Hi I'm Ray, and I'm Crown. Today we'll be introducing Taiwanese food for you!
When talking about Taiwan, besides praising the friendliness of the people here, one would never forget mentioning Taiwanese food
Are you at a lost for words to describe to your foreign friends exactly what they're eating here in Taiwan?
Today, let us take you to eat some delicious food and teach you how to introduce these 10 amazing Taiwanese food to your foreign friends!
Actually we want to eat them ourselves...
Hey, not so loud...
Alright, shush...
This is the Taiwan’s oyster omelette. Let’s take a look at its name
Its literal meaning is 蚵仔(ô á) oyster, 煎 (jiān) fry
Then let’s introduce the ingredients inside, there are oysters, and there are eggs and vegetables
So, it’s made with small oysters, fresh veggies and it’s held together by whipped eggs and starch
Last, let’s try to describe its texture and taste
The flavor comes from the oysters and the eggs, and usually there is a savory sauce to spice it up
And also, there’s the crunchiness of the vegetables
Alrighty! My turn! This is our traditional Taiwanese breakfast. Shāo bing yóu tiáo!
Its literal meaning is 燒 (shāo) burn, 餅 (bing) pastry, and 油 (yóu) oil, 條 (tiáo) stick
In English we can also call them oven rolls an d friend bread sticks
These are both made of dough, only one is baked and the other deep-fried
So, they’re both made of dough, one is baked and the other deep fried, so they go together as a pair!
Also, we’d often order 豆漿 (dòu jiāng), soy bean milk to go with our breakfast
Some may say that this is not really healthy to have for your breakfast, but yum is yum
Some may say that this is not your ideal “healthy breakfast”, but it’s the classic breakfast here in Taiwan
Next up we have our Taiwan’s minced pork rice. Lets take a look at its name
Its literal meaning is 魯 (lǔ) marinate, 肉 (ròu) meat, 飯 (fàn) rice
Basically it’s marinated pork on rice. So, it’s ground pork marinated and boiled in soy sauce served on top of rice
Personally, I love minced pork rice
It’s a really common delicacy here in Taiwan because of how well the two goes together. It’s salty, meaty, and tasty!
Now we have Taiwan’s most famous stinky tofu. Its literal meaning is 臭 (chòu) smelly, 豆腐 (dòu fu) tofu
This is fermented tofu, and can be prepared in various ways like steaming, stewing or deep-frying.
So it’s fermented tofu and can be steamed, stewed, or deep-fried
The stinky tofu is infamous due to its smelly odor, and that’s why a lot of foreigners steer clear from this special delicacy
We can’t force them to eat it, but you can tell them: “It doesn’t taste as bad as it smells! Go ahead and try it!”
Then we have our tea eggs, for a long while, these are the only food I ate for breakfast
Lets take a look at its name. Its literal meaning is 茶 (chá) tea, 葉 (yè) leaf, 蛋 (dàn) egg
So it’s prepared by putting eggs inside of black tea+soy sauce to cook and boil. So it is made by boiling eggs in black tea broths
You can find these easily in all the convenience stores in Taiwan, so you can say:
This can be found in all convenience stores in Taiwan and it is as nutritious as it is delicious
You can taste the sweetness of the tea and the saltiness of the soy sauce
This is Taiwan’s pig’s blood cake. Its literal meaning is 豬 (zhū) pig, 血 (xuè) blood, 糕 (gāo) cake
This is really made of pig’s blood, legit blood, and it will take form like this into blocks by using sticky rice.
So, it’s made with pig’s blood, sticky rice, and soy broth, and is usually coated in peanut flour
This is also one of Taiwan’s very strange food to foreigners, mainly because it’s looks black and is made of blood
But you can tell your foreign friends: “It’s basically sticky rice, it doesn’t taste like blood at all!
Don’t let the looks fool you. It’s a very common food in Taiwan.”
Next up we have the oyster vermicelli. (Pronounces the name in Taiwanese)
Lets take a look at its name. So, its literal meaning is 蚵仔 (ô á) oyster, 麵 (miàn) noodle, 線 (xiàn) string
Very often, we’d add some extra good ingredients in with the noodles, we’d have oysters, intestines, meatballs
So, it’s made of thick soup with goodies like oysters, intestines, meatballs. And sometimes, coriander is added for extra flavor
This is often eaten as a late night snack/supper, and its noodles is very thick and very rich in flavor
So, we can say: "The vermicelli soup is thick and a little bit sticky, usually rich in flavor due to all the goodies inside."
Now we have my favorite fried chicken! Its literal meanins is 炸 (zhá) deep-fried, 雞 (jī) chicken, 排 (pái) fillet
Such a large chicken fillet is only seen in Taiwan, we deep-fry large pieces of chicken
So it’s flattened chicken deep-fried to a crisp, and it’s usually quite large
So, of course, a fried chicken fillet will be crispy and crunchy, the outer skin is very crispy while the inside is juicy and tender
Yum
Beef noodles is Taiwan’s signature delicacy. Lets look at its name. Its literal meaning is 牛肉 (niú ròu) beef, 麵 (miàn) noodles
So what’s in a beef noodles soup? There’s beef of course, beef broth, vegetables, and of course noodles
So you can say: It's made with braised beef, beef broth, vegetables, and Chinese noodles
We also have national beef noodles competition in Taiwan, so you can see how much we love our beef noodles
So we even have national beef noodles competition here in Taiwan. That just goes to show how much we love eating beef noodles
However, I think that the key essence of a beef noodles is its soup
So, the soup of the beef noodles is usually simmered for a long time so it’s very sweet and that also goes into the noodles as well
Last but not least, we have our most famous and popular, steamed dumplings
Its literal meaning is 小 (xiǎo) little, 籠 (long) basket, 包 (bāo) bun
So, inside this exquisite little thing, the filling is pork and they will be steamed inside the bamboo baskets until they’re well cooked
So this is minced pork wrapped into a dumpling and prepared in small, steaming, bamboo baskets
So with steamed dumplings, we know that they are juicy and delicious
this delicacy is juicy and meaty, and it’s easy to eat in one bite. You’ll fall in love with your first bite!
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This is our new series, the introducing Taiwan series, and we’ll be using English to introduce Taiwan to you
If you like this series, please comment in the comment section below and tell us
what you’d like to see us introduce next time! What food, place, or culture would you like to know about?
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And that is a wrap, thank you guys for watching, as always, and we’ll catch you guys next time! See ya!