Private Food Tours of Taiwan

Treat yourself to a Food Tour of Taiwan, tasting a variety of traditional snacks, teas, and delicious meals. Taiwan’s culinary scene reflects the island’s human and natural diversity. From night markets to fine dining, the delicacies of local Taiwanese cuisine are sure to satisfy.

For gourmets and gourmands seeking for tasty new experiences, Taiwan ticks every box. The island is an exceptionally safe destination inhabited by super-friendly people. There are restaurants and snack vendors on every street, and when menu prices are compared with local salaries, it may just be the cheapest place in the world to eat out. It’s no wonder that many unmarried adult Taiwanese never cook for themselves. Diverse and down-to-earth flavours.

One aspect of Taiwan gaining the confidence to express its unique identity is that the island’s food is no longer seen as a subset or poor relation of Chinese cuisine. The mild yet profoundly satisfying flavours that characterise Taiwanese homecooking go especially well with rice, the carbohydrate that, until a few decades ago, most Taiwanese people consumed twice a day.

Chicken and beef are eaten far more often now than they were half a century ago yet pork remains the default meat.

Indigenous Food Experience in Hualien

Those trying to follow a kosher or halal diet should assume that, if the type of meat in a dish isn’t specified in its Chinese name, it’s most probably pork. Good examples are braised pork rice (滷肉飯, lu rou fan) and pork gravy rice (肉燥飯, rou zao fan).

Other proteins include duck, goose, snake, and snail. The last two are quite hard to find, but if you’d like to try them as part of a private tour of Taiwan with Life of Taiwan, let us know and we’ll happily make the arrangements.

Light soups that contain clams, pork ribs, or egg are a part of almost every meal. Unlike in the West, soups are never appetisers. Instead they’re drunk (sometimes with a spoon but often by raising the small bowl to one’s lips) alongside or after the main course.

Vegetables of the leafy kind are typically stir-fried with a tiny bit of oil, some chopped garlic, and a dash of soy sauce. While in Taiwan, you should try Chinese water spinach (空心菜, kongxin cai); its name in Mandarin, which can be translated as ‘hollow heart vegetable’, describes the hollow stems that form well over half of each serving. We also recommend crested floating heart (水蓮, shuilian); its spaghetti-like strands are sometimes added to hot pot. Another healthy must-eat is chayote shoots (龍鬚菜, longxu cai, literally ‘dragon’s whiskers’).

Thanks to burgeoning local and international interest in the foodways of the island’s Austronesian indigenous minority, restaurants that offer aboriginal delicacies like stone barbecued pork, foraged seasonal greens, chinavu, and ahvai, have popped up. Even if you don’t have enough time to travel far from Taipei, we can bring you to nearby Wulai for a tasting session.

The island’s Hakka minority has its own culinary traditions, among which are hearty favourites like kejia sicao (客家小炒, a stir fry) and bantiao (板條, thick noodles made of rice flour served fried or in a soup). Not surprisingly, these are best enjoyed in Hakka-majority areas such as Beipu near Hsinchu.

Seafood, of course!

It goes without saying that, because Taiwan is an island, seafood is abundant, fresh, and popular. It’s hard to drive any distance along the coast without coming across a fishing harbour. At several of these — notably Fuji near Tamsui, Budai close to Chiayi, and Houbihu in Kenting National Park — dockside restaurants specialise in preparing the day’s catch for hungry gourmands. Often they skip the cooking part and serve it as sashimi, which is almost as popular in Taiwan as it is in Japan.

As well as fish like red sea-bream, grouper, white pomfret, tilapia, and Spanish mackerel, Taiwanese have a liking for squid and octopus. Between Changhua and Tainan, much of the coast is devoted to farming clams and oysters. Shrimp, crabs, and lobsters are devoured, as are sea cucumbers and different types of seaweed.

Taipei’s Addiction Aquatic Development deserves a slot on every itinerary. Even visitors uninterested in eating seafood will find this ocean-produce centre a very worthwhile stop. In addition to shops selling live fish and crabs, there are eateries where you can enjoy sushi, hot pot, and barbecued seafood.

Bluefin tuna is associated with the town of Donggang, not far from Kaohsiung, but the excitement which builds ahead of this fish’s arrival each year is island wide. Auction prices give an idea of the demand for this premium product: In spring 2024, the first bluefin tuna of the season was sold for an astonishing NT$13,100 per kilogramme (GBP311 / US$407 per kilogramme, or GBP 141 / US$185 per pound).

Because seafood prices can vary tremendously as availability fluctuates, some restaurants don’t post prices on their menus. In such situations, a knowledgeable English-speaking driver-guide can not only assist with explaining the various options but also ensure that you get the best possible value for your money.

There’s another good reason why you might want to leave all ordering to the person leading your Taiwan private tour. Some individuals are allergic to MSG, a flavour enhancer which local chefs like to add to dishes, but they’ve no inkling of this until they experience a reaction. When accompanying first-time visitors to Taiwan, our guides can remind each cook not to use any MSG, to ensure there’s no risk our clients will suffer an evening of discomfort after dinner.

Rice vs wheat

After Taiwan became a colony of the Japanese Empire in 1895, the island’s new rulers hoped to exploit its agricultural potential so as to ease food supply issues in their own country. It took years, but Japanese agronomists based in Taipei eventually succeeded in breeding a type of short-grain japonica rice that could thrive in Taiwan’s climate. Even though the disease resistant, flavourful, and high-yield varieties they created were intended for consumers in Japan, long after the colonial period they remain Taiwan’s preferred carbohydrate.

Traditional Taiwanese Pork Buns aka Gua Bao

The way in which food is presented has also been influenced by Japan. David Y. H. Wu,a Hoklo Taiwanese-American anthropologist, has written that when he was growing up, the bento lunchboxes people of his background favoured were ‘made of paper-thin wood slices… containing half of a hard-boiled shoyu egg (Japanese-style), shredded red-coloured cuttlefish or braised hard tofu cake, and takuan [pickled daikon radish], served on a thin layer of rice,’ whereas people who’d recently relocated from the Chinese mainland preferred metal tiffin-type boxes.

By the time Wu started primary school, Taiwan was once again under Chinese control. As many people in the West know, the island was where Generalissimo Chiang Ka- shek reestablished his Chinese Nationalist government in 1949 following his defeat in China’s civil war. The flood of refugees that followed Chiang included famous chefs trained in the ‘Four Great Traditions’ of Chinese cuisine (Cantonese, Sichuanese aka Szechwan, Shandong, and Huaiyang). However, those professionals were far outnumbered by humble mainlanders who — having lost their properties and businesses when the communists took over — turned to cooking in order to survive.

The huge number of eateries in the capital and the tradition of mobile vendors setting up at dusk dates from this period. Even though many food businesses operated without any kind of licence, the authorities made no serious effort to curtail them. Doing so would have destroyed livelihoods and triggered social unrest. Besides, if they were shut down, where would government officials (most of whom were mainlanders themselves) be able to enjoy the flavours of their hometowns?

The influx of mainland Chinese, in conjunction with Taiwan’s close relationship with the United States after the Korean War (1950-1953), had another long-term effect on Taiwanese eating habits. Many of the refugees hailed from northern China where wheat-based dishes are common, and their skills — when matched with cheap wheat supplied by the US — are the reason why Taiwanese nowadays eat a lot of dumplings and quite a bit of bread. Perhaps the best example of this shift is the dish many regard as epitomising Taiwanese food: beef noodle soup (牛肉麵, niurou mian).

Here’s a curious thing: Japanese food is far more popular in Taiwan now than it was during the 50 years when the island was under Tokyo’s thumb. The main reason for this is economic development. When Taiwan was a colony, most people were poor. Apart from the colonisers themselves, only Taiwanese elite families had opportunities to enjoy Japanese cuisine.

Fast forward to 2024 and you can find miso soup in the humblest of eateries. Every 7- Eleven and Family Mart sells sushi and onigiri. In the bigger cities there are top-notch Japanese restaurants, so if you want a Japanese-style fine dining experience, just let us know. Conveyor belt restaurants are an affordable yet highly reliable middle ground between cheap-and-cheerful convenience store offerings and high-end refinement.

Meat-free possibilities

Thanks to the influence of Buddhism, vegetarian foods have always been a prominent part of Taiwan’s culinary scene. In recent years, the number of people who avoid meat for religious reasons has perhaps been matched by those who do so for health, environmental, or animal-welfare reasons. Visitors who want to stick to a plant-based diet while touring Taiwan won’t lack options.

But animal lovers planning to eat at local vegetarian restaurants should brace themselves for the sight of ‘mock meat’ — items made of mushrooms, soy, or wheat gluten that have been shaped and textured so they resemble (and even taste a little like) pork ribs or chicken. While some Western vegetarians find the very idea of mock meat disturbing, pious Taiwanese have no problem with it. In traditional thinking, simply forsaking animal flesh is sufficient; there’s no need to give up enjoyment of meat-like flavours.

Flavourful fruit

While we’re on the subject of healthy eating, we should mention Taiwan’s superb fruits. The topographical and climatic variations that make the island a biodiversity hotspot also mean that it’s possible to grow both temperate and tropical fruits.

More than 20 kinds of fruit are grown commercially, with mangoes, bananas, lychees, pineapples, and watermelons being the principal crops. As the authors of A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai explain, ‘The delicious flavour of Taiwanese pineapples is the result of considerable labour. Several weeks before harvesting, a canvas sleeve is placed over each fruit to protect it from the harsh sunshine; some farmers use plastic collars made specifically for the purpose, or old newspapers. Around 15 pineapple cultivars are grown in significant quantities’.

Back when Taiwan was a major exporter of farm produce (it’s been a net importer of food since the early 1970s), selling fresh bananas to Japan and canned pineapple to several countries was a vital source of foreign exchange. Domestic demand for fruit has always been strong, in part because temple-goers often make offerings of fruit. Certain fruits have particular ritual meanings: A woman who hopes to conceive will offer pomelos; longans indicate a desire for a son; while persimmons express one’s hope that everything goes as planned.

Night markets

It’s not just the food! Even if you’re the kind of person who usually avoids street food, we urge you to put on some comfortable footwear and visit at least one of Taiwan’s night markets. In addition to a wide range of tantalising foods, you’ll see an engrossing range of non-food stalls. If you need a cheap pair of sandals or a protective case for your smartphone, you’re likely to find just what you want. There are also fun fair-type games of skill or chance; try your luck and you may win a cuddly toy. Above all, night markets are great places for people watching — but they can get unbelievably crowded.

According to street food fanatics, must-try night market edibles include stinky tofu (臭豆腐, chou doufu; cubes of pungent fermented tofu served with pickled cabbage and a spicy sauce), oyster omelette (蚵仔煎, usually known by its name in Holo, o-a-chian; a gooey delight thickened with sweet-potato starch, to which bean sprouts and leafy greens are added), popcorn chicken (鹽酥雞, yan su ji), and dachang bao xiaochang (大腸包小腸, ‘little sausage wrapped in big sausage’). The last of these is a kind of hot dog; instead of a bread bun the protein is held in a tube of sticky rice, making for an especially satisfying snack.

Don’t be shy to munch on something scrumptious while browsing in a market or strolling to the next point of interest. Unlike in some places, in Taiwan it isn’t considered rude to walk and eat. This epitomises the friendly and tolerant nature of local society, and it’s certainly a factor in why so many people who visit Taiwan once are so keen to return.

…and to wash it all down?

Taiwan-grown oolong tea is renowned at home and abroad but it’s seldom drunk with a meal. The same is true for bubble tea aka pearl milk tea. Local lager is a good choice, especially in warm weather and/or when eating at one of the island’s many rechao (热炒) establishments.

The latter are restaurants in which, to quote Taiwanese-American food writer Clarissa Wei, ‘dishes that are almost always baptised by fire — tossed and turned in giant woks. A high-powered stove is mandatory: Rechao food comes marching out fast, a quick progression of hot plates. Speed is a noted feature of the cooking experience, and the food—salty, with multiple layers of umami is designed to pair well with beer’. In a food culture characterised by an easygoing informality, rechao joints take the conviviality up a notch. They’re not for everyone, of course, but if you want somewhere to celebrate the conclusion of a highly successful Taiwan food tour, they’re an excellent option. Contact us now to start planning your food tour of a lifetime, whether it be the 3-Day Private Food Tour of Taiwan, the 5-Day Private Food Tour of Taiwan, or the 7-Day Private Food Tour of Taiwan.