Before we went to Taiwan, we were advised by friends who have been there to pack light and only bring three essentials: passport, cash, and extra stomach. One really can't say they've been to Taiwan without trying all their small eats. Taiwanese lives by the philosophy of eating often and eating well. Sure, there's the internationally accepted three-meals-a-day format of dining, but why be so limited when you can make like the Taiwanese and do some gourmet snacking at any time of the day, all day, every day?
Weird and wicked food and snacks from Taiwan that you should try.
Clockwise from top left:
- Stinky Tofu: is the world's best love-it-or-hate-it snack. Cubes of bean curd are deep-fried and draped with sweet and spicy sauce. We couldn't hold our nose and eat so we took a pass on them.
- Tian Bu La: I somehow suspect the name came from Japanese "Tempura" but nobody from Taiwan that we talked to could verify that. These are fish and pork balls that have been deep-fried then dunked in a broth to boil.
- Beef Noodle: there must be 20 different ways of making a bowl of beef noodle in Taiwan.
- Ice Cream and Fruits in a Waffle Cone.
- Sesame Ice Cream Pouf.
- Mango Shaved Ice.
- Sesame Sticky Rice Balls in Sweet Red Bean Soup.
- Oyster Omelete.
- Three-Cup Chicken: is cooked in a cup of rice wine, a cup of oil and a cup of soy sauce. There has been a century long conversy as to what the "three cups" really are. The flavour is further enhanced by adding some fresh basil, chilies and garlic.
I am sure there are still hundreds of other snacks that we didn't get around to trying. Other than the three travel essentials mentioned at the beginning of this post, I would also add: and a workout plan afterwards!
