12 things to bring back from Taiwan (edible edition)
Whenever I leave Taiwan I like to bring back presents. And what’s a better gift than food ? Going shopping in Taiwan is always fun but what to buy ? You don’t know the brands, maybe you can’t read Chinese and there are many products you haven’t even heard of before.
But don’t worry, this month on Taipei Twelve our guest writer Poe, a Taiwanese native, tells us about her favorite foods that she likes to bring as gifts when she leaves the island.
Black Chicken Instant Vermicelli
First, they are different from most instant noodles, Black Chicken uses vermicelli, very thin noodles. Second, the package is unique with its old-school graphics. Adding some vegetables and an egg is a very typical way to enjoy it!
Where to buy it:
- Grocery stores
Pork Chips
To our knowledge Pork chips are foud only in Taiwan. They are crispy and good with beer! There are different flavors, stores usually have samples.
We recommend:
Alishan Wasabi Pepper Salt
If you travel to Alishan, you may notice there are many wasabi products. Alishan is the only area in Taiwan to grow wasabi. Wasabi pepper salt is less strong than wasabi paste. You can use it with seafood or beef!
Where to buy it:
- Grocery stores
- Online shops: you can google 山葵椒鹽 (Wasabi Pepper Salt)
Fuyuan Peanut Butter
Taiwan produces peanuts, at the market you can see many peanut products like sweet peanut soup, peanut brittle, garlic-seasoned peanut etc. What about peanut butter? It’s not common to find Taiwanese peanut butter, most of the brands are imported. Fuyuan peanut butter is 100% taiwanese peanuts, the taste of peanut is pure and rich. We also recommend checking out different kinds of peanuts at the supermarket. You can find a kind that’s black and has 3 or 4 peanuts per pod!
Where to buy it:
- 福源 Fuyuan: №155, Section 1, Dongda Road, East District, Hsinchu City, 300
Dry Bubbles
Do you wanna make bubble tea at home? If you try bubble tea in Taiwan and you love it, you can buy dry bubble in pack at hypermarket! You just need to follow the instructions on the package then you can enjoy bubble tea at home.
Where to buy it:
- Hypermarkets like RT-Mart or Carrefour
Dried Fruit/ Candied Fruit
In Taiwan the climate is subtropical so there are fruits like mango, watermelon, lychee, banana etc. It is forbidden to carry fresh fruits on the plane but you can buy processed fruits products instead. They taste delicious, we recommend pineapple and guava in particular.
Where to buy it:
- 迪化街 Dihua Street: there are many shops sell dried fruit and candied fruit, most of the shops offer testing and it’s a nice place to explore.
- Grocery stores
Pickled Bamboo Shoot
Taiwanese people like pickled food. Bamboo shoots are a very common pickled good. Most ones have chilly oil. Taiwanese like to eat it with rice porridge in the morning.
Where to buy it:
- Grocery stores
Kavalan Whiskey
If you like whiskey, you have to try Kavalan whiskey. Kavalan is Taiwan’s first whiskymaker. Since they sold the first bottle in 2008, the brand has been recognized internationally and won many awards.
Where to buy it:
- It’s available everywhere from liquor stores to grocery shops
- 噶瑪蘭 Kavalan’s website has a store locator
Jah-Jan Soybean Paste (Wei Lih Brand)
The most popular instant dry noodle is Wei Lih Jah Jan Mien, my favorite! The flavor is soybean paste. The brand also sells the paste. You can use it to create many dishes at home. There is also vegetarian jah jan paste!
Where to buy it:
- Grocery stores
Rice
Every Asian country has his own kind of prevalent rice and everyone has their tastes when it comes to rice. Wherever you live you can purchase rice there but coming to Taiwan is the ocasion to purchase very high quality rice at a low price. Japanese rice is known all over Asia, when the Japanese occupied Taiwan, they brought the technology to grow rice and even brought some of their own rice varieties. So Taiwanese rice is close to Japanese rice but with its own texture and flavor.
Where to buy it:
- Grocery stores
We recommend:
Tea
Chinese tea culture is very different from western tea culture. It has a rich history and there’s a complicated tea ceremony. Taiwanese tea is mainly fermented oolong tea. Tea from Taiwan is reputed of high quality, especially tea produced at high altitude. Do not buy tea from the night market because you can’t be guaranteed the origin.
Where to buy it:
- Tea shops
- Tea Salon
We recommend:
Pineapple Cake
Pineapple cake is a sweet traditional Taiwanese pastry. It’s made with butter, flour, egg, sugar, and pineapple jam. It is called pineapple cake but most of the time, the filling has a high percentage of wax gourd. Wax gourd is less expensive and it gives a better texture than just pineapple jam.
Where to buy it:
- Gift shops
- Airport
- Brand’s store
- Grocery store
We recommend:
That’s all we got! We hope your friends will be pleased with their presents and Bon Appétit!
Taipei Twelve is a passion project about Taipei updated every 12th of the month, we have others lists you can check out right here on medium.
