Pearl/Boba milk tea

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Bubble tea also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea or boba is a Taiwanese tea based drink invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s. Recipes contain tea of some kind, flavours of milk and sugar optional. Toppings, known as “pearls”, such as chewy tapioca ball also known as pearls or boba, popping boba, fruit jelly, grass jelly, agar jelly, sago and puddings are often added. Ice-blended versions are frozen and put into a blender, resulting in a slushy consistency. There are many varieties of the drink with a wide range of flavors. The two most popular varieties are black pearl milk tea and green pearl milk tea.

Taiwan Beef noodles soup

Beef noodles is one of the best local food taste in Taiwan. You can get beef noodles everywhere in Taiwan. Taiwan is said to be the home of beef noodle soup, and you’ll find the world’s most expensive bowl here in Taipei. But visitors don’t need to spend US$300 for a bowl, as there are beef noodle shops on practically every corner, with each serving their own special recipe. If you try only one food in Taiwan, then make it beef noodle soup.

Despite my love for Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup and how simple and iconic it is, recipes always seemed incredibly complicated and intimidating to me–making the broth, figuring out the balance of infinite spices, getting that tender beef–where do you start? It was just one of those foods where, when I wanted it, I went out and paid someone else to make it, or convinced myself that I was actually craving something else.

Pineapple cakes

Pineapple cake is a sweet traditional Taiwanese pastry containing butter, flour, egg, sugar and the pineapple jam or slices. These small shortcrust pastries filled with pineapple paste are the tastiest after-dinner treats that go perfectly with a cup of tea. There are many companies that make their own versions of the snack, but the most famous is probably Sunny Hills. These make a great souvenir, as they can be brought home on the plane to give their friend for surprising them. While pineapple cakes had historically been produced as a ceremonial food, a combination of governmental promotion and globalization popularized the pineapple cake. Pineapple cakes have become one of the top-selling souvenirs in Taiwan.

Dan Bing

Dan Bing is defined as Taiwanese egg crepe and it is one of the Taiwanese daily breakfast. Dan bing is a traditional Popular Taiwanese breakfast food that is usually sold by street vendors every morning. Since everyone is in a rush to get to work (sometimes waiting with their scooters running), the vendors have to be able to make every order to go super fast, and once you get the hang of it, you can make it pretty quickly at home, too! 

Basically, a dan bing is a thin crepe with an egg on top. There’s multiple variations; my favorite is just to mix a little sesame oil and a lot of chopped scallions into the egg. Feel free to try different fillings in the egg mixture (e.g. chopped ham, crumbled bacon, corn) or on top of the cooked egg before rolling it up (e.g. shredded cheese, rou song [pork floss], cilantro), but I wouldn’t put too much in because you want to make sure you can still roll it up easily. Soy paste and sweet chili sauce are the more traditional sauces, but you can also try oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, or even ketchup.  

Fan Tuan

Fan Tuan means the rice rolls and it is also one of the traditional breakfast in Taiwan. White sticky rice is packed down flat on the table and layered with the standard ingredients of pickled radish and mustard greens, chunks of braised egg, a bit of pork floss, and a crisp cruller. A cruller is deep-fried dough, like an elongated donut minus the sugar. They’re often eaten by themselves with a side of soy milk. For the purposes of the fan tuan, it’s fried twice and cut into bite-size pieces. Pork floss is dried meat, mashed so finely and dehydrated so that it has a texture of cotton. Egg is braised in soy sauce, which adds salty depth, and pickled radishes and mustard greens create a dimension of tartness. 

Glutinous rice is wrapped around your choice of fillings, such a fried egg, pork floss, and pickled mustard greens. The result is a dense, filling, and savory breakfast that will definitely get you through the day! 

Taiwanese Snow Ice

Taiwanese Snow Ice or Xue Hua Bing (雪花冰) is flavored ice with a milk base that is shaved razor thin. The ingredients are frozen into a block and then the Snow ice Shavers shave the block into tiny strips of “snow” that melt in your mouth!  Then you top it with whatever you want, fresh fruit, chocolate sauce, tapioca pearls, popping boba, grass jelly etc.

Taiwanese Snow ice is different than Snow Cones or Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  A lot of these use water (ice) and fruit flavored syrups while Taiwanese Snow Ice puts uses milk and puts the flavoring right into the ice block.  Taiwanese Snow Ice Shavers also uses a very sharp blade to shave the flavored ice really thin.  It’s called snow ice because of it’s fluffy consistency.

Taiwanese Style Sausages

Taiwanese Style Sausages is one of the entree food in Taiwan. You can get from any night market in Taiwan as it is part of the street foodies as well. You can’t walk 10 feet at a Taipei night market without running into a sausage vendor that sometimes has five different types available.  The basic Taiwanese sausage has a slightly sweet taste with a beautiful crisped skin.  When you take a bite, the skin bursts filling your mouth with juice.  You can find everything from the mild to the wild with flavors including pig’s blood, squid ink, and even ones made with fish and little roe stuffed beneath the skin.  I’m rather partial to the plain sausage – haven’t worked up the nerve to try the fishy ones yet.

Papayas Milk

One of the popular Taiwanese drink that you’ll find street vendors selling is Papaya Milk.  It is kind of like a tropical papaya Smoothie or Shake.  One of my early childhood memories is of my parent took me to a street vendor (in Taiwan) and buying me for my first cup of Papaya Milk.

In Taiwan, there is two kind of papaya milk. One is a cane of papaya milk and another one is fresh papaya milk. The best options and best taste would be the fresh papaya milk.

Conclusion

For instances, if you are thinking of visit Taiwan one day, and don’t know what foodies and beverages to have a try, or you have been to Taiwan and never try of these food listed above, please do considered to have taking a try. You will never feel regret after get a taste as it is the best local foods to experience. Please don’t go to Taiwan for Western food as it is not the best way to do so as you could get Western food anywhere in your town.