Much of Taiwan’s culinary heritage comes from China. Culinary styles come from all over China including Canton, Hunan, Mongolia, Beijing, Shanghai and Szechuan, with Taiwan itself contributing a considerable amount of signature dishes in its own right.

The island’s cuisine has a great deal of Japanese influence, while seafood is unsurprisingly a speciality across the nation. It's popular to find street markets and stalls selling all kinds of food to go or to eat in, being a true local experience, dinning with the locals in these markets. Taiwanese eating traditions comes in the form of xiaochi (little eats), which in effect are a Taiwanese version of tapas. Buying various xiaochi dishes to make up a larger meal is a particularly common way of eating at night markets. For visitors, it’s also a great way of sampling a wide range of what’s on offer.

Specialities in Taiwan include:

Food

Beef Noodles: (牛肉麵) is one the most liked common cuisines in Taiwan. Delicious beef noodles require three essential elements which are noodles, broth and beef. Broth is especially crucial because it is the soul of beef noodles. There are two kinds of beef noodles, braised and clear stewed that come with stewed sirloin and cow tendon. Street vendors and old shops alike endeavour to cook the best beef noodles of the finest taste, and beef noodles have become the pride of Taiwan.

Soup Dumplings or Xiao Long Bao: (小籠包) They are a famous snack originated from the south of Changjiang. It features a small size style dumpling steamed in a wooden circular bowl, with different fillings (generally pork, chicken, crab-meat, vegetables etc) the taste is juicy and fresh. It's made with a thin wrapper and exquisite shape. The dumplings are made to excellence, in the paper-thin wrappers and nice presentation, chefs spread flour on the rolling pin before rolling the dough. Traditional dumplings have at least 14 folds each, but in some stores that are particularly dainty about soup dumplings like Din Tai Fung Restaurant, here a soup dumpling might have over 18 folds!

Minced Pork Rice (Stewed Pork Rice):(肉飯) It's a bowl of minced pork rice with a unique texture to the tenderness of the pork without greasiness. You can find minced pork rice everywhere from a street vendor to a five-star hotel. Stewed pork rice commonly refers to the minced pork rice served in Northern and Central Taiwan of which the pork is minced by a knife and stewed with soy sauce. In Southern Taiwan, the pork is minced by machine and the dish is called minced pork rice in direct translation from Chinese.

Intestine and Oyster Vermicelli: Vermicelli is a common Taiwanese food. It consists of light brown noodles in a bowl of thick, very flavourful soup. The bowl is then topped off with a few oysters and some cilantro, with vinegar available for the eater to add to taste. It’s very rich, but only if you are into Oysters. You can add some chilli sauce, black vinegar, minced garlic and coriander to elevate the flavor! As well Chopped intestines are often offered as an addition to oyster vermicelli.

Oyster Omelette:(大良煎蠔餅) a perfectly cooked oyster omelet with a crispy texture from the coating made of yam flour and cornstarch. Each store boasts their signature chilli sauce that adds to the smooth and chewy mouthfeel of oyster omelettes. The scent of eggs explode in your mouth as you first take a bite of the omelette with refreshing vegetables. It is a popular snack when you visit a night market in Taiwan.

Stinky Tofu: (臭豆腐) was named after the special aroma of fermented tofu. Whether it is deep fried or steamed and stewed, that indescribable flavor is what makes it an iconic local snack. Taiwanese people love it whereas most visitors find it horrible. The first time you smell stinky tofu, it doesn’t really makes you hungry. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste as terrible as it smells. Wouldn’t say that it tastes good either, but most visitors can at least find it , "eatable" or better say "swallow-able". Most stinky tofu vendors in Taiwan offer deep fried ones with non-spicy Taiwanese kimchi or sichuan kimchi as a side dish to balance off the greasiness of the tofu. Now a days spicy stinky tofu is a new way of enjoying fermented tofu. It comes with duck blood curd and pickled cabbage in a thick spicy broth immersed in the unique stinky tofu aroma. Some vendors even add intestines to the dish known as “intestine stinky hotpot”! It is a truly unique Taiwanese dish but not tasty for everyone!

Fried Chicken cutlet: (炸雞) With a great variety in flavours from chilli pepper to various seasonings like five-spice, seaweed or wasabi, this deep fried chicken is a favourite amongst Taiwanese! There are even variants like barbecued chicken cutlet with sweet sauce and Japanese-style cheese chicken cutlet with cheese fillings. Cooking method varies from the traditionally deep fried version to charcoal grilled or cheese casserole. There are also vendors that feature gigantic chicken cutlets or chicken thigh cutlets. 6

Other snacks: Many other snacks can be found along all the night markets, old streets and popular night gathering areas which are very common to buy from street vendors who come out with their trolleys or stalls and delight any visitor with cheap snacks prepared on site. You can find dumplings, friend squid, fried octopus balls, juices, sweets, sausages, meat snack, soups and even ice cream!

Desserts

Shaved Ice: It was first introduced to Taiwan during the Japanese colonial period. It is made with an ice-shaving machine and added with different toppings and sauce. It has since become a very common treat in Taiwan. Top choices include a bowl of mango shaved ice, taro shaved ice and red bean shaved ice or brown sugar shaved ice!

Pineapple Cake (菠蘿蛋糕): is a renowned Taiwanese snack made of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, Chinese squash and pineapple jam. The tender fillings inside the shortcrust coating is full of local flavours that are simple yet authentic. It is also one of the most popular food souvenirs to take back with you as many shops sell the Pineapple cake in nicely presented boxes with different flavours and colours. "Douhua" (豆花): is a dessert that can be enjoyed year round in both hot and cold weather. Douhua is made from soy milk which is set by using coagulants. The resulting texture of douhua is soft and silky. It is often served with a sweet syrup and various toppings. Each shop selling douhua has many toppings for customers to choose from, such as peanuts, mesona jelly, tapioca balls, red beans or taro paste.

Drinks

As for drinks: Tea is a major component of Taiwanese culture, with the island producing many acclaimed varieties "oolong" being the most famous. Teahouses are found in great numbers, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary. Many tea-shops embrace modern innovation, as a result is the global popularity of bubble tea (a cooled tea-based drink containing small tapioca balls and drunk through a straw), which originated here.

Alcohol is easy to come by, although there’s not always a huge variety on offer. The most popular drink is Taiwan Beer, while something stronger is the local firewater, gaoliang jiu, which is made from sorghum.

Bubble Tea (珍珠奶茶): This is the most typical and renowned drink in Taiwan, and now is available to buy worldwide as it has become so famous. The tapioca pearls at the bottom of the drink are often mistakenly referred to as the "bubbles." However, bubble tea is another term for milk tea. Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea). 

It was invented in Tainan and Taichung in the 1980s. It contains many different flavours of tea (which you can choose from), milk, as well as sugar and ice (optional). The toppings are also many, such as chewy tapioca balls (the most typical to have in Bubble tea), also known as pearls, fruit jelly, grass jelly or agar jelly. 

The two most popular varieties are black pearl milk tea, brown sugar bubble tea and green pearl milk tea. Best drank cold, with some ice during the hot months (May to September).