However in Taiwan, Taiwanese Porridge restaurants serve up classy, upscale Taiwanese Porridge buffets and even romantic porridge dinner meals that feature specialty porridges and side dishes.

Favorite Taiwanese Desserts and Drinks

In Taiwan, good places to go to find Taiwanese-style desserts and drinks are the night markets. You'll find vendors selling a variety of different foods, desserts, and drinks.

Aiyu Jelly (Mandarin: àiyùdòng; Taiwanese: ò-giô)

This is a favorite Taiwanese dessert that is mainly relished in Taiwan and Singapore, but isn't commonly found in other places. Aiyu jelly is also known as ice jelly. It is a jelly made from the seeds of a variety of fig that is found in Taiwan.

The jelly is usually served with honey and lemon juice, but it is also included in beverages or icy deserts. Sometimes, people put aiyu jelly in hot pots to sweeten the soup.

Taiwanese Oranges (liŭdīng)

  Liuding Desserts

Liuding oranges are a variety of orange similar to Valencia oranges. It is harvested all year through except during winter. They are sweet, and they are eaten raw or are made into a common orange juice drink you can buy on the streets.

Bubble Tea (boba milk tea, bōbà nǎichá; pearl milk tea, zhēnzhū nǎichá)

Bubble Tea is a Taiwanese invention, but now it is popular in many areas of East Asia, and it has been introduced in Europe and America. It was invented in the city of Taichung or in Tainan (there is controversy about who invented it first) in Taiwan in the 1980s. It is basically tea with milk and/or fruit plus chewy white or black tapioca balls.

The original style of bubble tea was tea or milk tea with tapioca balls included. One possible originator was Ms. Lin Hsiu Hui of the Chun Shui Tang Teahouse in Taichung who poured sweet tapioca balls into tea in 1988 and served it to customers.

It is thought that another possible inventor was Tu Tsong-he who was the owner of the Hanlin Teahouse in Tainan, Taiwan. He put white and black tapioca balls into tea.

During the 1990s, bubble tea became very popular in many Asian countries, and a variety of styles have developed. Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed with fruit or milk. There are also ice-blended fruit smoothie versions composed of ice blended with fruit or syrup.

Most bubble teas around the world still contain tapioca balls. In Hong Kong, a variety made with coffee instead of tea is popular. On the streets and in the night markets in Taiwan, the tea is usually served in plastic cups with a plastic cover. Punch straws through the plastic to drink the mixture.

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