Taiwan foodie tour: Taipei
Taiwan is a beautiful East Asian country near China and Japan but a hidden gem to most tourists. During my recent trip there, I marvelled at the compelling blend of stunning natural scenery, vibrant urban city life, and, most importantly, delicious food. Let me take you on a foodie adventure around Taipei today that’s sure to tickle your taste buds!
Taiwan is a magical country, a unique combination of stunning natural scenery, cultural treasures, and vibrant city life. And who can forget the delicious cuisine? In a country known for its variety of night markets, breakfast stalls, and snacks galore, it’s hard to figure out where to start our foodie adventure. So, let’s take it back to Day 1 in Taipei and eat our way through this city.
Taiwanese Breakfast
Fuhang Soy Milk
Fuhang Soy Milk (阜杭豆漿) is universally acknowledged as the most famous breakfast spot in Taipei. Many visitors queue at the crack of dawn, and the wait can take 15 minutes to one hour. This was our first food stop right after hopping off the plane, and the wait was around 45 minutes. Was it worth it? Yes… and no.
The quality of Fuhang’s offerings is undeniable, their dough is left to rise for no less than 15 hours before being made into their signature thick bread (厚餅) and sesame flatbread (薄餅). However, by the time we arrived, a lot of the menu options were sold out, so we ended up with the egg pancake (蛋餅), sesame flatbread with scrambled egg (薄餅夾蛋), and dried radish roll (蘿蔔絲餅) with two iced soy milks (冰豆漿). The bread was perfectly crispy and delicious, the egg pancake was soft and fluffy, and the radish roll was a surprising umami hit to the taste buds. But the long queue is not worth it, especially if you have a packed schedule. Taipei has a multitude of brekkie stalls to explore, so unless you arrive before 7 a.m. in the morning or have lots of time to spare, Fuhang Soy Milk is not a must-try.
Yong He Soy Milk
Yong He Soy Milk is another popular Taipei breakfast franchise that offers a wide assortment of menu items. Although there were quite a few customers when we visited, the queue moved quite quickly. The menu is quite extensive and we ordered an array of dishes to share - fried dough stick (Youtiao, 油条), salted soy milk with egg (鹹豆漿), crispy flatbread with egg (薄餅夾蛋), radish/turnip cake with fried egg (蘿蔔糕煎蛋) and a normal soy milk for good measure. Everything was yummy but this is the standout:
Salted soy milk is like the cousin to the original soy milk that you usually never see, but when you do catch up, it’s like no time has passed. The savoury version is incredibly tasty yet light, and the fried dough stick soaks in all the flavour, from the silken tofu to the soy sauce there’s just something about the salty goodness of this soy milk that warms me from the inside out.
Taiwanese Street Food
Oyster omelette
Oyster omelettes are a staple of Taiwanese cuisine, and it’s easy to see why. The dish consists of an omelette with a filling of small Pacific oysters, starch, and egg batter, served with a savoury sauce poured over the top. We tried this in Ximending, and it was incredibly satisfying. I enjoyed the soft and fluffy omelette with just the right portion of oysters to provide that salty kick. The generous pour-over sauce was slightly citrusy with a sweet chili soy aftertaste. The portion size was perfect for sharing; what a great start to the trip.
Chicken and egg burger
The chicken and egg burger is Taiwan’s take on the Maccas sausage and beef brekkie burger, but better. These are made in skillets with the batter, egg, and chicken pieces cooked together for that perfect umami bite. Although unassuming, it’s quite a popular street snack in Taipei, and I’m so glad I didn’t walk past this stall because this burger was toasty, satisfying, and so good for a chilly winter night.
Grilled king oyster mushrooms
There’s a queue for these grilled oyster mushrooms at every night market in Taipei, and for good reason: These are juicy, aromatic, and delicious. The vendors are constantly grilling mushrooms, first plain and then brushed with sauce before being grilled again, sliced, and served piping hot to customers. My advice if you want to taste the original flavour of the mushroom is to avoid the umami sauces, i.e., spicy, cumin, and mustard flavours, as these may be a little overwhelming. We chose the black pepper, it was the perfect level of heat and piney, citrus notes to the mushrooms. If you see a queue for grilled oyster mushrooms in Taipei, join the queue! You won’t be disappointed.
Small sausage in Large sausage (大腸包小腸)
During my trip research, I spent a lot of time digging into classic Taiwanese street food, and a recurring favourite is this Taiwanese version of the Western hot dog. The difference is that the Taiwanese use glutinous rice for the bun with a BBQed Taiwanese sausage stuffed into the bun. There’s a variety of toppings one can choose from - lettuce, pickled vegetables, cucumbers, garlic with additional flavours of spicy, black pepper, and wasabi. We tried the original flavour; it was such an interesting bite. The glutinous rice was the perfect vessel for that juicy, grilled Taiwanese sausage, and the vegetables added the additional crunch and acted as a palate cleanser from the sausage. I would get one to share between two people as this is quite oily and can be a little too much for one person.
Offal selection
This selection of offals is truly impressive but also intimidating. I grew up in a Chinese Australian household where no part of an animal went to waste, but I’m still apprehensive about beef/lamb liver, heart, kidney, and brain. My number 1 travel tip? Always tell yourself to try everything at least once because who knows when you’ll be back at the famous Raohe Night Market:
After 10 minutes of careful deliberation, my friend and I decided not to risk it for the biscuit (given Taiwan was the first leg of our multi-country Asia trip). We got a selection of curried fish balls, quail eggs, and pig blood cake. I’m a big fan of duck blood but haven’t tried pig’s blood cake before, although I was a little nervous these tasted umami and I didn’t find there was any bloody aftertaste (although my friend wasn’t a fan). If you have never tried offal before, I would start slow - fish balls, quail eggs, and chicken heart/giblet are good choices.
Peanut ice-cream roll
The hidden complexity within the simple peanut ice cream roll is a testament to Taiwanese cuisine, where every ingredient is treated with utmost care and respect. This roll is deceptively simple - a thin, stretchy skin of run bing enveloping fine shavings of malt sugar peanut brittle (grated to order from a large block), two scoops of ice-cream (flavour of your choosing) with some coriander. The flavour combination is amazing - sweet yet savoury with an icy and citrusy after-taste that keeps you coming back for more. Fun fact: The run bing skin takes a lot of skills and experience to prepare from scratch as it needs to be thin yet elastic enough to hold the filling. Must try for your next Taiwan trip!
Fuzhou Pepper buns (Raohe Night Market)
This Fuzhou beef pepper bun stand is the first thing you’ll see when walking into Raohe Market, and it’s a must-try, with locals and tourists queuing up patiently to try this bun. We waited until the end of our night market visit to try this because the queues were too ridiculously long but this meant I had a great view of the cooking process - the dough is flattened then a huge ball of marinated meat is scooped into the middle and placed into a pile of green onion so you get a bite of green onion for every bite of the meat filling. The entire ball is stuck onto the side of a cylindrical, high-heat clay oven similar to a tandoori oven to get that crunchy, cracker-like dough.
This pepper bun was by far my favourite snack from Raohe Night Market - the crispy, flaky exterior paired with the umami and generous filling made for a very satsifying end to our night market adventures. If I could go back I would have gotten a pepper bun for myself instead of sharing.
Deep fried sweet potato balls
These deep-fried sweet potato balls (地瓜球) are a staple at every night market, and it’s easy to see why - they’re crispy on the outside and super chewy with a QQ texture on the inside. We got a fresh batch straight from the vat of oil (photo above), and it was unexpectedly delicious for something so simple made with only three ingredients: yam, sweet potato flour, and sugar. For people with dietary requirements, you’d be happy to know that these potato balls are gluten-free and also vegan/vegetarian-friendly. Just make sure to get a fresh batch from the vendor when you get them at the night markets - I promise you’ll be running back for more.
Stinky tofu
Stinky tofu (臭豆腐) has it’s origins in China where it’s commonly known as fermented tofu with a strong odor, fun fact in some Chinese regions the tofu is fermented to such an extent that it’s black in colour. Taiwan’s night markets are filled with vendors selling stinky tofu and yes the smell can be off putting to first timers but these tofu puffs are simply brined in a mixture of vegetables, meat, fermented milk, herbs, dried shrimp and bamboo shoots for weeks (or even months). We tried the deep fried version which is fried in a vat of oil and served with a splash of sauce topped with pickled vegetables (cabbage and carrot). These definitely don’t taste as pungent as they smell and are quite crispy on the outside yet soft, hot and moist on the inside for that perfect textural contrast, the pickled veggies add that sour, sweet and mildly spicy flavour to the dish.
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Let’s end this blog on a high with the famous Taiwanese beef noodle soup and forget the fact that we didn’t try ANY soup dumplings in Taiwan (which I more than made up for during the Shanghai leg of my trip). Taiwanese beef noodle soup is the epitome of umami - tender beef, beef tendon, and tofu puffs soaking in a rich and slightly spicy broth that simmers for hours to get that depth of flavour. The addition of fresh scallions adds a freshness to the soup, and it’s a perfect bowl of spicy, savoury, yet not too overpowering bowl of yumminess that I kept thinking about on my flight to Japan. If you visit Taiwan, please do yourself a favour and try the beef noodle soup (these are served at all times of the day and across all restaurants/night markets/stalls in Taiwan).
