They say Taiwan is how China could have been if it wasn’t for the cultural revolution. They shunned many of their traditions and beliefs and turned themselves to the communist ideology. None the less, there is one thing that China and Taiwan shares best; Food Culture. Not known to many Taiwan is one of the best places in Asia to discover flavors that you did not know existed. Taiwanese Food combinations that can be quite odd but taste so good.
On my recent trip to Taipei, Taiwan’s beautiful capital I’ve indulged my self into an eating free in one of their famous night markets and some other random street foods. Here are a few of the Taiwanese food that you should try when in Taipei!
Huajiao Bing
Pepper seasoned pork filled bun baked inside a tandori looking kind of oven. Unlike other pork filled buns, The Huajiao Bing’s bread is hard outside and crumbling inside.
Carbon Barbecue
Bacon or Chicken fillet wrapped spring onions wrapped barbecues grilled over charcoal. They are cooked in batches and are sold separately. Each one are individually skewered with a toothpick to keep them together. Each one cost about NT24 a piece.
Taiwanese Pancake
Also known as a Scallion cake, this pancake is cooked on a flat pan like a roti. Scallions or onion springs are added to the batter mixture giving it its name scallion cake. It is a cheap yet filling food that you can bite on if you need something to eat yet don’t have the time to eat a proper meal.
Stinky Tofu
Probably the most famous dish that comes as a dare to a lot of western tourists. Before being grilled or fried and topped with vegetables.
Cranberry Juice
Made from fresh Cranberries you can find several of these stalls around Shilin Night Market. This is a perfect first stop before starting your food trip around the market so you’d have something to drink along with your food.
Gong Rou Fan
Rice in a bowl topped with tender pork chop that just melts in your mouth. The dish also has pickled cucumbers to cleanse your palette. The best Gong Rou Fan can be found in Ximen area and costs about NT65
Hot Star Whole Chicken Breast
Though Hot Star has branches here in Manila, I’d say that it is still worth trying out this food on where it started. You find this stall with a line of customers most of time waiting for another batch of fried chicken breast goodness to be served.
Bubble Tea
It wouldn’t be right not to try out Bubble Tea from its place of birth. Yes, the bubble tea that wee know was born in Taipei! It’s amazing how many flavors one can try with each Bubble Tea shop that one can find in every corner of the city.
Ice Cream Burrito
I am not sure if this is a Jiufen specialty but I didn’t notice this sold anywhere else. The Ice Cream Burrito (just made that name up -can’t remember sorry bad memory) is basically a scoop or two of ice cream wapped together with peanut shavings and cilantro in a spring roll wrapper.
Taro Balls
Also found this one in Jiufen, where they serve it either hot or cold with milk. Its basically just taros shaped in spheres served with milk. I specially liked this one hot when I tried it in Jiufen when it was freezing cold that day. Oh yeah, this reminds me of our Filipino Ginataang Halo-Halo
Oyster Omelet
Odd as it may seem but this omelet is quite good. I got a chance to try it out
photo courtesy of york hsieh
Cheesy Sea Food Clam
Should I say more of this? I mean cheese and sea food baked in goodness together? This was a bit pricey for the size. It was about NTD80 i think but it was so worth it. Every bite was soooo creamy as the cheese and the sea food just compliments each other. I do say sea food because it’s not just clams stuffed back on the shell but other sea food as well like crabs and squid. Truly worth the experience.
photo courtesy of york hsieh
Iced Taiwanese Mochi
Probably the one that surprised me most was this Iced Taiwanese Mochi. I’ve tried Taiwanese mochies before at the Shilin Night Market but it wasn’t as exciting as this. Having the mochi ball on top of the milked crushed ice gave it a different dimension. The different textures playing inside your mouth was so crazy i didn’t knew how to react but just closed my eyes and moan. Hahahaha! My Taiwanese friend laughed so hard of my yummy face!
photo courtesy of york hsieh
Got a Taipei Food Must Try that you’d like to share? Put it down on the comment section so we can add them up on the list!
