Taiwanese Cuisine - Desserts

Desserts

• Bubble tea, aka boba milk tea; also known as pearl milk tea (珍珠奶茶, zhēnzhū nǎichá) - chewy tapioca balls added to milk tea.
• Grass jelly (仙草, xiāncǎo, sian-chháu) - (Mesona procumbens) Served hot or cold.
• ò-giô-peng (àiyùbīng ) - a gelatinous dessert, aiyu jelly, made from the seeds of a fig-like fruit, Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang. Served on ice.
• ō͘-á-peng (芋仔冰 yùzǎibīng, yùbīng ) - an ice cream made of taro root paste.
• Zukak kway (鼠麹粿 chhú-khak-ké shǔqūguǒ, 草仔粿, chháu-á-ké cǎozǎiguǒ) - Cakes made with a dough from glutinous rice flour and combine with a ground cooked paste of Gnaphalium affine or Mugwort to give it a unique flavor and green color. The dough is commonly filled with ground meat or sweet bean pastes.
• Traditional Cakes - They are not always of the same composition depending on the flavor.

There is the moon cake which has a thick filling usually made from lotus seed paste or sweetened red bean paste and surrounded by a relatively thin (2–3 mm) crust and may contain yolks from salted duck eggs. It is traditionally eaten during the festival is for Lunar worship and Moon watching. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals.

There are other cakes that can mix salty ingredients with sweet ones to create a balance while enjoying these delicacies with tea. The crust could be shiny from applying a layer of egg yolk before putting in the oven, or not in that case it is often whiter and the crust has more layers.