Eating in Taiwan 吃在臺灣

Before my first visit to my husband’s home country in 2009, he lend me a movie directed by Ang Lee called Eat Drink Man Woman. Have you seen the opening scene? It’s culinary art at it’s finest. After I watched it, I immediately called him fascinated to know more about the island. Honestly, sometimes life can really surprise you. One moment I’m in Maine watching the movie, and the next moment I’m standing in the very same overpass that was shot in one of the scenes. I saw the overpass every time I walked home from Shida. I smile just thinking about it.

I honestly miss the food on the beautiful island. I’m in Shanghai for the time being.

2009年第一次造訪了我先生的故鄉前, 他給我看了一部李安導演的飲食男女。你看過開場的畫面嗎?那真是烹調藝術的極致。我立刻打電話給他, 並夢想知道更多有關臺灣的一切。有時候命運真的會給你一個驚喜, 上一秒我還在緬因州看著這部電影, 下一秒我卻站在這部電影中出現過的天橋場景上, 我每天從師大走路回家時都會看到這座天橋, 我每當想到這個, 我的嘴角就露出笑容。

我喜歡在夜市說臺灣話。我覺得臺灣菜很好吃。我要吃臭豆腐。什麼是你喜歡的臺灣小吃?

I had my first taste of black pepper cake (胡椒餅) when I was in Taoyuan – fresh out of the oven. Dawen and I sat down to relax at the nearest 7/11.

Dawen told me he has been eating this treat since childhood. This treat is called 車輪餅.

I had curry stinky tofu (臭豆腐) while Dawen had the original.

This is such a classic Taiwanese dessert. Honestly though, the tapioca was cooked to perfection. It had such a perfect chewy sensation I don’t get anywhere else.

There are other classic Taiwanese desserts such as these two and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m all about the ice cream in Taitung.

Pickle bun (割包) is one of my husband’s favourites. My husband would recommend you this place but it got shut down. Too bad. Shida is not what it used to be. I do not eat pork, so I eat the newer version of the Taiwanese hamburger.

Mochi  (麻糬 -台北雙連O仔湯店 ) is a Japanese invention. While this treat is usually not my cup of tea, Dawen and I had warm, tasty mochi when we were at the Sun Moon Lake just a few days before New Years.

My husband and I are all about the Taiwanese tea branches (even if there are Taiwanese tea branches in Shanghai, it’s simply not the same). Let’s not forget to mention a Taiwanese drink called bubble tea (珍珠奶茶). Bubble tea was invented during the 1980’s in Taichung. Some of the Taiwanese tea branches are Gong Cha, CoCo, Come Buy, Chatime, etc.

Barbeque squid (烤魷魚)! The man who grilled the squid meant business. Dawen watched him saying he knows what he’s doing. The result? Tasty, well-seasoned juicy squid.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the food to eat when you visit the island. A good place to start is to read 45 Taiwanese food we can’t live without. If you want to know what restaurant to go to while visiting Taipei: Hungry Girl in Taipei.