Home > Taiwanese cuisine
There are several cuisines in Taiwan. In addition to the following representative dishes from the Ho-lo ethnicity (see Taiwanese language), there are also aboriginal, Hakka, and local derivatives of Chinese cuisines (one famous example of the last is beef noodle soup = niurou mian = gu-bah mi).
1 Ingredients and culture
Pork, rice, soy are very common ingredients. Beef is far less common, and some Taiwanese still refrain from eating it. This is in part due to a traditional reluctance to slaughtering precious cattle needed for agriculture, and an emotional attachment to such beasts of labour.
2 Famous dishes and snacks in each of the main cities
Dasi dried tofu (大溪豆干), a snack
Suncake is the most noted snack in Taichung.
Pork feet, tann-ah noodle, and shrimp cookies are among the most notable local dishes.
3 Exemplar dishes
- jiû-hî keⁿ (youyu geng = 魷魚羹) - thickened soup with cuttlefish wrapped in fish paste.
- ô-á-chian (kezaijian = 蚵仔煎) - omelet made with tiny oysters.
- oyster vermicelliOyster vermicelli ( Chinese: , Taiwanese: mi-soa is a special snack from Taiwan, the main ingredients thereof being oysters and Taiwanese vermicelli, made to be tasty and full of aroma. One of the famous places serving this is in Dihua Street in Taipei, w
- o· bí-ko (hei migao = 黑米糕) - rice in blood curd.
- ló·-bah-pn̄g (lurou fan = 魯肉飯) - a piece of fatty pork served on rice.
- small intestine in large intestineSmall intestine in large intestine ( Chinese: , Taiwanese toa-tng pau sio-tng is a snack invented in Taiwan in the late 20th century. A segment of Taiwanese sausage made using pork small intestine is wrapped in a segment of pork large intestine filled wit
3.1 Desserts
- boba milk tea, aka Bubble tea
- sian-chháu (xiancao = 仙草) - MesonaMesona is a genus in the Lamiaceae or mint family. Exemplar species in this genus are the Mesona procumbens Hemsley and the Mesona Chinensis generically called xiancao in Mandarin Chinese, sian-chhau in Taiwanese, and leung fan in Cantonese. It is said to procumbens Hemsley
- ò-giô-peng (aiyu bing = 愛玉冰) - a gelatinous dessert made from the seeds of a fig-like fruit, probably Ficus awkeotsang. Served on ice.
- o-á-peng (yu bing = 芋冰) - a dessert made of frozen taroTaro (from the Tahitian word, it is kalo in Hawaiian) is a tropical plant Colocasia esculenta in the Family Araceae) grown for its edible stem or corm and leaves. Flowers are also eaten. The word kalo refers to the corm. Taro is closely related to Elephan root paste.
Many of the non-dessert dishes are usually considered snacks, not entrees; that is, they have a similar status to the Cantonese dim sumDim sum (; pinyin: dinxin; WG: tien-hsin, literally "touch the heart", "dotted heart", or "to order to one's heart's content"), a Cantonese term, is usually a morning to early afternoon light cuisine meal with family or friends. Classical dim sum includes or the Spanish tapasTapas are essentially snacks. In many regions of Spain they are often included in the price of drinks ( beer, wine, not spirits) served in bars. In this case, they amount to as little as a few olives, a piece of cheese, etc. Bigger portions that are order. Such dishes are usually only slightly salted, with lots of vegetables along with the main meat (or seafood) item.
Vegetarian restaurants are commonplace with a wide variety of dishes.
Taiwanese people also eat a lot of fruit, both local and imported.
