Just by simply walking around the country’s capital, Taipei, you can see dozens of different themed restaurants lined up in the streets. However, if you truly want to experience the local culture, it’s a must to try out various Taiwanese street foods. These are found in the brightly colored markets that usually sprawl the city after sundown.
I know that the vast street food choices found in Taiwan can be quite overwhelming especially if it’s your first time visiting the country. Fortunately, my family and my pioneer employees have already tried out their most famous street foods during our visit last October. Take a look at this list of 12 street foods we tried in Taiwan as well as our opinions with regards to their respective tastes and prices.
What to Eat in Taiwan: Top 12 Must-Try Street Foods
1. Sticky Rice
This dish is often called youfan by the Taiwanese or “oil rice” in English. True to its name, the sticky rice looks oily on the outside and it comes at a simple plastic wrapper.
As for the taste, it’s not so bad. Considering that typical Filipinos usually like flavorful dishes (too sweet or too salty), they might find this snack a little underwhelming like me. This just reminds of me a less sweet version of biko—a popular rice cake in the Philippines with a slice of pork inside. One of my employees even said that it’s like recycled arroz caldo (also known as chicken rice porridge).
2. Wheel Cake
Upon first look, the wheel cake in Taiwan is similar to the Japanese pancakes found in the streets of Manila. However, unlike this Filipino dish, the wheel cake comes in various flavors. We tried the cheese, taro, and tuna & cheese.
For the cheese-flavored wheel cake, the actual cake is sweet while the cheddar cheese filling inside is savory. This combination is just perfect for every Pinoy’s taste buds. Meanwhile, the taro wheel cake reminds me of ube (purple jam in the Philippines) that is colored white. The tuna & cheese wheel cake’s filling consists of mozzarella cheese with flakes of tuna. It also tasted good but not as great as the cheese-flavored wheel cake.
In terms of value for your money, it’s best to go with the cheese as it’s a flavor that’s already recognizable which guarantees that you’ll like it.
3. Flour Rice Noodles
For our second day trip to Taiwan, we decided to eat dinner at a restaurant serving flour-rice noodles. Upon reaching our destination, I was actually surprised that there was a long line outside the establishment. This just means that it’s one of the must-tries and most popular street food in Taiwan.
The flour-rice noodles’ texture reminds me of the Philippines’ misua as it also uses the same variety of thin salted noodles. It also includes pork fats and intestines (also known as isaw in the Philippines). The taste is also similar to misua but much more flavorful, maybe due to its ingredients.
4. Xing Fu Tang
This is Taiwan’s version of the milk tea. It’s a type of brown sugar milk tea that is so popular nowadays.
True to its name, it’s milky but it’s not too sweet that it will overpower your taste buds. In fact, the pearls are the only ingredient that’s really sweet. The tea and milk actually have a bitter taste to it.
Personally, I don’t find this milk tea too delicious. I still prefer the milk teas sold in the Philippines as it has a more distinct and sweet taste.
5. Taiwan Fried Chicken
Taiwan’s very own version of fried chicken street food costs about NT $245 for a set. This comes with a relatively big portion of a one-piece chicken and a single portion of calamares, or fried squid.
It’s delicious—as expected for most chickens—but there’s really nothing special about it. You can easily find this street food on our very own streets in Manila. Our crispy chicken skin is much tastier and flavorful, especially if you are laki sa kalye (grew up and lived on the streets).
6. Stinky Tofu
This is probably the most famous (and notorious!) street food in Taiwan. I have read and watched many blogs and vlogs about stinky tofu and just as they said, you’ll be able to smell the dish from far away.
It’s like your typical tofu that is fried and it tastes basically the same but with, of course, an after smell. For some people (like my employees), the smell of the tofu might be so repelling which affects their taste buds. My best friend even said that it’s like an uncleaned isaw (a Filipino street food dish made of pig intestines). Overall, this dish requires an acquired taste.
7. Taiwan Ice Cream Wrap
This is the country’s version of ice cream wrap. It is made by wrapping two scoops of ice cream, shaved peanut brittle, and celery into a lumpia wrapper.
It costs NT $50 per piece and it’s very delicious. So far, out of the street foods in Taiwan that I have already tasted, this is something I really liked. It’s really local and unique as you can’t find it anywhere here in the Philippines.
Taiwan’s ice cream wrap is a street food that I really recommend trying out.
8. Teppanyaki Gua Bao
Gua bao, or Taiwanese pork belly buns, is one of the most popular street foods in Taiwan. It consists of a bun filled with vegetables, pork, and your very own seasoning (barbeque, Thai sauce, honey mustard). One piece of gua bao costs about NT $60.
As for the taste, my husband said that it’s similar to Philippines’ siopao but saltier. The meat inside is tender but the sauce is quite flavorful and distinct. It’s definitely one of the must-try dishes here in Taiwan!
9. Roasted Conch
This is a Taiwanese street dish looks similar to suso or shells. In fact, conch is actually a term used to distinguish a number of different medium and large-sized shells.
It’s a street food served in a simple paper packaging and a barbeque stick that comes with its very own sauce. It’s chewy in texture (like an octopus) which makes it very hard to chew. Once you have swallowed it, that’s the time when the taste would come in. Its taste is similar to tahong, or mussels.
10. Taiwan Xiao Long Bao
Xiao long bao is definitely one of the must-tries street food here in Taiwan. Priced at NT $120, this already comes with 8 pieces of steamed buns.
While tasting this dish, I really can’t say much because it’s really delicious. Probably what sets it apart from all the other dumplings is its thin and tender skin that comes with a flavorful broth. When paired with soy sauce, you’ll get a much more filling xiao long bao that has the right blend of saltiness.
11. Frog’s Egg
Frog’s egg is one of the most famous drinks found in Taiwan’s street food market. Its name was derived from the tapioca pearls found in the drink that looks similar to frog eggs—achieved by cooling the pearls.
It comes in a variety of flavors and the one my employee ordered has monggo, or mung beans. It tasted exactly like how it looks like but with a slight hint of sweetness.
12. Tang Hulu
This street food dish is actually a candy made of caramelized tomatoes and strawberries. However, it also uses any fruit that can be skewered to a barbeque stick such as kiwi, pineapples, and plums.
According to my employees, tang hulu tastes sour but with the right amount of sweetness in the candy to balance the sourness. It’s definitely one of the unique street foods found in Taiwan.
Taiwan is indeed known for its wide variety of food choices. So if you’re headed to this country, make sure to try out all their food, starting with these 12 tasty street foods!
Watch my vlog as my family and team scoured Taiwan’s street food markets.
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