Love the ease, hate the side dishes. Cheap Taiwanese bento boxes are available in most convenience stores.
1. Braised Fatty Pork with Rice
From mountains of flavored shaved ice to chicken cutlets as big as your face, Taiwanese eating always comes with superlatives. Starting with one of our favorites — according to a popular Taiwanese saying, ‘Where there’s a wisp of smoke, there’s braised fatty pork with rice.’
2. Beef Noodle Soup
You know a food is an obsession when it gets its own festival. Beef noodle soup inspires competitiveness and innovation in Taiwanese chefs.
3. Oyster Omelet
Taiwan’s quintessential snack — it features something from the soil and something from the sea.
4. Bubble Tea
No matter who invented it, we’d like to thank all the bubble tea places that serve it right.
5. Danzai Noodles
Unlike when it was invented, we no longer have to wait for the slack season to eat this delicious bowl of noodles.
6. Milkfish
Amateur eaters will want to watch out for the bones.
7. Ba Wan
Dumplings for giants. Made with a dough of rice flour, corn starch and sweet potato starch, these ones appear almost translucent after cooking.
8. Pineapple Cake
This iconic Taiwanese pastry — mini-pies filled with candied pineapple — is one of Taiwan’s best food souvenirs.
9. Popcorn Chicken
Taiwan deserves a special place in the fried chicken hall of fame. Its popcorn chicken is particularly addictive.
10. Chicken Wing Rice Roll
It’s like inception for chickens — chicken fried rice wrapped in a drumstick.
11. Shaved Ice Mountains
Taiwan’s summer blockbuster — the shaved ice mountain.
12. Flaky Scallion Pancakes
Few things are more appetizing than a flaky scallion pancake being slowly torn apart.
13. Aiyu Jelly
Add it to lemonade and shaved ice for a refreshing summer drink. The jelly gives the liquid a fun, gloopy texture.
14. Three-Cup Chicken
Though three-cup chicken is a signature Taiwanese food, it’s hard to find at street stalls.
15. Pig’s Blood Rice Pudding
Mmm … congealed pig’s blood on a stick. Jeremy Lin loves it.
Explore these delicious dishes to experience the vibrant and diverse flavors of Taiwanese cuisine. Eating in Taiwan goes beyond mere sustenance; it’s a celebration of culture and history.
