Cuisines

As introduced by the Taiwan Yearbook 2006:

Whatever visitors might wish to sample, Taiwan's melting pot of cultures and cuisines is a great place to find a wide selection. Moreover, due to the variety of climates and short distances between mountains, plains, and sea, ingredients tend to come from local area and be very fresh. As mentioned above, the 2005 Gallup survey of international perspectives of Taiwan found that one of foreigners' strongest impressions was Taiwan's delicious cuisine.

Tourists can readily find restaurants that serve Taiwanese and Hakka cuisines throughout Taiwan. Taiwanese cuisine, influenced by the Dutch, Japanese, and southern Chinese, is light, simple, and easy to prepare. Naturally, plenty of seafood is featured. Dishes of the Hakka people, Taiwan's second-largest ethnic group, tend to be oily, salty, and spicy, reflecting their hard lifestyles on marginal hill land in the old days.

For a change of pace from formal restaurant dinners, snacks in Taiwan's many night markets come highly recommended. Favorite dishes include oyster omelets and oysters with noodles, waguei (steamed rice flour with egg, pork, and mushrooms), bawan (meat balls in sweet potato flour dumpling), rice with chicken, lumbia (Taiwanese wrap filled with meat, vegetables, bean sprouts and peanut powder), and desserts like daohuei (blancmange-like soybean dessert) and pearl milk tea (milk tea with chewy tapioca balls).

It is only natural, given Taiwan's historical connections with China, that cuisines from all over China can be found in Taiwan. These include the four regional styles best known to non-Asian visitors: Beijing cuisine, based on noodles, wheat breads, and dumplings; Shanghai cuisine, renowned for its seafood and rich sauces; Cantonese cuisine, generally stir fried and lightly flavored; and the world-famous spicy food of Sichuan. Taiwan is also an excellent place to find vegetarian cuisine because of the predominance of Buddhism, Daoism (Taoism), and I-Kuan Tao. Thanks to its central location in East Asia, many restaurants offer one or a combination of a wide variety of different Asian cuisines including Thai, Malay, Japanese, Korean, and Indian, while a good selection of North American and European cuisines can be found in big cities.

Specifically, Sichuan cuisine, along with its cousin, Hunan cuisine, favors the liberal use of garlic, scallions, and chilies. Sichuan food is distinguished by its hot peppery taste, while Hunan food is richer and either spicy and hot or sweet and sour. Chicken, pork, river fish, and shellfish are all common ingredients for both cuisines.

Jiangsu-Zhejiang cuisine is renowned for its superb seafood. For the most part, these dishes are lightly spiced and fairly oily, with rich and slightly sweet sauces.

Beijing (Peking) cuisine was developed in the area of the imperial palace and uses wheat rather than rice as a basic staple. Generally mild in flavor, noodles, steamed breads, buns, and dumplings are the distinguishing features of this cuisine.

Cantonese cuisine tends to be more colorful and less spicy. It is usually stir-fried to preserve both texture and flavor. A noon meal of dim sum (or Yum Cha), featuring snack-sized servings, is a great way to pick and choose a wide variety of items.

Taiwanese cuisine itself is light, simple, easy to prepare, and often liberally spiced with ginger. As Taiwan is an island, Taiwanese cuisine features plenty of seafood.