Taiwan
Oyster Vermicelli
蚵仔麵線
Fine wheat vermicelli in a thick, dark, bonito-scented broth with small oysters or braised pork intestine, eaten with a spoon and drenched in black vinegar and garlic.
eastern-asia
Taiwan
Explore 77 foods connected to Taiwan, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
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Tainan Essentials
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Traditional foods from Taiwan.
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Taiwan
Papaya Milk
木瓜牛奶
Ripe papaya blended with fresh milk and ice into a thick orange shake, sold at juice stands and night markets.
Taipei, Taiwan
Pepper Bun
胡椒餅
Bun packed with black-peppered pork and a fistful of spring onion, stuck to the wall of a barrel oven and baked until the base blisters.
Taiwan
Persimmon Cake
柿餅
A Taiwanese confection of dried persimmon wrapped around a sweet filling.
Taiwan
Pineapple Cake
鳳梨酥
Short buttery pastry cube filled with a jam of pineapple, traditionally cut with winter melon for texture, baked and sold in gift boxes.
China
Popiah
潤餅
Fresh spring rolls with jicama, bean sprouts, lettuce, and sauce in thin wrapper, thin wrapper with crunchy jicama and fresh vegetables, a Nyonya street food classic
China
Pork Floss (Rousong)
肉鬆
Rousong (meat floss), dried pork spun into a cotton-like fluff and eaten on congee and buns, is a named Chinese product bought by the jar.
China
Preserved Radish
菜脯
Daikon salted and sun-dried for months or years until it turns dark and intensely savoury, chopped into omelettes and rice.
China
Rice Wine
米酒
Cooking rice wine sold in tall green bottles, used by the cupful in sesame oil chicken, ginger duck and postpartum cooking.
Taiwan
Rouzao Fan (Minced Pork Rice)
肉燥飯
Braised pork rice from Kaohsiung: minced pork belly over rice with a soy-sugar sauce.
China
Scallion Pancake
葱油饼
A savoury, flaky flatbread of wheat dough layered with scallions and oil, pan-fried until crisp and golden, a northern Chinese street food staple.
Taiwan
Sesame Oil Chicken
麻油雞
Chicken simmered with a great deal of black sesame oil, ginger fried until curled, and rice wine cooked down until the alcohol is nearly gone.
Guangdong, China
Shacha Sauce
沙茶醬
Paste of ground dried fish, shrimp, garlic, shallot and chilli in oil, used as a hotpot dip and a stir-fry base.
Taiwan
Shaved Ice
剉冰
Coarse shaved ice topped from a counter of stewed toppings — red bean, taro, tapioca, grass jelly, sweet potato — and finished with condensed milk or sugar syrup.
Sichuan, China
Sichuan Hotpot
四川火锅
A cauldron of beef tallow, dried chilli and Sichuan pepper kept boiling at the table, into which you dip tripe, duck intestine, luncheon meat, tofu skin and greens.
Taiwan
Snowflake Ice
雪花冰
Blocks of sweetened milk frozen and shaved into ribbons that melt on contact, piled with mango, strawberry or taro.
Shanghai, China
Soup Dumplings
小笼包
Pleated dumplings holding pork and a set aspic that melts into hot soup during steaming, eaten from a small bamboo basket.
Taiwan
Soy Paste
醬油膏
Thickened soy sauce sweetened and bodied with starch, poured over turnip cake, wa gui and dan bing rather than used in cooking.
Fujian, China
Steamed Pork Belly Bun
割包
A folded steamed bun holding braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, coriander and ground peanut sugar.
China
Stinky Tofu
臭豆腐
Tofu fermented in a brine of vegetables, shrimp and milk for days, then deep-fried and served with pickled cabbage and chilli sauce.
Taichung, Taiwan
Sun Cake
太陽餅
Flat round pastry of many thin layers around a maltose filling, from Taichung, where the shops on the old station road all claim to be original.
Taiwan
Sun Moon Lake Black Tea
日月潭紅茶
Black tea grown around Sun Moon Lake from Assam and the local Ruby #18 cultivar, giving a menthol and cinnamon note found nowhere else.
Tainan, Taiwan
Tainan Beef Soup
台南牛肉湯
Tainan's clear-broth beef soup breakfast, built around thin slices of fresh beef and a light, aromatic stock.
Tainan, Taiwan
Tainan Eel Noodles
台南鱔魚意麵
A Tainan stir-fried noodle dish combining glossy eel, vegetables, and a sweet-savory sauce.
Tainan, Taiwan
Tainan Shrimp Roll
蝦捲
This Tainan snack rolls seasoned shrimp in a crisp wrapper and fries it until the filling stays juicy.
Taiwan
Taiwan Beer
台灣啤酒
Lager brewed with a proportion of Penglai rice since the 1920s, sold everywhere and in fruit versions — mango, pineapple, grape — that outsell the original with younger drinkers.
Taiwan
Taiwanese Fried Chicken Cutlet (Jipai)
雞排
Butterflied chicken breast the size of a face, battered in sweet potato starch, deep-fried and dusted with pepper-salt and chilli.
Taiwan
Taiwanese Hot Pot
臺灣火鍋
Communal Taiwanese hot pot: a bubbling broth for cooking meats, seafood and vegetables at the table.
Taiwan
Taiwanese Mochi
麻糬
Pounded glutinous rice cakes rolled in peanut powder or filled with red bean, sold fresh in Hualien and at markets.
Taiwan
Taiwanese Pineapple
鳳梨
Sweet, low-acid pineapple with a core soft enough to eat, grown mostly around Chiayi and Tainan and harvested from spring.
Taiwan
Taiwanese Sausage
香腸
Short, fat, distinctly sweet pork sausage grilled over charcoal and eaten with raw garlic cloves bitten between mouthfuls.
Taiwan
Taro Balls
芋圓
Chewy balls of mashed taro and sweet potato with starch, boiled and served in cold sweet soup with ice or in hot ginger syrup.
Taiwan
Three Cup Chicken
三杯雞
Chicken braised in a clay pot with equal parts sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine, reduced to a glaze and finished with a fistful of Thai basil.
Taiwan
Tianbula
甜不辣
Fish paste moulded and fried, then simmered in a light broth and served with a sweet miso-based sauce and shredded radish.
China
Tofu Pudding
豆腐花
Barely set soy curd scooped in soft sheets, served sweet with ginger syrup in the south or savoury with soy, chilli and pickles in the north.
Taiwan
Turkey Rice
火雞肉飯
A Chiayi specialty of rice topped with shredded turkey meat, drizzled with a savory gravy made from turkey drippings and soy sauce, served with pickled radish.