It's All About Food

Taiwan is blessed with an abundance of fresh ingredients such as seafood, meats, spices, vegetables, rice and noodles. Influences from China and other Asian countries have made Taiwan a Mecca for Asian food lovers

Your senses are sure to be awakened by the sights, smells and tastes flowing from the night markets, fancy restaurants or street-side food stalls. It’s not difficult to find good food on the island because there are so many options.

Taiwanese specialties include crab cakes, three-cup chicken, fried egg with dried radish, roast pork with bamboo shoots, rice in bamboo tubes, deep fried stream shrimp. Buddha Jumping Over The Wall is another favourite meal – its a stew made with abalone, scallops, spareribs, mushrooms and other ingredients slowly cooked in a wine jug over charcoal for more than five hours.

Taiwan has a reputation for being a tea empire. Its topography and climate are ideal for growing tea plants. There are many varieties of tea plants grown in Taiwan – and they are famous for being aromatic with a sweet and pure flavour.

Taiwan’s four mainstream teas are Wenshan Baojhong Tea, Dongding Oolong Tea, Pekoe Oolong Tea and Tie Guanyin.

Pineapples are grown in Taiwan and widely processed into jams and drinks. But pineapple cakes (tangy pineapple encased in a crisp and flaky crust), are a specialty on the island. The Li Hu Pastry Shop from the city of Keelung is a well-known bakery which makes this tasty dessert.

Night Markets are Taiwan’s most popular attraction draws more visitors than the world-renowned National Palace Museum. Night Markets are a great way to gain insight into Taiwanese culture and sample various local delicacies and inexpensive snacks such as shrimp pork potage, stinky tofu, oyster noodles, spring rolls, guaboa (a soft white bun filled with hot pork, pickled vegetables, peanut powder and parsley), pearl milk tea and crushed ice dessert.

Food Stalls feature fresh steamed buns, dumplings, oyster omelettes, and stinky tofu can be found on many street corners, and at all hours of the day and night.

Tea Houses - A variety of tea houses are scattered throughout the island, allowing visitors to sample Taiwan’s finely produced teas in pleasant atmospheres.

Restaurants in Taiwan are known for their high standards of food preparation and serve a variety of Chinese specialties: There are seven main categories, each with its own unique flavour:

Shanghainese - Famous for its colourful presentation and liberal use of spices. Flavours are sweet, salty, aromatic and sour. Specialties include pork buns, spare rib cake and sweet lotus soup.

Sichuan - Hot and spicy. Foods include frog legs, smoked duck, fish in spicy bean sauce, shrimp with salt and garlic.

Beijing - Staples are noodles, dumplings and steamed bread. A trademark dish is Beijing duck served with tortillas and plum sauce.

Jiangjhe - Known for its use of sauces, flavours include sweet, aromatic and sour. Flavourful sauces complement the otherwise bland food.

Cantonese - Perhaps the most familiar Chinese cuisine to Westerners, Cantonese cooking is known for dishes that promote health. Most foods are steamed versus fried. Popular dishes included sweet and sour pork, steamed chicken with ginger sauce and chicken and shark fin soup. Tiny Dim Sum is another favourite, and it is served from bamboo trays which are pushed around in carts in restaurants.

Hunan - Known for its use of hot chilli peppers. Like neighbouring Sichuan province,
Hunan dishes are usually tinged with sour and spicy flavours. Cooking methods including curing, simmering, steaming and stewing. Famous dishes include Dongan Chicken, Gualiang Fen (cold rice noodles in spicy sauce) and “stinking” tofu.

Seafood - The island of Taiwan has plentiful aquatic resources and seafood has become a main ingredient in the island’s dishes.

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