollowed out and filled with a creamy chicken, squid and vegetable chowder, with the lid put back on.
Taiwan
Dan Bing
蛋餅
Thin batter crêpe cooked with an egg spread over it, rolled with cheese, corn, bacon or pork floss and cut into pieces with scissors.
Tainan, Taiwan
Danzai Noodles
擔仔麵
Small bowl of thin noodles in a shrimp-and-pork broth topped with minced pork sauce, a whole prawn and coriander — a Tainan dish sold from carts since the 1890s.
Taiwan
Daxi Dried Tofu
大溪豆乾
A Daxi regional specialty of firm tofu fried and braised in a sweet soy-based sauce, then dried into a chewy, savoury snack, a Taoyuan specialty since the 1920s.
Taiwan
Dong Ding Oolong
凍頂烏龍
Roasted oolong from Lugu in Nantou, medium-oxidised and charcoal-baked, giving a darker, toasty, honeyed cup than the high-mountain teas.
Taiwan
Duck Blood Hotpot
麻辣鴨血
Cubes of set duck blood and stinky tofu simmered in a numbing Sichuan-style broth, refilled endlessly at hotpot restaurants.
Taiwan
Fan Tuan
飯糰
Sticky rice pressed around youtiao, pork floss, pickled mustard and sometimes a braised egg, squeezed into a dense cylinder in a cloth.
China
Fried Dough Sticks
油条
Long twisted lengths of salted dough deep-fried until hollow and golden, eaten at breakfast dunked in soy milk or congee
Taiwan
Ginger Duck Hotpot
薑母鴨
Duck stewed with aged ginger, sesame oil and rice wine in a pot kept boiling at the table, with vegetables and noodles added as you go.
Thailand
Grass Jelly
仙草
Black jelly made from boiled mesona herb, served cold in syrup with toppings or hot as a thick sweet soup in winter.
Taiwan
Green Bamboo Shoots (Bijiao)
綠竹筍
Green bamboo shoots dug before dawn in summer and served chilled with mayonnaise, sweet and crisp with no bitterness.
Tainan, Taiwan
Guoshao Egg Noodles
鍋燒意麵
A Tainan noodle soup of fried egg noodles cooked in a small pot with broth, vegetables, seafood and a poached egg, a comforting southern Taiwanese one-pot meal.
Taiwan
Hakka Braised Pork
客家封肉
Hakka braised pork belly, slowly cooked with soy, sugar and wine until glossy.
Taiwan
Hakka Lei Cha
擂茶
Lei cha, 'pounded tea': a bowl of tea with pounded herbs, nuts, seeds and rice.
Taiwan
Hakka Meatballs
客家貢丸
Hakka stuffed meatballs: minced pork and vegetables rolled into firm balls, steamed or braised.
Taiwan
Hakka Stir Fry
客家小炒
A Hakka wok dish of pork, squid, dried tofu and vegetables in a savoury sauce.
Taiwan
Hsinchu Rice Noodles
新竹米粉
Very fine rice noodles dried in the wind off the Hsinchu plain, then stir-fried with pork, dried shrimp and shiitake.
Taiwan
Iron Eggs
鐵蛋
Quail or chicken eggs braised in soy and spices and air-dried repeatedly over days until they shrink to dark, dense, chewy nuggets.
Tainan, Taiwan
Irwin Mango
愛文芒果
Deep red mango grown in Yujing in Tainan, in season from May to July and the basis of every mango shaved ice.
Taiwan
Kaoliang
高粱酒
Sorghum spirit distilled on Kinmen at 38% or 58%, sharp and strongly aromatic, drunk in small glasses at banquets.
Taiwan
Lu Rou Fan
滷肉飯
Finely diced pork belly simmered in soy, rice wine, sugar and five spice until the fat turns to jelly, spooned over white rice with a braised egg.
Taiwan
Mango Shaved Ice
芒果冰
A Taiwanese summer dessert of finely shaved ice topped with fresh mango chunks, mango puree, condensed milk and sometimes ice cream, an iconic warm-weather treat.
Taiwan
Milk Crisp Roll
牛奶棒
A Taiwanese crisp wafer roll filled with a milky cream.
Tainan, Taiwan
Milkfish
虱目魚
Milkfish, farmed in the Tainan ponds for four centuries, served as belly congee, grilled fillet or in a clear morning soup.
Tainan, Taiwan
Milkfish Congee
虱目魚肚粥
A Tainan breakfast congee of tender milkfish belly served over rice porridge with ginger, scallions and a clear, savoury broth, a southern Taiwanese morning staple.
Taiwan
Nougat Cracker
牛軋餅
Slab of nougat with peanuts sandwiched between two thin salted scallion crackers, so the salt cuts the sweetness.
Taiwan
Oriental Beauty
東方美人
Heavily oxidised oolong made from leaves bitten by tea jassids, which triggers a defence response that gives the tea its honey and muscat character.
Tainan, China
Oyster Omelette
海蛎煎
Small oysters cooked into a sweet potato starch batter with egg and garlic chives, fried until the edges crisp and the middle stays gelatinous.