Taiwan, Asia's Undiscovered Food Mecca!

Cuisine Food & Drink
1

I know this might be controversial but I’m proposing Taiwan to be the food mecca of Asia, not Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore… yes Taiwan. It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently after trying a lot of local food through the influences of my Taiwanese boss before, wife and in-laws and my travels around the island visiting different agricultural and scenic areas recently. It’s also from the discussion about how great Taiwan fruit is.

What do you think, do you think Taiwan’s food can be beaten for sheer freshness, variety, affordability, availability in time and place ? Where do you think Taiwanese food stands out?
What are the most interesting unique dishes and local foods that you have tried (beyond chou dofu, I’m thinking regional foods, wild herbs or local drinks etc.) There are certainly many foreigners who aren’t into Chinese or Taiwanese food and I know it can be hard to read what it is or discover things without a local partner, but what I’m saying is it’s all waiting to be discovered if you are interested to try local food in every region of Taiwan.

Before you could argue there was a lack of western food and others but recently Taipei at least has exploded with fairly good and economical western and middle eastern food, so I really feel it’s time to rate Taiwan up at the top all round.

I can proudly say I knew nothing about real fresh food until I came to Taiwan and learned to eat unprocessed food and all the parts of animals and plants and in the right season, fresh, dried and fermented and eat 10 times more variety than my home country. It took me a long time to get into it but once I did my palate really developed to appreciate the joy of food.
I just keep waiting for the chef Tony to come over to Taiwan because there’s a huge amount of local food and local food culture out here, it beats the socks off of places like HK and Singapore etc., because regular people grow the food here and eat it in season and in the locality not importing it from some rotten place like China (I’m talking Taiwan black chicken soup, Taiwan wild pig, Taiwan Hakka food, Taiwanese seafood restaurants, Night markets, street stalls, tea farms, taiwan lychee honey, gui lin tea, oolong tea, taiwan 100 ntd restaurants, xian cao herbal drink, mountain grown veggies and wild ferns ‘shanmao’ from aboriginal villages), the list goes on and on…I mean the first thing a Taiwanese mentions when you tell them you went somewhere is did you buy the famous food there or what is the famous food?
I even ate freshly prepared killed goose and chicken with shrimp rolls and fried veggies last month and the restaurant was in a temple in the middle of the old street in JinShan and was packed with hundred of people… no frills all about the food. I know a lot of people can get down on Taiwan but when it comes to food I’ve never seen anywhere like it and I don’t think there is anywhere else in Asia like it , I spent 4 days in Japan and a recent trip to HK and they couldn’t match up on ANY of the above factors compared to Taiwan, they were like a food desert in comparison, f&*k this stuff about Beijing or Tokyo or Hong Kong being food meccas, it’s Taiwan where’s it all at and the only reason that’s it’s not recognised for it’s excellence is they’ve made their cities as non-descript and ugly as their food is good!). I want to go home to my home country (Ireland, yes a green and ‘mostly’ natural country) sometime and bring those things I’ve learned here into creating local food pride again and local food culture back from the dead of the current supermarket frozen food factory deal (it’s not so bad in Ireland as America for instance and Ireland has good dairy and fresh bakeries but all the same I grew up eating a lot of frozen and processed food which is a far cry from Taiwanese people).

2

I agree, Iv always loved the food in Taiwan !! Food is an obsession of the Taiwanese

3

Food in Thailand is ten times better than in Taiwan.

4

While Taiwanese food is amazing, I think I agree with rousseau that Thai food is even better! Really fantastic. The only negative thing I’d be able to say about Thai food is that there is too much cilantro–but I like cilantro, so I can even deal with that. And there are plenty of amazing fruits there, too.

5

On my pallet cilantro is nigh unto puke. I haven’t cared for the Thai food that I’ve tried, not that it’s been extensive. I also haven’t cared much for Korean. Japanese is OK. And although I have tried some horrible dishes in Taiwan, for the most part I love it.

6

“Nigh unto puke.” Wow!!! What picturesque prose.

A little goes a very long way with me, but I do like it a lot. Also agree with you about the Taiwanese food. And I’m trully a very picky eater.

7

:laughing:

[quote=“Poagao’s News from the Renegade Province”]Every single town in Taiwan simultaneously proclaims itself ‘Seafood Capital of Taiwan’

SANXIA Along with every other city on the island, this small mountain town made a formal announcement yesterday that from now on it will be known as ‘The Seafood Capital of Taiwan’.

Coastal cities as well as all of the larger cities on the island have been making the same claim since the late 1600’s, but now other cities are anxious for the presige that accompanies towns with such an illustrious title.

“People hear that this is the Seafood Capital of Taiwan, and they go crazy,” Lin Zhao-zhou, Director of Seafood Publicity in Sanxia, told reporters. “It’s not even limited to seafood, although our seafood is excellent. But the same people who come for our cuisine will also love our oddly-shaped rocks and our wide variety of butterflies.”

“We also have a nice bridge,” Lin added. “And you want temples? We’ve got temples!”

Several mountain towns were criticized by local aborigines for making similar declarations.

“We’re famous for deer!” exclaimed Wu Rong-zheng, 34, of the Taiyal tribe, about his native village, which joined in the mass seafood-capital proclamation yesterday. “And black bears before they became practically extinct. The only seafood I see is the shells embedded in the cliffsides!”

Local restauranteers, however, tell a different story. “Sure, we have plenty of fresh seafood,” said one man by the name of Chen who operates a cement fishing pond. “You can even catch it yourself for a small fee. How could we not be the seafood capital of Taiwan? This is no joke.”

[/quote]

8

Taiwan’s food is pretty good. Better than Singapore? Definitely not. Have you ever had Fish Head Curry, Lhaksa, or a Satay at a Hawker centre in Singapore? Just as cheap as Taiwan, but the food is superior IMHO. Do you think Taiwan’s food is as healthy, as exquisite, or as beautiful in presentation as Japanese food? I don’t. Taiwan’s tea is superior to these places, but I couldn’t say it is the food mecca of Asia. However, it is one of the most reasonably-priced cities in Asia for quality food (as Brussels is in Europe).

Based on this statement, you shouldn’t make the above-mentioned proposal. Have you travelled to all those counties/cities extensively?

9

Maybe I should put this in the foodie area but I’m afraid they are heavily weighted to Western cuisine.

Of course some people think Thai cuisine is better than Taiwanese cuisine is better than Japanese cuisin etc. What I’m talking about is the sheer variety of all types of cuisine here in Taiwan from Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese styles, Japanese, Thai, SE Asian and so on (especially in Taipei area). Then multiplied by the availability and the quality (you won’t usually be rushing to the bog after eating it). The food source variety is also amazing because you’ve got temperate, sub-tropical, tropical and amazing seafood everywhere.
I don’t think Thailand can offer this or any other country in Asia for that matter. They don’t have that food obsession (equally applied to food from ALL over the world) to the same degree combined with being rich enough and food obsessed enough to support many restaurants but poor enough and the law lax enough so that many people run their own restaurant , grow their own food, operate their own food stand for a living.
Go to Tokyo and you’ll afford one good meal a week. In Taipei you can pretty much eat as good Japanese food for 1/3 the price, plus with portions 3 times the size.
Go to Hong Kong and try to find their famous food culture, sorry it’s all hidden away, couldn’t find it! In Taipei and Taiwan it’s all around you all the time…

10

Taiwan’s food is pretty good. Better than Singapore? Definitely not. Have you ever had Fish Head Curry, Lhaksa, or a Satay at a Hawker centre in Singapore? Just as cheap as Taiwan, but the food is superior IMHO. Do you think Taiwan’s food is as healthy, as exquisite, or as beautiful in presentation as Japanese food? I don’t. Taiwan’s tea is superior to these places, but I couldn’t say it is the food mecca of Asia. However, it is one of the most reasonably-priced cities in Asia for quality food (as Brussels is in Europe).

Based on this statement, you shouldn’t make the above-mentioned proposal. Have you travelled to all those counties/cities extensively?[/quote]

I have (I travelled around Thailand for a month, visited Malaysia and Singapore a few times) and I could have learned some of the things in these countries too. But I can tell you my wife is Hakka from a farming family in Miaoli and I can see them prepare the food themselves still and grow it and cook it in the distinctive Hakka style. They go up to the mountains and get the bamboo themselves. They still eat wild plants and herbs from the mountainsides. The same things happens all over Taiwan. Fleets of fishing boats are based here. Tea is grown in the mountains. Huge variety of fruits, bamboo, local vegetables. It’s the connection with the local food source that makes Taiwan much superior to these other countries which claim such a food culture but they don’t really get involved with the farming of it and it’s often not local produce. I can go up to any village in Taiwan and when I order in the restaurant most of the food has been produced by the locals, you can tell because the vegetables for example often have slight variations in the taste and appearance.
Singapore might have a couple of night markets but Taipei probably has 10 excellent night markets itself. Plus you haven’t read my original post correctly. What I said was consider these points (FRESHNESS, AFFORDABILITY, VARIETY OF FOOD (local and foreign), AVAILABILITY (time and location). What country can beat Taiwan in all these points combined?

Of course Taiwanese use too much pesticide (I agree) but probably not more than western countries or other Asian countries.

11

Taiwan’s food is pretty good. Better than Singapore? Definitely not. Have you ever had Fish Head Curry, Lhaksa, or a Satay at a Hawker centre in Singapore? Just as cheap as Taiwan, but the food is superior IMHO. Do you think Taiwan’s food is as healthy, as exquisite, or as beautiful in presentation as Japanese food? I don’t. Taiwan’s tea is superior to these places, but I couldn’t say it is the food mecca of Asia. However, it is one of the most reasonably-priced cities in Asia for quality food (as Brussels is in Europe).

Based on this statement, you shouldn’t make the above-mentioned proposal. Have you travelled to all those counties/cities extensively?[/quote]

I have (I travelled around Thailand for a month, been to HK loads of times, lived in Australia for a year, been to Korea for many biz trips, visited Malaysia and Singapore a few times) and I could have learned some of the things in these countries too. But I can tell you my wife is Hakka from a farming family in Miaoli and I can see them prepare the food themselves still and grow it and cook it in the distinctive Hakka style. They go up to the mountains and get the bamboo themselves. They still eat wild plants and herbs from the mountainsides. The same things happens all over Taiwan. Fleets of fishing boats are based here. Tea is grown in the mountains. Huge variety of fruits, bamboo, local vegetables. It’s the connection with the local food source that makes Taiwan much superior to these other countries which claim such a food culture but they don’t really get involved with the farming of it and it’s often not local produce. I can go up to any village in Taiwan and when I order in the restaurant most of the food has been produced by the locals, you can tell because the vegetables for example often different or have slight variations in the taste and appearance.
Singapore might have a couple of night markets but Taipei probably has 10 excellent night markets itself. Plus you haven’t read my original post correctly. What I said was consider these points (FRESHNESS, AFFORDABILITY, VARIETY OF FOOD (local and foreign), AVAILABILITY (time and location). What country can beat Taiwan and what city can beat Taipei and it’s environs in all these points combined? Recently I read a report about Tokyo being the food capital of the world, it nearly made me choke on my tea :slight_smile: because that has to be the most ridiculous statement I’d ever heard. I went to Tokyo and nearly starved to death on what mini-me portions of watered down processed stuff. Only the sushi was good for the price. What good are a few michelin star restaurants to 99.9% of people?

Of course Taiwanese use too much pesticide (I agree) but probably not more than western countries or other Asian countries.

12

Soggy, bland, horrible-tasting shite. Made in unsanitary locations with the cheapest possible ingredients. Sorry, that’s how I honestly feel about an awful lot of Taiwanese food.

13

Ditto.

14

Ditto.[/quote]
Double ditto.

15

Hi Irishstu

If you think about it a lot of Europeans would say exactly the same thing about Irish and English food :slight_smile:

Taiwanese food (as in Chinese food on the island) is ten times superior in its use of fresh food, variety of food available and cooking techniques than Irish food is (and I really like Irish food too, don’t get me wrong!). I don’t like you guys slagging off the food and taking a cheap shot at Taiwan here while it is so much better in so many ways than your own countries so I’m going to list some great stuff down for you that you can get pretty much anwwhere.

  1. Breakfast of champions (dou jiang, xiao long bao, sheng bing, man tou, bao zi, xiazi zhen jiao, you tiao)
  2. Fresh Ginger Clam or Oyster Soup (about 30 NTD0 would blow my friends at home away, I eat it every day here)
  3. Fried rice with lamb/shrimp/beef, stir fried on a wok in front of you
  4. Beef noodle soup
  5. Dou hua and rice wine sesame seed dumplings
  6. 100 NTD restaurants with massive variety of steamed fish, mostly for 100 NTD (same would cost 500 NTD in most countries!). Oysters, clams, squid, crab however you like them. Snails. Whatever you like…fresh…100-150 ntd. Fresh draught beer for 60 NTD a pop…get as drunk as you like.
  7. Chinese medicinal style lamb and beef soups.
  8. Japanese sushi and teppanyaki outlets everywhere
  9. Korean and Japanese bbqs
  10. Different Chinese style restaurants, Thai and SE Asian food available all over the island
    11 Sea food restaurants at every harbour area
  11. About 10 excellent night markets in Taipei and a night market in every town. Excellent variety of street food all the time , everywhere.
  12. All the western chains of fast food, coffee shops EVERYWHERE now, tea shops
  13. Western and Indian restaurants all over Taipei city, very affordable. Food courts in every shopping mall.

Taiwan’s availability and affordability of cuisine from all over the world also makes Ireland look like a poor man in comparison. Even take coffee shops for comparison, Taipei has more coffee shops here per block than a town has in Ireland.

Anyway let’s stick to the topic, which is Taiwan overall could be considered Asia’s Unidiscovered Food Mecca.

16

Food is like religion to a lot of people. Believe in what you believe in and leave the others to their beliefs :slight_smile:

17

[quote=“headhonchoII”]Hi Irishstu

If you think about it a lot of Europeans would say exactly the same thing about Irish and English food :slight_smile:

Taiwanese food (as in Chinese food on the island) is ten times superior in its use of fresh food, variety of food available and cooking techniques than Irish food is (and I really like Irish food too, don’t get me wrong!). Taiwan’s availability and affordability of cuisine from all over the world also makes Ireland look like a poor man in comparison.[/quote]

Ha, you changed what you wrote before I could quote you. But I reckon you did it for the right reasons. :wink:

Anyway, one difference about Irish food is that I would never claim it was the best food in Europe. Everyone’s tastes are different of course. I could eat potatoes (in one incarnation or another) with my dinner every single night for the rest of my life. Throw in a bit of red meat and a couple of veggies and I’m happy. I completely understand if others don’t feel the same way.

Anyway, I’ve said what I (personally) think of Taiwanese food. Now you know. :slight_smile:

18

[quote=“headhonchoII”]

Taiwanese food (as in Chinese food on the island) is ten times superior in its use of fresh food, variety of food available and cooking techniques [/quote]

I don’t think this is just limited to Taiwan. In most Asian countries, their is an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables. I don’t mind some of Taiwan’s cuisine, but I do think Singaporean, Malay (particularly Penang), Thai, Japanese, Yunnan, and Szechuan cuisines are superior to Taiwan’s food. With its fusion of Malaysian, Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian cuisines, I don’t know how you could not think Singaporean cuisine is far better.

19

You guys are not really staying on topic.

What I’m saying is that Taiwan as an island and Taipei as a city really are Taiwan’s Undiscovered food mecca. Not only because of Taiwanese food or Chinese food which is not so appealing to many westerners than the more familiar curry, but the sheer variety of food from Asian and western countries and the way you can get it almost everywhere all the time. That coupled with the local fruit, produce, seafood and tea makes this place quite unique in my opinion. Now more and more westerners have opened up restaurants and run them independently rather than the would be western restaurants of many other Asian countries. I just went to the Taipei Train St. yesterday and it has about 100 different food outlets there. It’s just improving in leaps and bounds. Taiwan has the connection to the food that a place like Singapore or HK or Tokyo can only aspire to. Even some temples serve food that I’ve gone to. Every place is identified by it’s local produce (often exaggeratively so). It hits a sweet spot between freshness, variety, affordability, availability and locally caught or grown food that cannot be matched elsewhere.

20

Only problem is it’s not. Undiscovered, I mean. Taiwan is very well-known indeed for the variety of its food.
But as those above said, most of it is shite. You have to look pretty hard for palatable versions of anything. Mostly its as Stu said – bland, oily, soggy, cheap ingredients, heavy use of pesticide. I like good Taiwanese food very much indeed. Unfortunately, there’s only a handful of places where I can get it.