Taiwanese cuisine

Ingredients and culture

Taiwanese culinary history is murky and is intricately tied to patterns of migration and colonization. Both locally and internationally Taiwanese cuisine, particularly its history, is a politically contentious topic. Pork, seafood, chicken, rice, and soy are common ingredients. Beef is far less common, and some Taiwanese (particularly the elderly generation) still refrain from eating it. A traditional reluctance towards slaughtering precious cattle needed for agriculture, and an emotional attachment and feeling of gratitude and thanks to the animals traditionally used for very hard labor. However, due to influences from the influx of out of province Chinese in the early 1900s, the Taiwanese version of beef noodle soup is now one of the most popular dishes in Taiwan. American food aid in the decades following WWII which primarily consisted of wheat, beef, and spam like processed meats forever changed the Taiwanese diet with wheat based noodles, breads, and dumplings taking a more central role in the cuisine.

During the Japanese Colonial period Taiwanese cuisine was divided with high-end restaurants, known as wine houses, serving Chinese influenced cuisine such as Peking duck, shark fin with bird’s nest soup and braised turtle to the colonial elite while those without wealth or connections primarily ate rice, porridge, pickled vegetables, and sweet potato leaves. Cooking oil was considered a luxury and was only used for special occasions.

Taiwan's cuisine has also been influenced by its geographic location. Living on a crowded island, the Taiwanese had to look aside from the farmlands for sources of protein. As a result, seafood figures prominently in their cuisine. This seafood encompasses many different things, from large fish such as tuna and grouper, to sardines and even smaller fish such as anchovies. Crustaceans, squid and cuttlefish are also eaten.

Because of the island's sub-tropical location, Taiwan has an abundant supply of various fruit, such as papayas, starfruit, melons, and citrus fruit. A wide variety of tropical fruits, imported and native, are also enjoyed in Taiwan. Other agricultural products in general are rice, corn, tea, pork, poultry, beef, fish and other fruits and vegetables. Fresh ingredients in Taiwan are readily available from markets.

In many of their dishes, the Taiwanese have shown their creativity in their selection of spices. Taiwanese cuisine relies on an abundant array of seasonings for flavor: soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, fermented black beans, pickled radish, pickled mustard greens, peanuts, chili peppers, cilantro (sometimes called Chinese parsley), and a local variety of basil (九層塔; káu-chàn-tha̍h; 'nine story pagoda').

An important part of Taiwanese cuisine are xiaochi, substantial snacks along the lines of Spanish tapas or Levantine meze.

The Taiwanese xiaochi has gained much reputation internationally. Many travelers go to Taiwan just for xiǎochī. The most common place to enjoy xiǎochī in Taiwan is in a night market. Each night market also has its own famous xiǎochī.

Moreover, the Taiwanese xiǎochī has been improving to a higher level. Nowadays, Taiwanese xiǎochī not only served in night markets but some luxury and high-end restaurants. These restaurants use higher quality ingredients and creative presentations, reinventing dishes whilst keeping the robust flavors. The prices usually jump by twice the price or even higher in the restaurants. The Taiwanese government supports the Taiwanese xiǎochī and has held national xiǎochī events in Taiwan regularly.

Typical dishes

Vegetarian restaurants are commonplace with a wide variety of dishes, mainly due to the influence of Buddhism and other syncretistic religions like I-Kuan Tao. These vegetarian restaurants vary in style from all-you-can-eat to pay-by-the-weight and of course the regular order-from-a-menu. Vegetarian restaurants and foods are often marked with a left facing swastika.

There is a type of outdoor barbecue called khòng-iô. To barbecue in this manner, one first builds a hollow pyramid up with dirt clods. Next, charcoal or wood is burnt inside until the temperature inside the pyramid is very high (the dirt clods should be glowing red). The ingredients to be cooked, such as taro, yam, or chicken, are placed in cans, and the cans are placed inside the pyramid. Finally, the pyramid is toppled over the food until cooked.

Many non-dessert dishes are usually considered snacks, not entrees; that is, they have a similar status to Cantonese dim sum or Spanish tapas. Such dishes are usually only slightly salted, with lots of vegetables along with the main meat or seafood item.

• Taiwanese dishes

Desserts

• Aiyu jelly – a gelatinous dessert made from the seeds of a fig-like fruit, Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang. Served on ice.
• Baobing (also known as chhoah-peng) – a Chinese shaved ice dessert very common in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
• Bubble tea, aka boba milk tea; also known as pearl milk tea - chewy tapioca balls added to milk tea.
• Traditional cakes are not always of the same composition depending on the flavor. There is the moon cake which has a thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste or sweetened red bean paste and surrounded by a relatively thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. It is traditionally eaten during the festival for lunar worship and moon watching. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

There are other cakes that can mix salty ingredients with sweet ones to create a balance while enjoying these delicacies with tea. The crust could be shiny from applying a layer of egg yolk before putting in the oven, or not in that case it is often whiter and the crust has more layers.

• Grass jelly (Chinese: 仙草; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sian-chháu) – (Mesona procumbens) Served hot or cold.
• Moachi (麻糍; môa-chî), a soft rice cake like Japanese daifuku mochi. Flavors of the fillings can vary, ranging from all kinds of beans to nuts.
• O'ahping (芋仔冰; ō͘-á-peng) – an ice cream made of taro root paste.
• Pineapple cake - a square short crust pie filled with pineapple filling. One of Taiwan's best known dessert pastries and souvenir of choice.
• Caozai Guo – Cakes made with a dough from glutinous rice flour and combine with a ground cooked paste of Gnaphalium affine or Mugwort to give it a unique flavor and green color. The dough is commonly filled with ground meat or sweet bean pastes.
• Douhua (豆花) - Soft tofu served with syrup and toppings such as peanuts, adzuki beans, tapioca, and mung beans. Served hot or cold.

Night market dishes

Taiwan's best-known snacks are present in the night markets, where street vendors sell a variety of different foods, from finger foods, drinks, sweets, to sit-down dishes. In these markets, one can also find fried and steamed meat-filled buns, oyster-filled omelets, refreshing fruit ices, and much more. Aside from snacks, appetizers, entrees, and desserts, night markets also have vendors selling clothes, accessories, and offer all kinds of entertainment and products.

In 2014 The Guardian called Taiwan’s night markets the "best street food markets in the world.”

• Various drinks are also often sold, ranging from bubble tea stands to various juice and tea stands.
• Crêpes - Adapted from the original French version, a thin cooked pancake, it has a much crispier texture, rather like a cracker. They were popular in the early 2000s.
• Fruit or bean smoothies - milk or ice is blended on the spot with fresh papaya, mango, watermelon, azuki bean, or mung bean.
• Fried glutinous rice balls - slightly sweet.
• Fried chicken pieces - thumb-size chunks of deep-fried chicken sprinkled with white pepper, chilli and fried basil.

Food of the Taiwanese Aborigines

Taiwan's food and food culture is very much diversified and largely influenced by the exodus of Han people. However, one part of the Taiwanese food culture that remains integral is that of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. Though the indigenous population only make up less than 2% of Taiwan's overall population, it is notable that their foods eaten and ways of preparation are distinguishable from the more typical Chinese-influenced cuisine.

The aborigines’ diet very much depends on nature. With profuse vegetation and wild animals, the aborigines were natural hunter-gatherers. Essentially, much of what Aborigines ate depended on their environment – that is, whether they lived in coastal or mountainous areas. Tribes like Amis, Atayal, Saisiyat and Bunun hunt what they can, and gather what they cultivate. On the other hand, tribes like the Yamis and the Thao have fish as a predominant source of food. Most foods consisted of millet, taro, sweet potato, wild greens and game like boar and rat. This is in contrast to the main foods eaten by the Han, which consisted of rice and chicken.

Game meats for those living in the mountainous areas include deer, and flying squirrel intestines, a delicacy as regarded by the Bunun people. Another is ‘stinky’ meat – that is, ‘maggoty game’ that has begun to rot, which is then barbecued, fried, seasoned with garlic and ginger then served with spicy sauce.

The Amis, apart from meat, had much greens to eat, largely due to the belief that anything a cow ate, was also edible by humans. The Bununs, who are primarily hunters of wild animals, would dine on stone-grilled pork, boar, deer, and hog roast. The Yami tribe, located off Taitung coast, fed on many types of fish, including the prized ‘flying fish’ (or Alibangbang). A speciality includes rice, mixed with river fish and wild vegetables, served in large bamboo trunks.

Apart from being a staple-food, millet was always produced as wine. Not just for drinking, millet wine played an important role in being used as offerings during festivals, births and weddings. Millet wines are all made in the homes of the Aborigines. Sticky rice is put into a wooden steamer after being soaked in water. Once cooled, the rice is put into a pot of water, then pulled out and combined with rice yeast. After four or five days of being placed in a large jar, the rice is placed in a sieve or rice bag, whilst the alcoholic liquid drips out and is stored away.

Also important to the Indigenous Taiwanese people's cuisine are the sweet potato and taro, favored for their perennial nature and low maintenance. The cultivation of root vegetables rather than typical seedling plants was notably prominent, with archaeological evidence suggesting as early as fourth millennium BC, from the Dapenkeng site, in Guanyin Mountain, New Taipei City.

Given the versatility of both vegetables, they were usually boiled or steamed, and eaten by itself or as ingredients in soups and strews. Without the need for advanced agricultural technology, taro and sweet potatoes were a prime preference for farming. Canadian missionary George MacKay said of 19th century Taiwan: ‘the bulb of the sweet potato is planted in March. In about six weeks the vines are cut into pieces eight inches long, which are planted in drills, and from these vine-cuttings the bulbs grow and are ripe about the end of June. A second crop is planted in a similar way in July and is ripe in November.’ (Ibid). The influence of sweet potatoes and taro has been vast. They are still widely present in modern-day Taiwan, be it on the streets, night markets, or in successful food chains like ‘Meet Fresh’ (or 鮮芋仙).

Due to the absence of contemporary culinary utensils such as the refrigerator, gas stovetops and ovens, the Indigenous resorted to other means to prepare their food. Upon bringing back hunted game meat, the Aborigines would preserve the meat with either millet wine or salt. Another cooking technique involved the heating up of stones by fire, which are then placed inside a vessel with other certain meats and seafood, which are cooked from the heat of the stones. Foods were mostly prepared by steaming, boiling or roasting, in order to infuse flavors together, yet preserve the original flavors. This again is contrasted with the Han, who adopted skills like stir-frying and stewing. Meat was also put on a bamboo spit and cooked over the fire.

A cookbook published in 2000 by the CIP and National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, listed some foods of the main Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes, showing the Aborigines’ adherence and passion for natural foods.

• Amis Nation: Alivongvong (meat and sticky rice dumpling packed in leaves) (阿里鳳鳳); Stir-fried wild vegetables
• Atayal Nation: Grilled meat on stone (石板烤肉); Langying (steamed sticky rice cake) (朗應)
• Bunun Nation: Bunun millet cake (布農粿); Millet rice (小米飯)
• Paiwan Nation: Millet Qinafu (millet and pork meat-ball) (小米奇那富); Jinbole (Sorghum and pork dumpling packed in a banana leaf) (金伯樂)
• Puyuma Nation: Yinafei mountain cake (以那馡山地粿); Fried wild rat with basil (九層野鼠)
• Rukai Nation: Qinabu (taro and meat dumpling) (奇那步); Grilled boar
• Saisiyat Nation: Grilled boar with papaya (木瓜拌山豬肉); Assorted wild flowers (野花拼盤); Cassava and spareribs soup (樹薯排骨湯)
• Tsou Nation: Bamboo cooked rice (竹筒飯); Banana cake (香蕉糕)
• Yami Nation: Boiled taro and crab (芋泥加蟹肉); Grilled fish Steamed dried fish (蒸魚乾)

Though Taiwan is home to many cuisines, there are still restaurants which keep the spirit of Aborigine cuisine alive. Whilst chefs in such restaurants may need to tweak traditional recipes to suit contemporary tastebuds, emphasis of natural foods is still extant. The annual Indigenous Peoples Healthy Cuisine and Innovative Beverage Competition, partly sponsored by the Council of Indigenous Peoples and the Tourism Bureau provides prize money to contestants who creatively use traditional indigenous ingredients in healthy ways. Other similar competitions are held by local governments (such as Kaohsiung City). In Tainan, indigenous people may sell their food at the Cha Ha Mu Aboriginal Park. Such trends are all to promote the wonderful taste of Aboriginal Taiwanese cuisine.

Fusion

Fusion cuisine is very popular in Taiwan. Many Taiwanese dishes are a result of cultural fusion, such as the Taiwanese version of pastel de nata which are a legacy of Portuguese colonialism.

Italian

Italian cuisine has been popular in Taiwan for a long time but until the late 1990s and early 2000s there were few authentic Italian restaurants in Taiwan and even fewer Italian chefs. Due to the Financial crisis of 2007–08 a large number of Italians emigrated from Italy to healthier economies, this led to a rapid increase in both the number of Italian restaurants and the number of Italian expats in Taiwan. While most restaurants follow the traditional Italian course style meal the proportions are influenced by Italian-American cuisine. Taiwanese diners are seen as increasingly passionate and discerning about Italian cuisine. Michael de Prenda was one of the innovators of Italian cuisine in Taiwan starting multiple restaurants, a market, and a farm.

Russian

Along with the fleeing KMT came White Russian refugees who had sought shelter from the Russian Revolution in China. George Elsner founded the first Russian restaurant, The Café Astoria, in Taiwan in 1949. The Café Astoria was a center of Russian expat life in Taiwan during its early years with Chiang Ching-kuo and his Russian wife Faina Vakhreva often bringing their children with them to eat there. Elsner died stateless in Taiwan.

Nordic

Nordic haute cuisine is popular in Taiwan’s major cities with restaurants offering both authentic nordic cuisine and nordic cuisine adapted to local ingredients and tastes.

Hong Kong

The increase in immigration from Hong Kong following the pro-democracy protests there has brought an increased focus on Hong Kong cuisine and on fusion between Hong Kong and Taiwan cuisines. Taiwan is a safe haven for Hong Kongers and many have opened shops and restaurants serving food they were unable to find in Taiwan or which they did not feel was up to Hong Kong standards.

Taiwanese cuisine abroad

Taiwanese cuisine has a global presence. Taiwanese chefs have been extremely successful abroad cooking both Taiwanese and international cuisine. Well known chefs include André Chiang.

USA

Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs were largely responsible for the shift of American Chinese food from a Cantonese focused cuisine to a diverse cuisine which featured dishes from many regions in China. The immigration of Taiwanese chefs to the United States began in the 1950s. At the time cooks in Taiwan were trained in traditional Chinese regional cooking as this fit the chosen identity of the KMT. Taiwanese restaurateurs changed the food landscape of many American cities, including New York City, and pioneered such innovations as picture menus and food delivery. Many of the immigrants to the United States during this period had been born in mainland China and fled to Taiwan with the retreating KMT, particularly former residents of the Dachen Islands who had been evacuated in 1955.

Traditionally Taiwanese food has been hard to differentiate from Chinese and Japanese food abroad as many Taiwanese cooked simplified or westernized versions of traditional Taiwanese, Japanese, or Chinese dishes rather than authentic fair. In 2018 there was rapid growth in the number of authentic Taiwanese restaurants in New York City and across the country which coincided in an increase in interest in regional Chinese food as well as greater interest in Taiwan itself.

Taiwanese American cuisine is emerging as a full cuisine in its own right. Myers + Chang in Boston was one of the first restaurants to explicitly describe their food as such. In 2018 James Beard Award-winning chef Stephanie Izard opened a Taiwanese snack/dessert shop in Chicago.

Culinary education

Historically culinary education was informal with apprentices learning at the knee of a master for many years before being able to practice the craft on their own. The first college level course in cooking was implemented in 1986 at Danshui Technical College.

Culinary schools

• Danshui Technical College
• National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism