History and general information
Over the centuries, Taiwanese cuisine has been shaped by Asian and, to a lesser extent, Western influences. It is thought that aboriginal peoples inhabited the island long before the arrival of other settlers, some 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. The latter have had a considerable impact on Taiwanese cuisine through their unique culinary preparations, including bamboo tube cooking or zhu tong fan, a popular dish both in markets and at traditional wedding banquets in southern Taiwan.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Hakkas and Fujianese of Chinese origin arrived, fleeing the country's political instability. These populations had a decisive impact on modern Taiwanese cuisine. In particular, they spoke Hokkien, a dialect from southern China, which is still spoken today alongside Mandarin, the island's official language. Among the many ingredients that these communities bring with them to Taiwan is, of course, tofu, which is thought to have been invented in the 2nd century B.C. Initially consumed in Buddhist monasteries as an alternative to meat, it has since become one of the major ingredients in East Asian cuisine and is eaten in a variety of forms: silky chòudòufu, firm, smoked, but the Taiwanese often like it fermented. In this case, it's called stinky tofu or chòudòufu, and its smell is reminiscent of some very strong cheeses. Soy sauce, sesame oil and five-spice (cinnamon powder, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds and Sichuan pepper) also made their appearance. The Chinese presence became official when Taiwan was finally incorporated into the Chinese Empire under the Qing dynasty in 1683.
Meanwhile, the arrival of the Portuguese - who called the island"Formosa" - in 1544 heralded the first relations between Taiwan and Europe. The Dutch built Fort Zeelandia near Tainan in the south of the island, making the city a strategic center between the Spanish Philippines, Japan and the Portuguese colony of Macao in mainland China. The European presence had a lasting influence on Taiwanese culture, giving rise to some of the region's most popular specialties, such as egg tarts, directly inspired by the Portuguese pastéis de nata.
Over the course of five decades, from 1894 to 1945, Taiwan came under Japanese control, which modernized the island's infrastructure and improved its agriculture. In particular, coffee cultivation was developed. Many Taiwanese at the time learned Japanese, and Japanese specialties such as bento boxes(biandang), rice dumplings(onigiri), sashimi and miso soup became part of the local cuisine, and are now part of everyday Taiwanese life. After the defeat of Japan in 1945, with the arrival of the nationalist Kuomintang Party (KMT) in power, the influx of anti-communist Chinese refugees after 1949 brought a large number of recipes from all over the country to the island. Beef noodle soup, originally from southwest China, is thought to have emerged at this time. Although now very popular, it was never intended to be so, as the Taiwanese traditionally did not eat beef, oxen being used as draught animals, helping farmers to plough the fields. Taiwanese cuisine thus developed by absorbing various contributions from China, Japan and Europe. Taiwan is often praised for being a condensation of the best of Chinese cuisine.
The basics of Taiwanese cuisine
As is often the case in Asia, what would be considered starters or amuse-bouches in Europe are presented alongside the rest of the dishes on the table. Nevertheless, to whet the appetite, we could start by mentioning the many dim sum and other morsels that abound in Taiwanese cuisine. Ban wan, for example, are small potato starch ravioli stuffed with pork, shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Caozaiguo are filled with a similar stuffing, but the paste made from glutinous rice flour and herb juice gives them a unique taste.A-gei is a recent Japanese-inspired invention from Tamsui, a suburb of Taipei. These balls of fish paste are filled with tofu and rice vermicelli. The whole thing is fried and served in a sweet-and-sour sauce. One of the island's signature dishes is the oyster omelette(ezijian), which is garnished with oysters, coriander, green onion and a lightly spiced sauce. Tian bu la is a Chinese distortion of the Japanese word " tempura ". It's actually a kind of long fish paste croquette, deep-fried, then lightly simmered in a broth and drizzled with a sweet sauce. Despite its macabre name, guan cai ban, or coffin bread, is very popular. It's a square loaf with the crumb removed and replaced by a creamy sauce made from chicken liver, shrimp and potatoes. Another specialty is gua bao, a steamed rice roll filled with glazed pork, coriander and chopped peanuts. Also common in China, cong you bing are fried pancakes with green onions that are eaten on the go. The more courageous can try zhuxieguo, a kind of pig's blood cake cooked with glutinous rice coated in powdered peanuts and served on a stick.
Many of these dishes are synonymous with street-food, and it's true that Taiwan has a wide variety of markets, especially at night, where you can feast on countless specialties that are sometimes rare in restaurants. Among the most popular establishments is Taipei's Shilin Night Market, one of the largest in Taiwan. Founded in 1899, it offers an interesting insight into Taiwanese street-food, although you often have to fight your way through the crowds, as it's so popular with the locals. Equally popular, the Raohe Night Market, also in Taipei, has a wide selection of food stalls. Located in Taichung in the center of the island, the Feng Chia Night Market is sometimes considered Taiwan's biggest market, with its 15,000 stores, restaurants and stalls. And of course it's impossible to miss the Hua Yuan Night Market in Tainan, better known to tourists by its English translation Flower Garden Night Market. As the island's former capital, Tainan has a long-standing culinary tradition, and its markets are brimming with succulent dishes.
Some meat dishes are also creations of the night markets, such as huo yan shai zi niu, a dish of beef cubes marinated in teriyaki sauce and cumin, literally flambéed with a kitchen blowtorch. Khong-bah is a very popular specialty made from fairly fatty pork belly, simmered for a long time until the meat melts. Although sanbeiji or chicken-three-cup originally originated in Jiangsu province, near Shanghai, it has become one of the most common specialties in Taiwan. The chicken is cooked with a mixture containing one cup each of soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. With its island location, Taiwan is no stranger to fish and seafood. In particular, there are many grilled recipes, some of which are Japanese-inspired, such as whole squid grilled on the barbecue, while Tamsui's fish dumplings, filled with pork, are conversely cooked in a light broth.
As in much of East Asia, rice plays a central role in Taiwan, where it accompanies every meal. But it can also be used to make more elaborate dishes such as lu rou fan, a rice dish topped with sweet-and-sour minced pork and hard-boiled egg. Tong zi mi gao takes the form of a cylinder of rice cooked in a rich broth and crowned with pork and shiitake mushrooms, all placed on a bed of sweet and sour sauce. Noodles are also extremely popular. Made from wheat flour, rice or even soy or potato starch, they are often served with a broth, such as beef noodle soup, with its dark, richly flavored broth garnished with chopped coriander and green onion. Ta-a or danzi noodles are also accompanied by a light soup with shrimp, garlic and minced pork. Oyster vermicelli, which originated in Taipei, is also very popular. In contrast, ban tiao noodles are wide and flat, made from rice flour and either stir-fried or served in a broth. Geng is a thick soup containing tofu and pork, topped with fried fish paste. Soups are often topped with iron roe, or thih-nng in the Hokkien dialect, which are simply hard-boiled eggs cooked for a long time in a mixture of soy sauce and broth, then lightly dried, which turns them black and gives them a slightly rubberier texture, but also a very rich taste.
Regional Chinese cuisine
While traditional Taiwanese cuisine derives mainly from the Fujian province, the island also boasts a large number of other specialties from other Chinese provinces. Alongside traditional Taiwanese cuisine, you'll find recipes from such exotic regions as Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Canton.
The cuisine of Beijing and North China reflects a continental character, with hot, humid summers and icy, dry winters. Huoguo (Mongolian fondue), eaten in winter, is very popular in Taiwan, and many restaurants offer this specialty. The noodles and rolls are steamed from wheat rather than rice, as the climate dictates. Vegetables such as cabbage, white radish, carrots and other leafy greens are often lacto-fermented, like Korean kimchi, providing an excellent source of probiotics. Peking cuisine often combines solid country dishes with the classic haute cuisine of the imperial court. The pinnacle of refinement is reached with the famous Peking duck(beijing kao ya). The bird is air-dried, then glazed with several layers of a mixture of sugar and soy sauce before being roasted. Before serving, the deliciously crispy skin is cut into small strips, which guests place in a thin wheat patty with a slice of cucumber, a sprig of spring onion and a hint of slightly sweet plum sauce. The meat is eaten separately. Beggar chicken, or jiaohua ji, is a whole chicken stuffed with mushrooms, cabbage, herbs and onions, then wrapped in lotus leaves before being coated with clay and stewed. At the table, the customer himself breaks the hardened crust with a small mallet to release the delicious aroma that has developed inside. Further west, the cuisine of Inner Mongolia, where grilled beef, lamb and mutton abound, can also be found.
Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta form a region where sea, rivers and estuaries intermingle in the midst of verdant plains. Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisines are well known for their delicate flavors, where dishes - generally quite fatty - are milder and sweeter than in the rest of China. Soy sauce, sugar and rice wine are used generously, resulting in dishes with a rich caramel color known as red cooking or hongshao. Shanghai, a metropolis of gourmets, boasts a wide variety of dishes: fried ravioli, many soups, fish and seafood, and even that specialty so prized in Hong Kong, hairy freshwater crab. Caught during the fall egg-laying season, these crabs are shipped in crates by air to Hong Kong, where they are eagerly awaited by wealthy connoisseurs. The region also produces an incredible quantity of ducks, which are dried and pressed in Nanjing. Xiaolongbao (ravioli with a juicy pork filling), lion's head or shizitou (large caramelized pork dumplings), eel braised in wine and garlic and thick Shanghai noodles sautéed with shrimp are just a few examples.
The Sichuan basin, surrounded by mountains, is the geographical heart of China and one of the country's most fertile regions. Being far from the sea, many foods are salted, dried, smoked or spiced to facilitate preservation, resulting in a very distinctive cuisine. It's the spiciest cuisine in China (although the same can be said of Hunan). The main spices are of course chili - in all its forms - but also garlic, Sichuan pepper and star anise. Steaming and smoking are typical preparation methods. Dandan mian (noodles in a spicy beef broth), huiguorou (literally "twice-cooked pork", consisting mainly of poached pork, then sautéed in a rich sweet-and-sour sauce), zhangcha ya (duck smoked with tea leaves), mapo tofu and kung pao chicken - sautéed with leeks, dried chillies and peanuts - are very popular dishes. The most emblematic dish is certainly Szechuan fondue, where finely sliced meat, vegetables and fish are served around a bubbling double-compartment pot with broth on one side and fierce chili oil on the other.
Cantonese cuisine is often the regional Chinese cuisine with which Westerners are most familiar without realizing it, as the Cantonese have long formed a large diaspora, particularly in Europe and North America. For locals, the freshness of the product is paramount, and delicate steaming with very little spice has made Cantonese cuisine famous. Dim sum is one of the emblems of Cantonese cuisine, traditionally served in teahouses. Known in French Chinese restaurants as "vapeurs", the term means "to touch the heart" in Chinese. Many dishes fall into this category, although they are generally small bites of meat, shellfish and vegetables, surrounded by a thin paste of rice, wheat or tapioca, which can be simply steamed in bamboo baskets, boiled or fried. Among the best-known dishes are Cantonese rice and char siu pork barbecued with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and Chinese five-spice. Cantonese cuisine also boasts exotic dishes based on dog, snake, sea cucumber, shark fin and turtle.
Among other regional cuisines, Shandong is known for its delicate flavors and, above all, its abundance of fish and seafood. Yunnan's cuisine is similar to that of Laos, Vietnam and Burma, offering fresh blends of lemongrass, chili, coriander and lime. Hunan cuisine rivals that of Sichuan for the title of spiciest cuisine. Mao Zedong, who was born in this province, used to say that "the spicier your cuisine, the more zeal you'll have for revolution", which gives some idea of the intensity of the region's dishes.
Desserts and drinks
When it comes to desserts, Taiwan mixes both mainland Chinese specialties and more contemporary sweets inspired by Western recipes. These include mooncakes, or yuebing, shaped like fairly thick pucks molded in a press to create attractive patterns on their thin crust. They are usually filled with lotus paste or sweet red bean cream. As their name suggests, they are eaten during the Moon Festival in autumn. Pineapple cakes(fengli su) are one of the emblems of Taiwanese cuisine. These ingot-shaped cookies are filled with a thick pineapple compote surrounded by a crumbly, sandy dough. Moachi are the Chinese version of Japanese mochi, made with glutinous rice dough and usually filled with azuki bean paste.
One of the most popular desserts is herb jelly flavored with xiancao leaves, an aromatic herb similar to mint. It is eaten as is or with fruit cubes. Another dessert, baobing, consists of a dome of shaved ice covered with sweetened condensed milk and pieces of fruit, usually strawberries. Or douhua, made with silken tofu, topped with syrup and sprinkled with crushed peanuts. Finally, taro ice cream - made from the tuber of a tropical plant - is also known as o'ahping. It has a sweet flavor somewhere between coconut and vanilla, and a pale violet color.
Of all the beverages consumed in Taiwan, tea undeniably holds a place of choice. It is consumed throughout the day, and even tends to replace water during meals. More than just a hot drink, tea is a vital part of daily life. As a result, it is generally very light and pale, unlike tea, which is drunk more occasionally in Europe or the Middle East. Imported to the island by the Chinese, the tea consumed in Taiwan is mainly of the oolong variety, semi-oxidized, somewhere between green and black tea. Teahouses are enjoying a comeback among the younger generation, and are now teeming in the major cities. At the dinner table, it's customary to serve tea to those around you as well. In restaurants, when you run out of tea, you lift the lid of the teapot and the waiter knows to add more tea. Bubble tea is a very popular recipe in Taiwan. It's an iced milk tea with tapioca pearls added. Invented in the 1980s, it became popular over the following decade and is now one of Asia's most popular beverages.
Coffee is much less widely consumed, although young Taiwanese do enjoy the cappuccinos and lattes served in the big chains like Starbucks.
When it comes to alcoholic beverages, Taiwanese are particularly fond of beer, although consumption remains modest. The national brand is Taiwan Beer, which has a low alcohol content. It is produced by the Chienkuo brewery, founded by the Japanese occupiers in 1912. Initially located in Taipei on Bade Road, production was relocated to the south of the island. The best-known Chinese beer, Tsingtao, is also popular in Taiwan, as are Japanese beers such as Sapporo, Kirin and Asahi. As for other spirits, it's important to note that what the Taiwanese call "wine" is in fact an alcohol made from rice or grains such as millet and sorghum, with flowers and herbs added for flavor. They can be formidable, approaching 70° and more. While Shaoxing wine originates in Zhejiang, near Shanghai, it is also distilled in the Puli region of Taiwan. Much milder, it doesn't exceed 16°. Worth testing. Classic wines - made from grapes - are available in high-end restaurants, but are proportionately much more expensive than in France.
Although you wouldn't necessarily think of Taiwan as a whisky country, the island has been one of the world's biggest producers and consumers of whisky since the early 20th century. Several distilleries have set out to conquer this fast-growing Asian market, with the aim of producing high-quality whisky to rival that of Japan's Suntory. Born in 2005 in Yilan, the Kavalan distillery spearheads this effort, with stills and casks imported from Europe, and malt generally sourced from Scotland. Since then, the distillery has already won numerous awards for excellence, heralding a bright future for Taiwanese whiskies.
