If you Google the words ‘Taiwan’ and ‘foodie’ you’ll get over a million results
and see words like ‘paradise’ and ‘heaven’
repeatedly used to articulate why Taiwan is the world’s hottest destination for food lovers.
Before visiting Taiwan myself, I have to admit I didn’t really realize that it’s known
as THE place to come and eat but I understood why very quickly.
In this video, I’m showing you some delicious foods to try that you cannot miss,
but check out my other Taiwan food videos for more.
As always with yummy food videos, sorry in advance if you’re watching on an empty stomach.
Let’s start with something classic you find on nearly every street corner: bubble tea.
There’s some mystery around the exact origins of this magical elixir
but the gist of it is that the founder of a tea house in Taichung started serving tea cold in the 1980s
after he saw coffee being served that way.
Then, during a staff meeting in 1988, his product development manager
dumped her tapioca pudding into her tea and everybody loved it.
Within a few months, this new concoction outsold all the other teas
and now it’s one of Taiwan’s best-known exports.
Hear that sound?
This is my absolute favourite kind of bubble tea.
It’s the brown sugar milk pearl tea.
It’s definitely sweet but it’s not too sweet
and you can choose if you want sugar or not and how much sugar you want
and whether you want the little balls or not.
You can also have it just without the… the balls but why would you?
Thank you, Taiwan, for creating bubble tea.
I also learned how to make the little balls that go in bubble tea at a Taiwanese cooking class
so I’ll link that video if you want to see how they’re made.
So if I have bubble tea in one hand
there is no question what you’ll find in my other hand: dumplings.
Possibly the most famous dumplings – or xiaolongbao - in the world come from Taiwan,
specifically from a restaurant called Din Tai Fung.
It’s now a major international brand.
You may have even heard of it.
But it all started in a small shop in Taipei in 1958.
We went to the location at the bottom of Taipei 101, which is a major landmark in Taiwan.
And obviously other than actually eating the food,
the best part is that you can watch where a very talented crew of people actually make the dumplings.
Even though they’re incredibly fast – their skill level means that each dumpling is top notch quality.
And this might not mean as much unless you’ve actually tried to make dumplings yourself,
but after I gave it a try at a cooking class, I have a whole new appreciation for the craftsmanship
that goes into each and every little dumpling.
The ones I made, for example, had four folds, the Din Tai Fung dumplings have 18 folds.
18!
They’re impossibly thin and delicate with a juicy filling inside
and I feel like if there’s a gold standard for dumplings, Din Tai Fung is it.
You take the dumpling in one hand with your chopsticks and hold a spoon with the other
because it’s so juicy that, when you bite into it, the spoon helps to catch the liquid.
We loved adding the signature sauce as well, which is a blend of soy sauce, vinegar, and loads of ginger.
We tried different kinds of dumplings and I liked them all
but the traditional pork were my favourite.
It was a true feast and the table was just laden with food.
We also had the Din Tai Fung house special of bean sprouts, glass noodles,
strips of seaweed, and bean curd,
as well as cucumbers in chili oil,
some fried rice,
and wontons in a spicy sauce.
The hot and sour soup was full of flavour
with ingredients like tofu and wood ear mushrooms (which I don’t normally like)
and I appreciate that they don’t make it too hot on purpose
so that you can add your own spice to taste.
Din Tai Fung is very, very popular so try to book a reservation in advance
or be prepared to wait.
As you can tell, though, it is worth it.
Also, the staff could not have been nicer here.
This lovely woman that I was chatting with literally chased after me when I left the restaurant
to gift me with a bag of pineapple cake.
Speaking of desserts: we need to talk about shaved ice.
It’s a specialty in Taiwan and, if you’ve seen my other Taiwan videos,
you know that it gets very hot in the summertime, like really hot,
and the absolute best way to cool down is digging into some shaved ice.
There are tons of different ways that you can eat it
but we had an extra special kind on the island of Xiao Liuqiu.
I don’t know what I’ve been doing with my life
that I haven’t eaten out of a conch shell before this moment but,
let me tell you, it tastes way better and I’m tempted in a way to just go full mermaid
and try serving other foods in shells.
Anyway we tried three kinds on a scorcher of a day.
The first are caramelized mulberry and fresh aiyu jelly.
Now aiyu isn’t very common to find outside Taiwan and it’s a new taste for me.
It’s made from the gel of a seed of a type of fig that’s indigenous to Taiwan so it’s really special.
And we also had straight shaved ice topped with bitter mango
and the coldness of the ice and the tartness of the fruit really just took the edge off the hot day.
On the other hand, if you want to tuck into something hot and cozy,
then another of Taiwan’s best loved dishes is beef noodle soup
or just ‘beef noodles’ as it’s more commonly called.
It’s exactly what it sounds like: beef, broth, and noodles –
often served with green onions or other vegetables in it as well.
And one bowl can easily satisfy as a whole meal but there are often side dishes served with it as well.
We had it with cucumber in sesame sauce and braised eggplant which was delicious.
I learned how beef noodles are made in a different video
so I’ll link that if you want to see how you can try making them at home too.
There’s something just so comforting about staring down at a steaming, glistening bowl of soup
and slurping noodles.
If all the slurping works up a thirst, then another drink to try in Taiwan is sugarcane juice.
Sugarcane used to be a huge industry and export in Taiwan
and we were lucky enough to try it for the first time at an old sugarcane factory.
Oh!
I love that!
It’s really cool though to drink sugarcane juice for the first time
in a place that used to be a sugarcane factory,
which was a huge industry here in Taiwan for a very long time.
So this feels very appropriate.
From sugarcane to another drink made with cane sugar,
I have to include this next Taiwanese classic too.
Ok I had to show you this because
I can’t tell you how many litres of this I’ve drank since we’ve been in Taiwan.
It’s a…it’s a Taiwanese drink and it’s apple cider.
There’s the beautiful packaging.
I’m just obsessed with the logo.
For some reason it just makes me crazy.
It has cane sugar in it, apple juice obviously.
It's carbonated so it's got these super refreshing bubbles when it's cold, cold, cold.
Oh!
Oh my god.
I have had this so many times and that is still my first reaction with every first sip that I take
because it’s just that good and I’m going to miss this so, so much when we leave Taiwan.
If you’re in Taiwan, definitely find this.
7-11, lots of places.
One of my favourite discoveries in Taiwan.
Yes, definitely one of my favourite discoveries.
Just seeing the label of this bottle makes me feel happy.
I even found a postcard with an illustration of it
and I bought it so that I can hopefully frame it someday.
Now in a country known for its tea plantations, you cannot leave without trying milk tea.
This is Rose Honey Milk Tea.
It’s been recommended.
There are lots of flavours and brands but my favourite is Rose Honey Milk Tea.
Oh my god that’s good.
Right?
Oh!
Four words that I now like to see together.
The same brand does my other favourite: rose milk tea.
How satisfying is this bottle?
I think I just got it on my nose.
Mmm…it’s just sweet enough.
So smooth, so delicious.
The rose flavour…even if you don’t think you’re going to like rose just try it
because I think you’ll like it
and if you’re someone like me who’s obsessed with rose-flavoured anything this is heaven.
I’m really going to miss this.
I hope this video gives you some insight into why Taiwan is such a paradise for food lovers.
Bubble tea,
dumplings,
shaved ice,
beef noodles,
sugarcane juice,
apple cider,
and milk tea should all be on your taste bud wish list.
Yes, I have a taste bud wish list, don't you?
Check out my other videos about food in Taiwan
and make sure to subscribe for more travel adventures.
If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up.
And I’d love to hear which of these foods or drinks is your favourite
or what else you’d recommend people try in Taiwan
so please leave a comment below.
Talking about this has made me so hungry so I’m going to go find something to eat.
Thanks for watching!