Pi Dan Tofu Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Editor's Note — This story complements the Culinary Journeys Goggle box series, ambulation monthly on CNN International. You can come across more of the show here: www.cnn.com/journeys. Share photos of your own Culinary Journeys on Instagram with the hashtag #CNNFood for a chance to be featured on CNN.

Taiwan (CNN) — Small eats, and a lot of them, are the big affair in Taiwan.

Recently voted by our readers equally the all-time nutrient destination in the world, the culinary philosophy here is consume often and eat well. Sure, there's the internationally accustomed three-meals-a-day dining format -- simply why limit yourself when yous can make like the Taiwanese and practice gourmet snacking whatever time of day?

The Taiwanese majuscule, Taipei, has about 20 streets dedicated to food. Every time you lot recall y'all've found the best streetside bao, the most incredible stinky tofu or mind-blowing beef noodle soup, there'due south another Taiwanese food shop that surpasses it.

The island'south food is a mash-up of the cuisine of the Min Nan, Teochew and Hokkien Chinese communities, along with Japanese cooking techniques. It's a culinary beloved-in with diversely succulent offspring.

Arguments most Taiwan's best nutrient adventure ruining relationships and lifelong friendships. Food: it's serious, it's respected, it'south all excellent when you travel to Taiwan.

Note: Foods, not the restaurants, are the stars in this listing. Restaurants recommended here are ones we trust. But there are plenty more nosotros haven't tried. Withal.

Get a quick taste of Taiwan's capital letter equally we tour five of Taipei'due south hottest restaurants. Video by Black Buddha.

i. Braised pork rice

"Where in that location'south a wisp of smoke from the kitchen chimney, there will exist lurou fan [braised pork with rice]," goes the Taiwanese saying. The popularity of this humble dish cannot be overstated.

"Lurou fan" is almost synonymous with Taiwanese food.

"Lurou fan is the more ordinary and downwards-to-world dish for any Taiwanese," says Rae Lin, founder of dearbnb, a Taiwanese travel website. "From your female parent's version of lurou fan to the ane served in a restaurant, information technology'due south the one dish we truly tin can't live without."

A skillful bowl of lurou fan features finely chopped, not quite minced, pork belly, slow-cooked in aromatic soy sauce with five spices. There should be an aplenty amount of fattiness, in which lies the magic. The meat is spooned over hot rice. A picayune sweetness, a little salty, braised pork rice is comfort nutrient perfected.

ii. Beef noodles

You know a dish is an obsession when it gets its ain festival. Beef noodle soup inspires competitiveness and innovation in Taiwanese chefs. Everyone wants to claim the "beefiness noodle rex" title.

Whether y'all're visiting the trendy Pivot Chuan Lan's rib-eye steak noodle eatery or have fabricated a foray into the first makeshift noodle shack you spot, it'southward almost impossible to have a bad beef noodle experience in Taiwan.

Lin Dong Fang's beef shanks with al dente noodles in herbal soup are a perennial favorite. The streetside eatery's secret weapon is the dollop of homemade chili-butter, added last. Simply many locals prefer a stall without a sign on Tao Yuan Street (once you spot the queuing crowd you'll know you've arrived).

It's then famous that the shop is now synonymous with the street, dubbed "Tao Yuen Street beef noodle" -- well-nigh supporters don't actually know its real name is Lao Wang Beef Noodle -- and has inspired a few other wannabes on the same road.

Lao Wang "Tao Yuan Street" Beef Noodle, fifteen Tao Yuan Street, Zhongzheng Commune

iii. Oyster omelet

Hither's a snack that really showcases the fat of the land in Taiwan. You've got something from the body of water and something from the soil. The eggs are the perfect foil for the little oysters, which are hands found effectually the island, while sweet irish potato starch is added to give the whole affair a gooey chewiness -- a signature Taiwan food texture.

No wonder the soup was voted best snack to represent Taiwan in a poll of 1,000 Taiwanese past Global Views Monthly a few years dorsum.

4. Bubble tea

Chewy and refreshing.

Hiufu Wong/CNN

Bubble tea represents the "QQ" food texture that Taiwanese love. The phrase refers to something that is especially chewy, like the tapioca balls that grade the "bubbles" in bubble tea. It's said this unusual drink was invented out of boredom.

Chun Shui Tang and Hanlin Tea Room both claim to have invented bubble tea by combining sweetened tapioca pudding (a pop Taiwanese dessert) with tea.

Regardless of which shop did information technology first, today the urban center is filled with bubble tea joints. Variations on the theme include taro-flavored tea, jasmine tea and coffee, served common cold or hot.

Hanlin Tea Room , 313, Section 2, Minzu Road, Tainan City; +886 6 221 2357

5. Milkfish

How popular is milkfish in Taiwan? And then popular that information technology has its own themed museum in Anping and there's a milkfish cultural festival in Kaohsiung.

The bony fish might pose a claiming for amateurs, just it's loved for its tender meat and economic price tag. Milkfish is prepared in numerous ways -- in a congee porridge, pan-fried, every bit fish ball soup or braised. For dwelling-mode training, retro Izakaya-way restaurant James Kitchen serves pan-fried milkfish with lime. A bowl of scallion lard rice is a great complement.

half dozen. Slack Flavour danzai noodles

You've gotta love a place called Slack Flavour, and it should be one of the first stops on whatever culinary trip to Taiwan. The iconic eatery originated in Tainan nearly a century agone.

A fisherman sold noodles during the slack fishing season and the identify became so successful he quit his original merchandise altogether. The signature bowl of Slack Flavour noodles is served in shrimp soup with bean sprouts, coriander, minced pork and fresh shrimp. The bowl of comforting flavors is and so addictive that a man from Tainan supposedly ate xviii bowls in a row at the restaurant.

vii. Pan-fried buns

Like the fluffiness of cake and the crunchiness of tater chips? This pan-fried bun gives y'all the best of both worlds.

The buns are made with spongy white Chinese bread that's pan-fried on the bottom. Break one open and you reveal a moist, porky filling. A Shanghainese staple, the Taiwanese version differs in two ways: information technology's slightly bigger and it hits the pan upside-downward.

Hsu Ji, Shida Nighttime Market place, Taan Commune, Taipei City; +886 9 3085 9646

8. Gua bao

Dear Gua Bao: You're the Big Mac of our heart.

Hiufu Wong/CNN

In spite of a wave of bao madness overseas in contempo years -- a lot are overpriced and underwhelming -- the best gua bao nonetheless comes from the island. It'due south a hamburger, Taiwan-style.

A steamed bun sandwiches a hearty filling of braised pork belly, pickled Chinese cabbage and powdered peanuts. The filling is chopped into small pieces and mixed together and so there'southward a chip of everything in every bite. Accept a big mouthful and you get salty, sour and sweet flavors and greasy pork pond in your oral fissure.

Lan Jia's famous gua bao has peanut pulverization sprinkled on it for extra sweetness.

9. Iron egg

It's called "iron egg" because it's then tough. These chewy little eggs, dyed blackness from long braising in soy sauce, are a highly addictive Taiwanese food.

Oft made from quails' eggs, the protein assurance are cooked for hours in soy sauce then air-dried. The process is repeated over several days until the snacks get tough and learn the desired chewiness.

Seaside A-Po , 151-1, Jhongjheng Road, Tamshui; A-Po, 135-i, Jhongjheng Road, Tamshui

10. Pineapple cake

This iconic Taiwanese pastry -- mini-pies filled with candied pineapple -- is one of Taiwan'south best food souvenirs. For 1 of the top pineapple block experiences at that place'due south SunnyHills, which uses only local pineapples. The result is a darker filling, rougher texture and sourer gustatory modality than most.

The pies at other shops are filled with a mix of pineapple and chewable $.25 of winter melon. They have a fruity sweetness and a golden casing of crumbly, buttery pastry. Stores that supplant pineapple completely with winter melon to cut costs are committing a big no-no.

11. Tian bu la (Taiwanese oden)

You tin can add soup to the scraps and slurp information technology upward.

Hiufu Wong/CNNGo

Tian bu la refers to fish paste that'southward been molded into diverse shapes and sizes, deep-fried, then boiled in a broth. Before eating, the pieces of solid fish paste are taken from the broth and smothered in brown sauce.

Doesn't sound like much, just tian bu la delivers plenty of sweet flavors and chewy textures, making information technology a beloved Taiwanese food. The nutrient is basically a Taiwanese take on Japanese oden, with more than sugariness, tougher fish cakes and a signature sauce. When you finish the bits of fish cake, at that place's more than to come.

We recommend getting some soup from the vendor and adding it to the remaining sauce in the bowl. Mix and drink the resulting flavor flop.

Simon Tian Bu La, 95 Xining S Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City; +886 two 2331 2481

12. Ba wan (Giant meat dumplings)

Ba wan is a Taiwanese mega-dumpling. Made with a dough of rice flour, corn starch and sugariness potato starch, it looks nigh translucent after cooking. Pork, veggies and sometimes eggs are stuffed within and gravy poured on top.

A small staff inside the wet market in Kaoshiung'due south Hunei District offers freshly handmade ba wan. Bear in mind they usually sell out before noon.

Hunei wet market place, 17, Lane xvi, Renai Street, Kaohsiung; +886 7 699 6612

xiii. Fried craven

Taiwan deserves a special place in the fried craven hall of fame. Non only has it made the giant fried craven cutlet -- Hotstar Chicken Cutlet -- a cult legend (which has swelled from one street stall to an international franchise possessor), but its popcorn chicken is dangerously addictive.

The chicken is chopped into bite-sized pieces, marinated, dipped in batter and deep-fried. A generous sprinkling of common salt, pepper and deep fried basil complete the morsels.

"Fried chicken stalls are definitely one of Taiwanese people's favorite late night eateries," says Rae Lin. "Stalls usually offer a range of nutrient like calamari and sweet potato."

Taiwan'due south First Popcorn Chicken Store, 530-1, Bei'an Route, Zhongshan District, Taipei City

14. Flaky scallion pancakes

In that location are few things more than flavory than the sight of a flaky scallion pancake being slowly torn apart. Add together cheese and egg fillings to maximize the visuals. Tonight market staple needs to be devoured in a few bites to ensure it stays steaming hot and chewy.

15. Oyster vermicelli

A basin of great oyster vermicelli should have a thick, flavorful soup base of operations while the sparse rice noodles and oysters retain their distinct texture. Some people add chopped intestines to add a new dimension to the soup. It's a gooey, slurpable dish with an intense, briny taste.

xvi. Stinky tofu

This could be the world's premier love-information technology-or-detest-it snack and Taiwan does it but correct. The "fragrant" cube of bean curd is deep-fried and draped with sweet and spicy sauce.

If you hold your nose, it looks and tastes just like a plain ol' piece of fried tofu, with a crisp casing and soft pudding-similar heart. But what'due south the fun in eating that? Inhale securely and enjoy the stench. The smellier, the amend.

17. Sugariness spud

It's gold. It's in the shape of Taiwan. What's not to like about sweet potatoes?

Hiufu Wong/CNN

Leaving gustatory modality, scent and nutritional value aside, the sweet potato stands out for one item reason -- "it'south shaped a fleck like the island," says Peter Lin, founder of local tour company Topology.

I of their local tours allows travelers to volunteer to sell potatoes with local vendors. Taiwan-grown sweet potatoes are added to soup, with ginger, then roasted in ovens converted from oil drums. They're then ground to a flour and added to other dishes to give them texture, or fried into sugariness irish potato chips.

Every bit long as the dearest root vegetable is in it, Taiwanese beloved it.

18. Shaved water ice mountain

Ane proficient thing nigh the hot, humid and stormy Taiwan summers? Information technology's a groovy excuse to eat shaved ice mountain. A pile of shaved ice is heaped with fresh fruit and flavorings, such as mango pieces, juice and sweet condensed milk.

Food blogger Joan H from A Hungry Girl's Guide to Taipei recommends the traditional version -- crimson bean stuffed tapioca shaved ice.

"Originating in Yilan, my favorite version of this dessert is from Sister Wei Heart," she says. "Scoops of creamy shaved water ice topped with beloved and condensed milk with a side of chewy boba blimp with scarlet beans."

Mango shaved ice at Smoothie Firm, xv Yong-kang St., Taipei Urban center; +886 ii 2321 3367

For classics there's Sister Wei Eye, 35 Jiaoxi Route, Section 5, Jiaoxi Township, Yilan County, Taipei; +886 3 988 9566

xix. Pepper cakes

A must-endeavour at Rao He night market, pepper cakes are crispy pastry pockets filled with juicy pork that'due south infused with the aromatic seize with teeth of black pepper. Baked on the wall of a clay oven, the pies are a delicious ode to the pepper plant. Order more than one or you'll accept to wait in the long queue when you inevitably go back for more.

20. Dumplings at Din Tai Fung Dumpling Business firm

Veteran eaters break a pocket-size pigsty in the wrapper and sip the soup.

chen xiaofeng

Xiaolongbao may be a Shanghainese delicacy, simply some fence the Taiwanese perfected them. Taiwanese restaurant Din Tai Fung does its Shanghai comrades proud with its succulent pork-soup dumplings.

Din Tai Fung's seize with teeth-sized xiaolongbao have a consistently high quality. Their cardboard wrappings agree rich hot broth and tender pork meatballs. Gasps can be heard intermittently at Din Tai Fung as diners brace for the scalding hot soup that squirts out upon biting the dumpling.

21. Fish ball soup

What'due south improve than fresh seafood? Balls of fresh seafood, of course.

Handmade fish assurance in Taiwan tend to have more air in the ball, thus allowing more goop to exist soaked up. They also have a bouncier chew.

Jiaxing Fish Ball, No. 21, Lane 210, Section 2, Yanping North Road, Datong District, Taipei City; +886 two 2553 6470

22. Ribs stewed in medicinal herbs

This is the Taiwanese version of bak kut the, the Chinese meat soup that's too pop in Singapore and Malaysia. In Taiwan, the soup is boring-cooked in Chinese medicinal ingredients, extracting the essence from pork basic and more than than 14 nutritious herbs, roots and dried fruits.

Information technology's yummy and adept for you, also. It'southward likewise a great way to keep warm in wintertime. There isn't much meat on the lean bones, but the signal of the dish is the soup. Locals option the bones upwards and suck the juice off. You might be considered strange if you don't do the same.

Nanya Night Market, Nanya Due east Road, Taipei Metropolis

23. Goose

Geese, bred on Taiwan farms, are never wasted. From skin to blood, they're made into succulent dishes.

Despite its name, Ya Rou Bian (Duck Meat Bian) only sells Taiwan-raised geese. Every seize with teeth of the juicy goose meat with slightly smoked skin tastes similar a celebration of poultry. Or you could try one of Bistro Le Pont's bowls of steamed rice topped with goose, chili oil and x.o. sauce. The rice grains are an platonic vehicle for goose fat and flavor.

24. Ding bian cuo

Painting the wok with rice slurry to make ding bian cuo.

Courtesy Wu Jia

Ding bian cuo is a bowl of slippery rice-flour pasta. To make it, rice-flour batter is poured along the side of a huge heated wok, sliding and spreading along the hot metallic to form slices of noodles. When dried, the sheets are cut into smaller pieces that go the thin and chewy noodles used in ding bian cuo.

Wu Jia ding bian cuo is a century-onetime family business organization. Its version of the dish is served with handmade pork cakes, shrimp cakes, cabbage, daylily and bamboo shoots.

25. Mochi

These glutinous rice balls are as soft as marshmallows and filled with sweet or salty ingredients. The most traditional mochi are filled with blood-red bean paste and rolled in peanut pulverisation. In contempo years, strawberry jam, sesame paste, greenish tea jam and peanut paste take go popular fillings. You tin can learn how to make mochi at the Regal Taiwan Mochi Museum (effectually $v per person).

26. Anything braised with Lantern soy sauce

Lantern Lu Wei worries virtually flavor, non your schedule.

Courtesy Ada Yeung

No matter what you lot choose from the Lantern Lu Wei nutrient stall, it'll have on the taste of the signature five-spice soy sauce. It'due south a petty sweet, not too salty and aromatic, made with cloves, star anise, cinnamon and other spices.

Choice your preferred ingredients and the chef will melt it in a pot filled with the special sauce. It'southward a perfect light meal before a big night out. You should expect to expect in line equally the chef never rushes -- he takes his time to allow the the food to blot the sauce.

27. Tube rice pudding

Sticky rice and Chinese mushrooms are fried with seasoning and stuffed into a bamboo tube together with pork and egg. The tube of rice is steamed again to farther soften the texture until it becomes a cylindrical pudding.

Da Qiao Tou started making its rice pudding in a stall under a bridge more than iv decades ago. The business concern has since expanded but the rice pudding has stayed the aforementioned. It's best when topped with the homemade turnip-laced sweet and spicy sauce.

28. Taiwanese breakfast

The iii best dishes to kick off your day with in Taiwan? Sesame flatbread, deep-fried Chinese donuts and soy milk.

Food blogger Joan H. says her favorite breakfast is from Fu Hang.

"I dear the thick sesame apartment bread at Fu Hang because it has a slight sweetness, a thin crispy layer and soft center from coming straight out of the hot metal barrel," she says. "Many sesame flatbreads are dry and flaky only Fu Hang's shows why there's often a half-hour wait there on the weekends."

29. Pig's blood rice pudding

This mix of pig'southward blood and pasty rice is stuck on the end of a stick similar a lollipop. For the concluding Taiwanese touch, the pudding is coated in a sweet peanut pulverization.

Basketball star Jeremy Lin named hog's blood rice cake as one of his favorite snacks on a visit to Taiwan. If information technology's good enough for Lin, it's good enough for us.

Xiao Li, No. 1-iii, Lane 136, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei Metropolis; +886 2 2368 3417

xxx. Three-cup craven

Iii-cup chicken is cooked in a cup of rice wine, a cup of oil and a loving cup of soy sauce. Fresh basil, chilies and garlic are then added to this Taiwanese culinary triumvirate, resulting in an irresistible combination. Some kitchens offer a different version of three-cup craven that includes a cup of vino, a cup of sesame oil and a cup of sugar.

Ban tiao: rustic sense of taste, rabid following.

Hiufu Wong/CNN

31. Ban tiao noodles

Ban tiao (flat rice noodles) has such a rabid following that many Taiwanese will drive hours in search of the virtually authentic bowls. The thick, flat, slippery noodles made from glutinous rice are part of the Hakka culinary tradition and all-time sampled in Kaohsiung's Meinong district.

Stir-fried ban tiao with pork has a rustic taste and texture. Many find the dish more comforting when served in hot soup.

Meixing Street, Meinong district, Kaohsiung

32. Horng Ryen Jen Sandwich

Y'all may wonder -- why on earth would someone travel to Taiwan for a ham and cheese sandwich? (The bread isn't fifty-fifty toasted.) Converts will tell you they were once disbelievers besides.

Some say information technology's the unbeatable combination of ham and a layer of paper-thin fried egg. Others say it'due south the buttery and sweetness fresh foam and hole-and-corner mayo.

Most agree information technology's the balanced flavour of all these ingredients, sandwiched in a iv-layered combo, that makes it a hit. The sandwich fifty-fifty stirred a Horng Ryen Jen import craze in Hong Kong.

Horng Ryen Jen Cake , 1F, 122 Ziyou Road, Section 1, West District, Taichung; +886 iv 2226 8787

Horng Ryen Jen Cake, 493, Zhongxiao East Road, Section 5, Da'an District, Taipei City

33. Aiyu jelly

Wobbly and fairly tasteless, aiyu jelly takes on the flavor of whatever it's eaten with. You tin add it to lemonade and shaved ice for a refreshing summer drink. The jelly gives the liquid a fun gloopy texture.

34. Pidan tofu

Pidan tofu: honey at second bite.

Black, white and seemingly bland pidan tofu isn't a likely candidate for "love at first bite" fame. But after a few tries it becomes a modest addiction for many eaters.

Pidan, or century egg, is a duck egg preserved in clay with seasonings. With time, the egg white turns into a translucent blackness jelly and the yolk develops a unique flavor. It'southward topped with sesame oil, vinegar, soy sauce, coriander, chopped spring onion and, sometimes, pork floss. Mash it up and it'due south ready to eat.

Widely available at local restaurants

35. Steamed bound rolls

Every Taiwanese household has its ain recipe for run bing. To describe it as the not-deep-fried version of a spring whorl would exist unfair, as "run bing" (steamed bound roll) was invented before the popular Chinese version.

During festivals, families gather at the table to take a run bing wrapping political party. Each person chooses their ain fillings from a buffet and rolls their own run bing. In addition to serving delicious run bing, Shin Yeh at Taipei 101 offers an incomparable view of the city.

A spinoff of run bing for summer is filled with ice cream.

"I telephone call it an ice cream burrito, only it essentially uses a thin flour crepe to wrap scoops of Taiwanese ice cream with peanut candy shavings and, if you dare, fresh cilantro," says food blogger Joan H.

"I really liked the i I tried at the front of Sheng Keng Lao Jie. The vendor adds a touch on of ocean salt to the peanut candy that heightens the sweetness and flavors of the wrap."

36. Spicy hotpot

Taiwanese are mad for spicy hot pot. The bubbles pots of broth are filled with all sorts of Chinese herbs and spices to create a rich flavor for all the raw, fresh ingredients that diners will dip into information technology. New hot pot places pop up in Taiwan every twenty-four hours, each with a gimmick to concenter clamorous hot pot diners.

There'south all-you-can-eat hot pot and yakiniku served at the aforementioned table; in that location's bubble tea hotpot for the jaded. But the traditional local darlings with ginger chicken soup base or lamb-themed hot pot are nonetheless going strong.

While Taiwan's spice levels don't come close to Chongqing'due south, they're pretty piquant. In the perennial hot pot favorite and celeb-magnet, Taihodien, yous'll observe a glam Taiwanese hot pot experience.

37. Chicken wing rice scroll

The craven fly rice roll makes the impossible possible -- eating chicken fried rice in a night marketplace with one mitt. A boneless chicken wing is stuffed with fried rice and marinated in a heavenly combination of sesame oil and secret sauce.

It's so good information technology started a chicken-wrapped rice craze in Kaohsiung's Ruifeng night market place, inspiring variations such as kimchi fried rice and curry rice.

White shirt non recommended when eating this one.

Hiufu Wong/CNN

38. Giant pork balls soup

The best pork balls are made from fresh meat that'southward been hand ground and pounded with a mallet until information technology attains a doughy texture. The giant pork balls in stock soup from Taipei'south Ningxia Nighttime Market place are as big as a baby's fist.

Their size, every bit well as the air holes pumped in the meatballs during the pounding, locks in an amazing amount of juice and flavor. The Chinese name illustrates the feel of eating one vividly -- the literal translation is "bursting-juice giant pork balls."

Pork balls are sometimes mixed with ingredients such as Chinese mushrooms and cuttlefish to enrich texture and add together flavour.

Lychee-rose bread: the Rafael Nadal of baked goods.

Hiufu Wong/CNN

39. Wu Pao Chun Bakery Breads

"Bread? In Taiwan? Seriously?"

We know what you're thinking -- but this isn't just any bread we're talking about. It'due south from Wu Pao-chun, a world baking champion with many accolade-winning loaves to its proper noun.

The bakery'southward lychee-rose bread even won the international baking contest Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in 2010. Information technology's made with mullet wine, lychee and rose petals.

Wu Pao-chun also won the Louis Lesaffre Cup in 2007 and a silver medal at the 2008 Bakery World Cup. Another signature of the shop is wine-longan breadstuff, made with smoked longans, French wine and California walnuts.

Wu Pao Chun Bakery Kaohsiung, xix, Siwei 3rd Lingya District, Kaohsiung City; +886 7 335 9593

Wu Pao Chun Bakery Taipei, 88 Yanchang Route, Xinyi District, Taipei City; +886 2 6636 5888

xl. Biandang

A lot of Taiwanese accept a beloved-hate relationship with Taiwanese biandang (bento), the takeaway lunchbox that packs rice with a main dish (normally a blazon of meat) and pocket-size, often unappealing side dishes such equally fried and preserved vegetables.

It's a convenient, quick, cheap (less than $3) and generally decent way to eat.

Biandang isn't i of the most succulent foods in Taiwan, simply information technology's a staple for countless working parents and busy urbanites. Bento with craven cutlets is a good biandang choice.

Plant at convenience stores and major high-speed track stations around Taiwan

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Source: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/40-taiwan-food/index.html

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