food from Taiwan

I have got to come up with a dish that is "Taiwanese". Sounds simple enough....the problem is that I cannot find any clear cut defenitions of what Taiwanese food is. I've googled it and looked in the library and the best thing that I've found is that it is really just a mix of cuisine. I read that it is a strong soup and seafood culture...I also read that beef was not eaten in the "old days" but now is....I am really confused. any help?

Maybe I should narrow the question...If u were to come up with a dish, what are the most important elements of Taiwan food?
Thanks in advance

For the record, i found a Ton of info under the search "Taipei"....

Hi,

A lot of the Chinese in Taiwan are from Fujian province. Tony C is from Taiwan, you might want to PM him to add his two-cents on this thread.

At Chicago Kalbi, they serve Galgun (oyster pancakes), which I recall some discussion on it being of Taiwan origin.

Regards,

Three cup chicken - can find quite a few recipes, for example - http://www.taiwancenter.com/recipe/en/t ... icken.html

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

A lot of the Chinese in Taiwan are from Fujian province. Tony C is from Taiwan, you might want to PM him to add his two-cents on this thread.

At Chicago Kalbi, they serve Galgun (oyster pancakes), which I recall some discussion on it being of Taiwan origin.

Regards,

great info... thanks

When the Guo Min Dang moved the Republic of China to Taiwan, they were afraid the traditional dishes of the mainland would be forgotten, so they enlisted the aid of Fu Pei Mei to found the Chinese Culinary Institute and teach modern Taiwanese housewives to cook traditional Chinese dishes with a modern twist. She is often called the Julia Child of Chinese cooking. Like Julia, she also had a TV show that lasted more than 30 years. You should look for her cookbooks which are written in both English and Chinese. I believe there are 3 volumes. They are out of print but can still be found used. Thanks to ms. Fu, Taiwanese cuisine is sort of a mish mash of many mainland styles. The aboriginal people of Taiwan do have a unique cuisine of their own, but it is hard to find. The Taiwanese do eat quite a bit of seafood, and there is a strong street food culture there. Many of the dishes associated with Taiwan can be found in outdoor market stalls and beer halls. When I was working there for a while, one of my favorite street dishes was squid on a stick, which is squid splayed, floured and deep fried on a bamboo stick. The end result looks like something that popped out of somebody's chest in the Alien movies. Some other street dishes associated with Taiwan are Beef Noodle Soup, Stinky Dou Fu, Grilled Chicken, Pork Buns and of course the pickles that are served with almost every meal.

d4v3 wrote:You should look for her cookbooks which are written in both English and Chinese. I believe there are 3 volumes. They are out of print but can still be found used. Thanks to ms. Fu, Taiwanese cuisine is sort of a mish mash of many mainland styles.

I just picked up Volume 1 at Sue's church rummage sale. I've made a couple things from it, and they came out very nice (although I'm sticking with Fuschia Dunlop's Kung Pao Chicken -- this recipe looks to be significantly bland compared to hers).

If there's a particular recipe you're looking for, let me know. If it would be useful to have the Chinese version, I could scan it for you.

Agree generally with the comments and I do think Taiwan food is hard to categorize. As noted, there are also major influences from many parts of mainland China given the exodus of the Kuomintang (as noted, pinyin is Guo Min Dang, but KMT is still more common reference I think) to Taiwan and there's a Fujian influence as well. And influences from the Japanese occupation, and the indigenous population.

Snacks/street food are one clearly distinctive type of food from Taiwan. Examples such as stinky tofu or oyster omelets are perhaps most associated with Taiwan, although I think they more likely originated on the mainland. Same is true for other foods that many associate with Taiwan. E.g., breakfast items like soybean milk, fried dough, shaobing; noodle soups like beef noodle soup; dumpling items, such as xiaolongbao, potstickers and shenjianbao; shaved ice; etc. I don't know enough about the history of all these items to say if any originated in Taiwan (some/most clearly did not), but I think most people from Taiwan think of these foods as closely linked to Taiwan. Tea (e.g., Oolong or Ti Kuan Yin) are also very popular.

Three cup chicken is a great idea of something to make. Relatively straightforward to make and very distinctively from Taiwan (even though, again, I don't think the dish truly originated there).

gocubs88, I "believe" I replied to your PM. Let me know if you got it? Used the draft/save fxn a few times, not sure if it went out.