TAIWAN

Located off the coast of south eastern China, the island of Taiwan is home to over 22 million people. Due to Taiwan’s proximity to China, Taiwanese cuisine incorporates many of the flavours and dishes from the mid and southern Chinese provinces. Rice, seafood, chicken, and pork are common ingredients. Fresh, seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs also figure pro mi nen tly in the Taiwanese diet. Local specialties include the Taiwanese delicacy stinky tofu (fermented tofu with a strong odour and surprisingly mild taste), ba-wan (pork, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms in a large sticky dough), and oyster omelettes (traditional snack fare served by street vendors at the many outdoor night markets in Taiwan). A popular fixture in Taiwan, night markets offer a variety of quick, inexpensive snack foods, drinks, and sweets either served carry-out or at small tables.

Pork, seafood, chicken, rice, and soy are very common ingredients. Beef is far less common, and some Taiwanese (particularly the elderly generation) still refrain from eating it.[1] This is in part due to the considerations of some Taiwanese Buddhists, a traditional reluctance towards slaughtering precious cattle needed for agriculture, and an emotional attachment and feeling of gratefulness and thanks to the animals traditionally used for very hard labour.[1] However, due to influences from the influx of out of province Chinese in the early 1900s, the Taiwanese version of beef noodle soup is now one of the most popular dishes in Taiwan.

Taiwan's cuisine has also been influenced by its geographic location. Living on a crowded island, the Taiwanese had to look aside from the farmlands for sources of protein. As a result, seafood figures prominently in their cuisine. This seafood encompasses many different things, from large fish such as tuna and grouper, to sardines and even smaller fish such as anchovies. Crustaceans, squid, and cuttlefish are also eaten.

Because of the island's sub-tropical location, Taiwan has an abundant supply of various fruit, such as papayas, star fruit, melons, and citrus fruit. A wide variety of tropical fruits, imported and native, are also enjoyed in Taiwan. Other agricultural products in general are rice, corn, tea, pork, poultry, beef, fish, and other fruits and vegetables. Fresh ingredients in Taiwan are readily available from markets.

In many of their dishes, the Taiwanese have shown their creativity in their selection of spices. Taiwanese cuisine relies on an abundant array of seasonings for flavour: soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, fermented black beans, pickled daikon, pickled mustard greens, peanuts, chilli peppers, cilantro (sometimes called Chinese parsley), and a local variety of basil (literally "nine story pagoda").

An important part of Taiwanese cuisine are xiaochi,[2] substantial snacks along the lines of Spanish tapas or Levantine meze.

The Taiwanese xiaochi has gained much reputation internationally. Many travellers go to Taiwan just for xiaochi. The most common place to enjoy xiaochi in Taiwan is in a night market. Each night market also has its own famous xiaochi.

Moreover, the Taiwanese xiaochi has been improving to a higher level. Nowadays, Taiwanese xiaochi not only served in night markets but some luxury and high-end restaurants. The prices usually jump 100% or even higher in the restaurants. Also, the Taiwanese government supports the Taiwanese xiaochi and has held national xiaochi events in Taiwan regularly

Vegetarian restaurants are commonplace with a wide variety of dishes, mainly due to the influence of Buddhism and other syncretistic religions like I-Kuan Tao.[1] These vegetarian restaurants vary in style from all-you-can-eat to pay-by-the-weight and of course the regular order-from-a-menu.

There is a type of outdoor barbecue called khòng-iô (焢窯). To barbecue in this manner, one first builds a hollow pyramid up with dirt clods. Next, charcoal or wood is burnt inside until the temperature inside the pyramid is very high (the dirt clods should be glowing red). The ingredients to be cooked, such as taro, yam, or chicken, are placed in cans, and the cans are placed inside the pyramid. Finally, the pyramid is toppled over the food until cooked.

Many non-dessert dishes are usually considered snacks, not entrees; that is, they have a similar status to Cantonese dim sum or Spanish tapas. Such dishes are usually only slightly salted, with lots of vegetables along with the main meat or seafood item.

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