Taiwan Food, Taiwan Cuisine

Taiwan is geographically and to some extent politically isolated from China, and the Taiwanese have developed their own style of eclectic cuisine. Taiwan food blends a variety of Chinese styles brought by settlers, particularly from Fujian and Guangdong, its own Hakka and aboriginal minorities' cooking styles, Japanese food styles, and local tastes for seafood and game.

Popular Taiwanese foods include spicy hotpots, fried meat dumplings, turkey strips, stinky tofu and cuttlefish soup. Oyster thin noodles ("oa misua"), Taiwanese beef noodles (niúròu miàn), fish heads (yú tóu), and Taiwanese-style porridge (zhōu) are favorite meals, and favorite desserts and drinks include aiyu (àiyù) jelly, Taiwanese oranges (liŭdīng), and Bubble Milk Tea (bōbà nǎichá).

Favorite Dishes in Taiwan

Oyster Thin Noodles (Taiwanese: oa misua; Oyster Vermicelli)

Oyster vermicelli is the English name for a local popular kind of noodle soup. Its main ingredients are oysters and misua (Taiwanese vermicelli). One of the famous restaurants serving this is in Dihua Street, Dadaocheng, Taipei. A special steaming technique caramelizes the sugars in the dough and imparts a unique flavor.

There is a large upmarket Taiwanese restaurant group that specializes in serving this soup with outlets spreading over China.

Beef Noodles (niúròu miàn)

Taiwanese beef noodle soup is made of portions of stewed or braised beef, beef broth, vegetables and Chinese noodles. Every year, the city of Taipei holds an annual Beef Noodle Festival during which various chefs and restaurants compete to see who makes the best bowl of beef noodles in Taiwan. It is Taiwan's national dish and an excellent filling meal to try.

The braised beef noodle dish is said to have originated in Kaoshiung at the southern tip of Taiwan. The dish is also known as "Taiwanese Beef Noodles". Big chunks of braised or boiled beef and local vegetables differentiates it from the Hui Muslim beef noodle dish (Lanzhou lamien) widely eaten in China. Lanzhou lamien is a soup that usually includes only small bits of dried beef, wheat noodles, and red hot pepper and herbs for seasoning.

Taiwan Tan's Fish Head (yú tóu) Restaurant

Fish heads of a variety of kinds of fish is a popular Chinese dish. There are a variety of styles. You can now try the Sichuan style in Taiwan.

A new restaurant chain was started in Chengdu in 1995 by a man named Tan. It is called Tan Yu Tou (Tan Fish Head). The chain now has branches in about a hundred locations in China, and now it has spread to Taiwan and Wan Chai in Hong Kong.

(I couldn't location info. about the Taiwan branch, but I saw a site that says that the chain has a branch in Taiwan.)

Taiwanese Porridge (zhōu)

In Taiwan, it is common to eat rice porridge for breakfast. It can be a simple dish simply made of watery rice, bits of chicken or other meat, and sweet potato. It is also called "congee".