In this blog, we explore Taiwan, an island located in East Asia and famous for its night markets filled with neon lights, noise, and a mix of aromas coming from countless street food stalls that instantly make your mouth water. In these markets, families work side by side using their own recipes, passed down through generations. Many classic Taiwanese dishes have their roots in southern China, especially Fujian (Min Nan) and Guangdong, with an added Japanese influence from the period of Japanese rule between 1895 and 1945.
Our journey began at Ningxia Night Market, one of the most popular night markets in Taipei. With more than 200 stalls and open every night, it comes alive after sunset. After a very hot day, locals of all ages stroll through the market, while visitors are welcomed by the irresistible aromas. With so many options available, we decided to try some classic Taiwanese dishes
Our first stop was the Sanxing green onion meat roll, a traditional dish famous for using Sanxing green onions, a variety of scallion that is sweeter and more aromatic than regular ones. The filling is made with pork, soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, and garlic. Everything is wrapped in a thin wheat dough and cooked on a grill until golden and smoky.
Next, we tried Taiwanese roasted corn, a popular street food where the corn is first simmered in a sweet marinade and then slowly grilled over charcoal. The result is an umami caramelised crust, made with soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and aromatic spices such as white pepper and five-spice powder. Right next to this stall, we also tried sweet potato balls, which are crispy fried snacks with a crunchy exterior and chewy centre.
Once we finished the starters, it was time for the main dish. What better choice than one of Taiwan’s most beloved dishes: the oyster omelette (he-zai-jian). Fresh small oysters are mixed with eggs, leafy greens, and sweet potato starch, giving the omelette its signature chewy texture. We paired it with Taiwanese braised meat sauce, made by slowly braising chopped pork in a sweet and savoury mixture of soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic, ginger, and five-spice powder. It was the perfect dish to end the night.
During the next few days, we visited different food stalls. One of them specialised in gua bao, also known as pork belly buns. This dish is believed to have originated in Fujian (Hokkien) cuisine in southeastern China, and it's a very common breakfast food in Taiwan and other parts of Asia. The bun is soft and steamed, filled with braised pork belly, fresh coriander, and sweet peanut powder. Its flavour comes from the spices used in the braising process, including soy sauce, rice wine, five-spice powder, garlic, and ginger. Sweet, aromatic, and addictive, it was hard to eat just one.
Another iconic Taiwanese dish we tried was lu shui goose. In Taiwan, geese were easier to raise than ducks in certain rural areas and over time it became more popular among Taiwanese people. This was the first time I had tried goose and I was surprised by the texture of its meat, somewhere between chicken and duck. This one, in particular, was well seasoned and tender. I learned that the goose is braised in lu shui, a seasoned stock made from soy sauce, ginger, scallions, white pepper, and five-spice powder. It is served with noodles cooked in goose broth, vegetables, and goose blood pudding cooked in goose oil. Rich yet balanced, this dish showed how all the ingredients come together in perfect harmony. I would definitely try this again.
After the richness of the goose and with temperatures rising, it was time for dessert. We chose the iconic peanut ice cream roll, made by shaving a block of peanut candy into snow-like flakes and rolling them inside a thin crepe with scoops of taro ice cream and its star ingredient - fresh coriander. At first, we were dubious about the inclusion of the coriander - but upon the first bite, we were mindblown by how its distinct herbaceousness gave a refreshing crispness which not only complemented the sweetness, but elevated the dessert to a whole new level. We loved it so much that we immediately went for seconds.
Noodles are an essential part of Taiwan’s history, identity, and culture. Because they are affordable and quick to make, there is a wide variety of dishes where noodles play a central role. One of the most famous is beef noodle soup.
During our trip, we tried several versions, each with its own recipe, but the spicy braised tendon and beef noodles stood out as one of our favourites. The tendon is slow-cooked for hours until it becomes soft, gelatinous, and melts in your mouth. You could feel the quality of the ingredients used in this dish and the broth was amazing, slightly spicy and refreshing, with familiar flavours such as star anise, ginger, garlic, and doubanjiang that gives that particular red color to the soup. The noodles were thick, flat, and cooked perfectly, with a chewy texture that absorbed the broth beautifully and the garnish added an extra texture to the whole combination. A must try!
Next was a delicious bowl of creamy broth beef noodles, a traditional soup whose roots come from Sichuan and northern China. Its creaminess comes from beef bones and marrow simmered for hours, while thin wheat noodles absorb the flavours of the broth. Compared to the previous dish, this one was mildly savoury, less spicy, yet deeply satisfying. I wouldn’t mind having another bowl right now.
Another of our favourite noodle soup dishes was the classic fish noodle soup. The contrast in textures from the fried fish, omelette, and savoury broth left us speechless and wanting more. Despite its creamy appearance, the soup contains no milk; instead, its milky colour comes from a traditional Chinese culinary technique that emulsifies fats and proteins from the fish bones through a rapid, rolling boil, resulting in an opaque, milky broth without the addition of dairy products. The soup was highly aromatic, with notes of garlic, ginger, and chillies. In this version, sōmen noodles were used, topped with vegetables, scallions, seaweed, and an egg omelette. Several dipping sauces, such as chopped garlic and ginger or dried fish or shrimp with chilli, were also provided for those who wanted to enhance the flavours further
Finally, among so many iconic dishes, one of the last flavours I took with me from Taiwan was the simple scallion pancake. Although scallion pancakes are not originally from Taiwan, they have become one of the island’s most iconic street foods. These flatbreads are made from wheat flour, water, scallions, oil, and salt. Crispy on the outside, flaky on the inside, and full of green onion aroma, it was the perfect way to close a journey marked by street food, spices, and flavour combinations that leave you wondering when you will return to taste them all again!
