Tainan
台南
Taiwan's oldest city and culinary capital, where food traditions run deepest. Famous for unique breakfast culture, sweeter flavors, and dishes you won't find anywhere else. A must-visit for serious food lovers.
Foods to try in Tainan
Soup Dumplings
Xiaolongbao is a type of steamed bun (baozi) from the Jiangnan region of China, especially associated with Shanghai and Wuxi. It is traditionally prepared in xiaolong, small bamboo steaming baskets, which give them their name. Xiaolongbao are often referred to as a kind of "dumpling", but should not be confused with British or American-style dumplings nor with Chinese jiaozi. Similarly, they are considered a kind of "soup dumpling" but should not be confused with other larger varieties of tang bao. In Shanghainese, they are also sometimes known as sioh-lon meu-doe or xiaolong-style mantous.
Beef Noodle Soup
Beef noodle soup is a Chinese and Taiwanese noodle soup made of stewed or red braised beef, beef broth, vegetables and Chinese noodles. There are two common variations of beef noodle which differ in the way the broth is prepared. When soy sauce is added, the soup is called red roasted or braised beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵). Braised beef noodles was reputedly invented by KMT's Sichuan Province recruits who fled from mainland China to Kaoshiung, Taiwan. Therefore, it is sometimes (misleadingly) referred to as "Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup" (四川牛肉麵). The red braised beef noodles is the most common type of beef noodle in Taiwan. The beef is often stewed with the broth and simmered, sometimes for hours. Chefs also let the stock simmer for long periods of time with bone marrow; some vendors can cook the beef stock for over 24 hours. This type of beef noodle tends to be spicy because doubanjiang and five-spice powder are sometimes added. However, the broth may also have a sweeter taste if the fat from the beef is simmered. There are several variations with the soy-based broth, such as spicy, tomato, garlic, and herbal medicine. The tomato variation (番茄牛肉麵) is popular in Taiwan and features chunks of tomatoes in a rich red-coloured soy-tomato broth.
Tea
Taiwan is famous for its tea which are of three main types: oolong tea, black tea and green tea. The earliest record of tea trees found in Taiwan can be traced back to 1717 in Shui Sha Lian (水沙連), present-day Yuchih and Puli, Nantou County.[1] Some of the teas retain the island's former name, Formosa. Oolongs grown in Taiwan account for about 20% of world production.
Soy Milk
Soy milk is a plant milk produced by soaking dried soybeans and grinding them in water. A traditional staple of East Asian cuisine, soy milk is a stable emulsion of oil, water and protein. The taste of soy milk differs from that of cow's milk, and from manufacturer to manufacturer. An informal blind tasting found the soy milks to be consistently significantly inferior to cow's milk. More formal but less detailed tests confirm this preference.
Egg Crepe
Dan bing is a delightful, delicious, and traditional Taiwanese breakfast treat. Essentially, it's a savory crepe filled with egg and varying fillings from ham to bacon to vegetables to corn. You’ll find it at breakfast stands all over Taiwan, and may also find it difficult to not want to eat it every day. Dan bing also pairs very well with the popular dou jiang, or soy milk. I recommend trying it both with sauce and without.
Rice Noodle Soup
Rice noodle soup is often cooked up in huge pots, usually containing intestines, other meats, or vegetables. Noodles can be on the thicker side as pictured here, but also come in a thinner vermicelli variant.
Stinky Tofu
Stinky tofu, or chòu dòufu (臭豆腐), is a form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands as a snack, or in lunch bars as a side dish, rather than in restaurants.\n\nStinky tofu is usually served deep-fried (often served drizzled with sauce and topped with sour pickled vegetables), grilled, or added to a Sichuan mala soup base (with solid goose blood, pickled mustard greens, and pork intestines).
Shaved Ice
To create the dessert, a large mound of ice shavings are first placed on a plate. In the past, ice shavings were created by hand, either by using a large mallet to crush ice into fine pieces, using a large freehand blade to shave off ice, or turning a hand-cranked machine to do the same. In modern times, a special machine is used, resulting in ice-shavings that are much finer and thinner than those in the past. Some establishments may still produce their ice by hand, and thus the texture varies. A variety of toppings are then added. Traditionally, sugarcane juice or syrup was added to give it a mildly sweet taste, like that of drinking sugarcane juice with ice cubes, but other options include various kinds of syrups or condensed milk, or both. Examples of toppings include fruit, taro, azuki beans, mung beans, sweet potato chunks, peanuts, almond junket, and grass jelly. Various pre-set combinations exist, but customers can often choose individual toppings as they desire.
Braised Pork Rice
Minced pork rice is a Taiwanese style rice dish commonly seen throughout Taiwan and China's Fujian province. The flavor may vary from one region to another, but the basic ingredients remain the same: ground pork marinated and boiled in soy sauce served on top of steamed rice.
Coffee
Well, I'm sure you're familiar with coffee, but did you know there is an incredible and booming coffee culture all across Taipei? You can throw a stone around the city and hit some of the finest in single-origin coffee. Most cafes are also very laptop-friendly if you're looking to get a little bit of extra work done. I've been to literally over one hundred cafes in Taipei myself, and will show you some of my favorites.
Bubble Tea
Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, boba milk tea, boba juice or simply boba) (Chinese: 珍珠奶茶 or 波霸奶茶) is a Taiwanese tea-based drink invented in Taichung in the 1980s. Most bubble tea recipes contain a tea base mixed/shaken with fruit or milk, to which chewy tapioca balls or fruit jellies are often added. Ice-blended versions are usually mixed with fruit or syrup, resulting in a slushy consistency. There are many varieties of the drink with a wide range of ingredients. The two most popular varieties are bubble milk tea with tapioca and bubble milk green tea with tapioca.
Pineapple Cake
Pineapple cake contains butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam. However, some bakers add or substitute pineapple with winter melon to make the jam. Its crumbly, fragrant crust and the chewy, sweet fruit filling come together as a companion for tea and other beverages.
Beef Soup
A popular snack in Tainan, beef soup is served up with fresh, thinly sliced beef in a simple, light broth. Unlike other types of soups, the beef is not frozen prior to serving. It's instead prepared from cows slaughtered the same day you eat it. Boiled with large cattle bones, the soup is cooked and then served with ground-pork or ground-beef rice. Because of the early morning preparation time with the cattle, most stores open very early, generally around five o'clock. Beef soup is also usually served with a little bit of ginger you can enjoy with each bite.
Milkfish
The milkfish is quite the bony fish, moreso than most fish out there, and it's often found around southern Taiwan in stores, markets, and restaurants. Fear not though! The milkfish farmers usually send the fish out to processing plants where they pick out the fish bones, making them more suitable for dishes like milkfish soup or porridge, thus. Milkfish dishes tend to use meat from the belly, which is very plump, soft, and light to the taste.
Tea Egg
Tea egg is a typical Chinese savory food commonly sold as a snack, in which a boiled egg is cracked and then boiled again in tea, sauce and/or spices. It is also known as marble egg because cracks in the egg shell create darkened lines with marble-like patterns. Commonly sold by street vendors or in night markets in most Chinese communities throughout the world, it is also commonly served in Asian restaurants. Although it originated from China and is traditionally associated with Chinese cuisine, other similar recipes and variations have been developed throughout Asia. In Taiwan, tea eggs are a fixture of convenience stores. Through 7-Eleven chains alone, an average of 40 million tea eggs are sold per year. In recent years, major producers of tea eggs have branched out into fruit and other flavored eggs, such as raspberry, blueberry and salt.
Ba-wan
Ba-wan (literally: "meat circle") is a Taiwanese street food, consisting of a 6–8 cm diameter disk-shaped translucent dough filled with a savory stuffing and served with a sweet and savory sauce. The stuffing varies widely according to different regions in Taiwan, but usually consists of a mixture of pork, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms. Changhua-style ba-wan is considered to be the "standard" ba-wan as it is the most famous and most widely imitated of all styles of ba-wan.
Bowl Cake
The bowl cake is made with rice ground into flour and typically gelled together with pork fat. Once the contents is poured, the bowl is then steamed and a layer of soy sauce is applied on top. Other ingredients may include shrimp and duck egg. To eat a bowl cake like a pro, you take a fork, slice into it like a pizza, and then cut it up into bite-size pieces.
Wonton
A wonton (also spelled wantan, wanton, or wuntun in transcription from Cantonese; Mandarin: húndun) is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines. The most common filling is ground pork and shrimp with a small amount of flour added as a binder. The mixture is seasoned with salt, spices, and often garlic or finely chopped green onion. Factory-made, frozen varieties are sold in supermarkets. Commonly, they are handmade at the point of sale in markets or small restaurants by the proprietor while awaiting customers. In markets, they are sold by the unit, without being pre-cooked.
Stir-Fried Eel
A specialty dish featuring tender eel stir-fried with ginger, garlic, and basil in a savory sauce. Often served over noodles, this Tainan favorite showcases the rich, delicate flavor of fresh eel prepared with traditional Taiwanese seasonings. The eel is typically deboned and cut into bite-sized pieces, making it easy to enjoy.
Shrimp Rice
A Tainan specialty consisting of small, sweet local shrimp served atop warm rice with a light soy-based sauce. This deceptively simple dish highlights the natural sweetness of fresh Taiwan shrimp, often blanched to preserve their delicate texture and flavor. A bowl of shrimp rice represents the essence of southern Taiwan's seafood culture.
Sun Cake
A famous Taiwanese pastry originating from Taichung, featuring an ultra-thin, flaky crust encasing a sweet maltose filling. The delicate layers shatter at the slightest touch, revealing the honey-like sweetness inside. Despite its Taichung origins, this iconic pastry is now found in traditional bakeries across Taiwan.
Mung Bean Cake
A traditional Taiwanese confection made from finely ground mung beans pressed into delicate, crumbly squares. These jade-colored cakes have a subtle sweetness and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Often served during festivals and special occasions, they represent the refined simplicity of classical Taiwanese pastry-making.
Egg Yolk Pastry
A luxurious Taiwanese pastry featuring flaky, layered crust surrounding sweet red bean or lotus seed paste with a salted duck egg yolk center. The contrast between the buttery pastry, sweet filling, and savory yolk creates a complex, indulgent experience. Traditionally enjoyed during Mid-Autumn Festival but available year-round at quality bakeries.