Top 10 snacks to get in Taiwan before you return home

When you think of Taiwan, the first few snacks you would think of would be: Oh! Fried Chicken! Stinky Tofu! And of course, Bubble Tea! But what about the tons of unique inexpensive local snacks that you can haul home to share with your loved ones?

I visited Taiwan a year ago with my friends for a graduation trip, along the way we uncovered some unique snacks. Best of all? These confectionaries won’t burn a massive hole in your pocket!

Here’s my list of the top 10 must-buy snacks before flying home:

10. Taiwanese Jelly pudding

With each bite, there is a burst of sweetness. The texture isn’t too soft like ordinary jellies; neither is it too hard with just the right amount of chewiness for you to munch on.

There is a wide variety of flavours to choose from, and not only that, they come in very convenient packaging, with each packet containing the image of the fruit. (If you’re like me and have troubles with reading Chinese, you can easily spot which flavour you like by the packaging)

In the marketplace, you can find vendors laying out hundreds of these jellies on the table for you to mix and match, and seeing the colours reminded me of skittles! Now you have a different way to ‘taste the rainbow.’

9. Saint Peter Coffee Nougat Biscuit

A wide variety of bakeries offers these little biscuits, but none of them even come close to the taste of Saint Peter’s. Despite being so small, these bad boys pack a punch!

What’s interesting is that cream-filled cookies and biscuits are the norms, but these biscuits are filled with sweet nougat instead! The filling is also what makes people keep coming back for more! You can smell the aroma of caramel of coffee in the chewy nougat as you crunch down on these bite-sized cookies. Warning! It won’t take long before you get addicted, so proceed with caution!

8. Pineapple Cake

Taiwan is the birthplace of this mouthwatering pineapple cakes!

With a sweet pineapple filling enveloped in a soft golden-brown buttery pastry, these desserts offer more than just pineapple filing. There are numerous other flavours to explore, such as cranberry, strawberry, and more!

One of the more renowned brands that sell these delicacies is Chi Te Bakery. This brand is so famous that many locals and tourists alike flood to the store to try to get their hands on their pastries!

7. Kuai Che Pork Paper

(猪肉纸) or also known in English as “Pork Paper” or “meat paper” is one of THE MOST ADDICTIVE snacks on this list. With a crispy texture that snaps into pieces between your fingers, each sheet offers a rich, sweet flavour. A perfect combination with plain porridge, or you can eat them as it is! Either way, one bite is all it takes for you to get hooked.

6. Cranberry Cookie Nougat

I found this unique gem at Jiufen. It was tucked away in a little shop when I caught a whiff of its strong aroma. The lady gave us a sample, and it blew my tastebuds away, it was soft and creamy along with the citrus from the cranberries created an explosion of flavour in my mouth with every bite.

5. Green Onion Nougat Crackers from Chia Te

Chia Te makes it back on the list once again! Is there any surprise? I bought a massive box of these. With savoury onion biscuits that compress sweet nougat in between, it is the ultimate definition of the phrase “Sweet and savoury.” The luscious tang of the green onion flavour melds perfectly with the sweet nougat creating the eventual marriage of flavours.

4. Zeng Noodles

These ribbon noodles made it into the ramen rater’s 2016 top ten instant noodles list, they have that unique spring flavour and are incredibly chewy as the edges add a new sensation when you chew on them. These springy noodles will leave you with a daunting impression. Their most renowned flavour- scallion with Sichuan pepper will leave your mouth on fire for its rich flavour for days. Be sure to grab a few packets to bring home!

3. Taiwanese Honey Layer Cakes from Amo Cakes

The cakes resemble marble cakes; they are layers of cakes stacked on top of each other, glazed with Taiwanese honey. If that doesn’t make you drool, this dessert has a soft refreshing texture and moist to the touch with a light lime liquor aroma! Locals highly recommend this cake with some Alishan Oolong tea. Doesn’t that sound like the recipe for an enchanting tea party?

2. Salted Egg Yolk Biscuit

Salted egg yolk is all the rage right now. There’s salted egg yolk crab, potato chips, even in custard puffs! So it’s no surprise that salted egg yolk biscuits are on this list, much like the nougat biscuit, there are a wide variety of brands selling these snacks. The salted egg yolk taste lies within the layer of malt sugar sandwiched between the two cookies. Do note that the malt sugar, though thin, can take a while to soften in your mouth! But the after taste is like a piece of heaven.

1. Sun Biscuit

For the ultimate champion of this list is the Sun Biscuit. Sun Biscuits or (Tai Yang Bing) is a tasty pastry that originated from Taichung in Taiwan. The reason behind the name is because this pastry resembles the sun and has a crusty and flaky exterior. The moment you take your first bite into it, the sweet filling inside will envelop you into a warm blanket, and you’ll get a rather blissful feeling after one bit. Like everything else on this list, it’s incredibly hard to stop eating; it’s not only popular with the older generation, but it might tickle your tastebuds!