country Essentials · 12 foods
Taiwan Essentials
A considered first route through Taiwan: the foods that carry its everyday habits, celebrations, ingredients, and memory.
Explore all Taiwan foods →THE
ESSENTIALS
The complete shortlist
12 foods to know.
Each selection includes the reason it belongs here—so this is a guide, not just a pile of names.
Taiwan
Lu Rou Fan
滷肉飯
Hand-diced pork belly braised until the fat turns to jelly, over rice, for the price of a bus fare.
Taiwan
Beef Noodle Soup
牛肉麵
Red-braised beef shin and tendon in a star-anise broth, with pickled mustard greens on top.
Taiwan
Bubble Tea
珍珠奶茶
Invented here in the 1980s; sweetness and ice are ordered by percentage and half-sugar is standard.
China
Stinky Tofu
臭豆腐
Fermented for days, fried to order, and identified by smell from the far end of the market.
Tainan, China
Oyster Omelette
海蛎煎
Oysters bound in sweet-potato starch and egg — deliberately gluey, under the sweet red sauce Taiwan eats as 蚵仔煎.
Tainan, Taiwan
Danzai Noodles
擔仔麵
A deliberately tiny bowl of noodles with prawn and pork sauce, sold in Tainan since the 1890s.
Fujian, China
Steamed Pork Belly Bun
割包
Braised pork belly, pickled mustard and peanut powder folded into a steamed bun, fatty or lean.
Taiwan
Oyster Vermicelli
蚵仔麵線
Cut-short vermicelli in dark bonito broth, eaten with a spoon and your own vinegar and garlic.
Taiwan
Pineapple Cake
鳳梨酥
Buttery pastry cube around pineapple jam, and the box everyone leaves the island carrying.
Taiwan
Three Cup Chicken
三杯雞
Chicken glazed in equal sesame oil, soy and rice wine, with basil thrown in at the last second.
Taiwan
Alishan Oolong
阿里山烏龍
High-mountain oolong rolled into balls that open over several infusions into a creamy, floral cup.
Taipei, Taiwan
Pepper Bun
胡椒餅
Peppered pork and spring onion in a bun baked on a barrel wall — scalding for the first minute.