I’m thinking along the lines of being in a small town, with just the standard breakfast joints available.
Ruling out all the fried food straight away, as the oil used must be cheap.
Same goes for the eggs, am i right to think almost certainly from battery-farmed hens? No dan-bing then.
I can’t get away from rice porridge (粥), maybe with wu-gu rice. Which is a shame as I don’t like it that much.
Porridge should be sweet 
.
Fan tuan?
skipping.
This stuff is pretty healthy. Powdered Chinese cereal; just add water. Make sure to get the one without sugar, though (I’ve found only one flavor without added sugar).
Doesn’t fit the bill, John - has to be available from a breakfast store. I’m away from home here. On a bike.
And I NEVER skip breakfast.
Fan-tuan, yay, I hear that. Hold the egg. And I do like fan-tuans. But isn’t it hard to get a really good one?
There are few healthy options at Taiwanese breakfast shops. Fried foods, sugary drinks, refined carbs, that’s about all they got. I certainly like them but they’re not very healthy. Some shops have whole-wheat or zaliang mantou, and some of the stuff at convenience stores like tea eggs and sugar-free soybean milk are not bad either.
In Yilan there’s a breakfast store with only healthy stuff. Stuff of legends. But that’s if your in Yilan City. At a regular breakfast store… Sugar-free soybean milk is my regular item, steamed dumplings never fail.
A bowl of Kellog’s Special K… FFS!
Fruit
7-11’s mini salads… or get a cup of fruit from any breakfast stand… cant get any healthier than that unless you make it
They fail at my local store. Give’em a quick fry in oil, post-steam, to firm them up a little, they do.
they sell fruit?
A healthy breakfast that’s substantial. That’s easy. 稀飯 Xīfàn or rice porridge. That was the traditional Taiwanese breakfast until they started going greasy. If your town or village is of any size you could still find one or two places that still serve this dish.
I get a bowl of rice porridge and choose a couple toppings that are available. My favorites are peanuts, some sweet flour/toufu nuggets called dowgy, I think. You use them like croutons. You can also have some dried pork fiber added to the top if you’d like.
The place in my town is vegetarian so have vegetarian fiber with seaweed and a selection of stir fried veggies I’ll try to post some pics.
To find this place, just go to any school and ask the locals where to to get Xīfàn.
If you have a rice maker, it’s easy to make, but not as good. The dirt and atmosphere adds flavor.
:roflmao:
Yes.
But now I’m confused. What’s the difference between a bowl of 稀飯 Xīfàn, and a bowl of 白粥 bai-zhou : are they one and the same?
Spot the difference:
稀飯
白粥
I think it’s the same - rice that’s been cooked longer with more water.
I am not enjoying XiFan at all… not the breakfast kind at least… the texture, the lack of flavor in rice, the preserved things they like to put in it… Ewwww for me.
In here I have a vegetarian breakfast store that sells sub style sandwiches, with really good quality veggies. Otherwise I suggest the 7-11 triangle 飯糰s or low kcal bread.
If it can’t be eaten home (cereals then, or muesli), then 包子 or 饅頭 seems pretty healthy, and good stores have a variety of flavors and fillings too. Someone suggested this already.
[quote=“Nuit”]I’m thinking along the lines of being in a small town, with just the standard breakfast joints available.
Ruling out all the fried food straight away, as the oil used must be cheap.
Same goes for the eggs, am i right to think almost certainly from battery-farmed hens? No dan-bing then.
I can’t get away from rice porridge (粥), maybe with wu-gu rice. Which is a shame as I don’t like it that much.
Porridge should be sweet .[/quote]
You’re going about this the wrong way. If you MUST eat at those places, then you simply have to select the healthiest thing they have. Ruling out any category at all is a bad idea. When eating at those places, I get three chaodan (scrambled eggs) and liang tiao pagen (two strips of bacon). Sure, i use real butter at home, high quality eggs and bacon but that’s what they have. Or I’ll get a bacon/egg/cheese sandwich with whole wheat, knowing they’ll use the sweet fake mayo crap with whatever processed “cheese” they have, etc. But when you’re out then you have less choice.
When you’re biking you need carbs … any 7-11 has bread and chocolate … cereals. Sweet potatoes. Veggies are done in any local breakfast store as they also do rice, noodles, pork …
I am really sorry but when i see the word “Breakfast” , i can’t help picturing this 