Regional Specialities
- Chiayi: Turkey rice bowls (火雞肉飯 hǔojī ròu fàn) are bowls of rice with shredded turkey layered on top, often accompanied by pickled daikon radish. The rice is drizzled with a kind of gravy made from the turkey drippings and soy sauce.
- Hsinchu: pork balls, 貢丸 （gòngwán）, which are often eaten in soup， 湯 (tang). Rice vermicelli, 米粉 (mǐfěn), are another Hsinchu specialty. They are often eaten 'dry', 乾 (gān, not in a soup) with mushroom and ground pork.
- Dasi, Taoyuan dried tofu (大溪豆乾 dàxī dòugān)
- Taichung: Suncake is the most noted pastries of Taichung. It is baked layered puff pastry with a sweet center often made with honey or molasses. Also, Nagasaki-style Castella and nougats (牛軋糖 niúgátáng, nougat).
- Tainan City Dan zai noodles (台南擔仔麵 Tâi-lâm tàⁿ-á-mī, Táinán dànzǎimiàn), shrimp and meat dumplings (蝦仁肉丸 hê-jîn bah-ôan, xiārén ròuwán), and shrimp crackers/biscuits are among the most notable local dishes. Another popular dish originating in Tainan is "oily rice" (台南油飯 Tâi-lâm iû-pn̄g, Táinán yóufàn), a rice dish containing savoury oils and shredded pork meat, mushrooms, and dried shrimp.
- Coffin Bread (棺材板 guāncáibǎn) is similar to French Toast or bread bowl soups, but filled with savory fillings, such as black pepper beef or curried chicken. Thick cut bread is dipped in egg, deep fried, cut along three sides, opened and filled, and eaten.
- Changhua: Ba-wan, literally meaning 'meat sphere'. They are a kind of large dumpling made from a gelatinous dough and stuffed with pork and vegetables, most commonly mushrooms and bamboo shoots.
- Nantou: Yimian (yīmiàn), which is tasty, soft noodles in soup, and Rou-yuan (肉圓, ròuyuán), which is similar to Ba-wan. Rou-yuan's exterior is made of tapioca starch and is filled with mushrooms, thin shredded bamboo, and a meatball. It is eaten with a reddish sweet and sour sauce
- Tamsui: A-gei (阿給, āgěi), which are deep fried tofu that have been stuffed with crystal noodles and sealed with fish paste and drizzled with spicy sauce on the outside. Tamsui fish ball (魚丸, yúwán), because Tamsui is near the ocean, therefore, it is a good place to try their fish balls, which are balls of fish paste stuffed with meat and garlic cooked in light broth. Iron eggs (鐵蛋, tiědàn), are eggs that have been repeatedly stewed in a mix of spices and air-dried. The resulting eggs are dark brown, chewy and full of flavor compared to normal boiled eggs.
Read more about this topic: Taiwanese Cuisine