Taiwan is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Southeast Asia because what is there not to love about that country?

Besides their friendly locals and scenic landscapes, we have always been fascinated with Taiwanese food. Bring on the pungent beancurd and pig’s blood!

But hold your horses and please do not get the wrong idea. Taiwanese classic dishes ain’t a fear-factor show but instead, an exciting exploration of food. From Beef Noodle Soup, Oyster Omelette to Pineapple Cake, here is our guide to 11 Taiwanese Classic Dishes To Eat.

Source: Hufu Wong

#1 BA-WAN

The disk-shaped Ba-Wan is essentially a translucent doughy dumpling with a diameter of approximately seven centimetres. It is filled with minced meat stuffing and then served with a sweet-and-savoury sauce.

Ba-Wan’s texture bears an uncanny resemblance to gummy and the fillings vary across different parts of Taiwan.

#2 BEEF NOODLE SOUP

As its name implies, Beef Noodle Soup, or also known as Niu Rou Mian is exactly what it is. Think noodles and braised succulent beef dunked in an aromatic semi-dark broth. The dish is then topped with chives, leafy vegetables and/or Chinese pickled cabbage. It is a comfort food that can be found everywhere in Taiwan.

#3 BRAISED PORK RICE

Braised Pork Rice—called Lu Rou Fan in Chinese—is basically a piping hot bowl of steamed rice topped with delicious minced pork. The meat’s sauce is key in this delicacy and adds an extra depth of flavour to its overall taste profile. Complement your Braised Pork Rice with a Chinese tea leaf egg and pickled vegetables.

#4 BUBBLE TEA

Bubble Tea was first invented in Taichung in the 1980s and the rest is history. The iconic tea-based beverage is served with chewy tapioca pearls and you can savour them hot or chilled. Other cities, especially those in the United States of America, call these delightful drinks Boba.

#5 FRIED CHICKEN STEAK

The Taiwanese Fried Chicken Steak is beyond sinful but definitely worth all the calories. A tenderised marinated chicken breast is deep-fried till golden brown and seasoned with pepper, salt and (optional) spices. No one leaves Taiwan without trying this iconic Taiwanese snack!

#6 SMELLY TOFU

Caution: the smelly tofu is not for the faint-hearted. The fermented beancurd has such an overwhelming odour that your nose could certainly detect its presence even from hundreds of metres away! This dish is a popular snack amongst Taiwanese and you will definitely find them at the night markets.

#7 MANGO SHAVED ICE

Mango Shaved Ice boasts fine snowflake ice with chunky fresh mango pieces—an ideal treat to combat the intolerable summer heat! The icy treat is a crowd pleaser and Smoothie House located along Yong Kang Street in Taipei has one of the best renditions.

#8 OYSTER OMELETTE

The glorious Taiwanese Oyster Omelette—also known affectionately amongst natives as orh-ah-jian—is a heavenly union of the gelatinous sweet potato starch and the pan-fried omelette with freshly poached oysters that will melt in your mouth.

A sauce made from tomato ketchup, soy paste and sweet chilli is then drenched over the fragrant oyster omelette.

#9 OYSTER VERMICELLI

Oyster Vermicelli features a generous amount of wheat-based noodles mixed with thickened soup. The flour-rice noodle dish is served with fresh oysters but it is also common to see other interpretations replacing oysters with braised pig intestines instead.

#10 PINEAPPLE CAKE

Traditional Taiwanese pineapple cakes or Feng Li Shu are sweet bite-sized squarish cakes with a buttery exterior and filled with thick jam-like pineapple filling. They are best eaten fresh but also make great souvenirs to bring home.

Source: Easy Eat in Taiwan

#11 ZHU XUE GAO

Zhu Xue Gao—made from pig’s blood and glutinous rice—might come across as a terrifying dish but is actually a well-loved street snack amongst Taiwanese locals. In Taiwan, the pig’s blood could be boiled, braised, fried or steamed.

The most popular way to eat it would be a steamed version on a stick coated with cilantro, peanut and soy sauce.

#12 CONG ZHUA BING

Cong Zhua Bing is a type of Taiwanese pancake that is highly raved about by the locals. You can find hawkers at night markets flipping these scallion pancakes with oil before topping them off with a topping of your choice.

Photo Credit: Taiwan Food Culture

#13 DA CHANG BAO XIAO CHANG

The English name literally translates to ‘big sausage wraps small sausage’ but this iconic Taiwanese street food is essentially Chinese sausage wrapped with glutinous rice. It usually comes with lettuce, salted vegetables and lots of garlic.

#14 TAIWANESE PORRIDGE

After all that feasting, it would be good to have some Taiwanese porridge to cleanse your palate. Everyone gets a bowl of plain porridge which they can complement with a wide variety of side dishes—really similar to our economic rice stalls in Singapore when you think about it!

Popular Taiwanese Snowflake Ice Smoothie House is opening its flagship store at Westgate this Friday on 06 May 2016.

Following its success of its two outlets at Paya Lebar Square and One Raffles Place, Smoothie House is bringing the famous Taiwanese dessert to the west of Singapore - in a much bigger space which will be their flagship store.

Our readers can quote “ladyironchef” to enjoy a sharing-size Mango Ice (U.P. $12.90) at just S$2 – only at Smoothie House (Westgate) from 09 till 15 May 2016. Smoothie House has also lined up several promotions specially for its opening this weekend.

You probably would have known about Smoothie House – Taiwan’s most popular and bestselling shaved ice store that sits along Yong Kang Street. They see queues every day, and are best known for their Mango Shaved Ice that features fine snowflake ice with chunky fresh mango pieces.

Smoothie House in Singapore imports the blocks of ice directly from Taiwan; you can be assured that the quality and taste will be exactly like the original snowflake ice in Taiwan.

Its new outlet at Westgate will open its doors to public this Friday. It will sit on the ground level of The Courtyard – a casual yet inviting environment to sit down and enjoy some delicious iced cold desserts with friends and family.

Other than its usual signatures, Smoothie House’s Westgate outlet will have some new additions to the menu including the Tie Guan Yin Milky Snowflake Ice as well as Napoleon Pie and Waffles.

SMOOTHIE HOUSE WESTGATE OPENING SPECIAL

From 06 to 08 May 2016, enjoy a free healthy size mango snowflake ice (U.P. $7.90) with every purchase of a sharing size snowflake ice (S$12.90).

MOTHER’S DAY SPECIAL AT SMOOTHIE HOUSE WESTGATE

On Mother’s Day (08 May 2016), the first 10 customers per hour can dig in to a sharing size Mango Snowflake Ice Dessert at only $2 (U.P. $12.90) when you bring along your parent to Smoothie House Westgate. Bonding time – yes!

LADYIRONCHEF’S READERS SPECIAL

And just for you, the S$2 promotion will be extended from 09 to 15 May 2016 at Smoothie House Westgate. Don’t worry about not being the first ten per hour; it is applicable to everybody who flashes this post or quote “ladyironchef”

This post was brought to you by Smoothie House Singapore.

If you have been to Taipei, you would probably be familiar Smoothie House, one of Taiwan’s most popular and bestselling shaved ice stores that sits along Yong Kang Street.

Now,  now. Smoothie House is finally in Singapore and we cannot be more excited to celebrate their opening. They are currently at only two locations, Paya Lebar Square and One Raffles Place (both together with Greendot Fast Casual), but come 2016, Smoothie House will be branching out to more locations island-wide.

The daily snaking queues over at Taipei is gonna bother us no more, for we now have Smoothie House serving the same bowls of goodness here in sunny Singapore. Smoothie House in Singapore imports the blocks of ice directly from Taiwan, and you can be sure that the quality and taste is far from being compromised on.

Also, readers of ladyironchef will enjoy a 1-for-1 promotion on Snowflake Ice at Smoothie House (Paya Lebar Square) from now till 31 December 2015 when you flash this post! More details at the end of this post.

SNOWFLAKE ICE BOWLS WITH FRESH FRUITS

What first caught our eyes was the Mix Strawberry Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta (S$15.90) because of its colourful assorted fruit toppings. The strawberry-flavoured snowflake ice is also served with panna cotta.

We recommend having the snowflake ice together with the panna cotta and fruits in one bite to balance out the flavours. Each bowl is good for two people to share (or for one really hungry person)!

This is their signature and probably the most ordered item in their Taiwan stores – Mango Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta (S$12.90). Many reasons to love this bowl, indeed. Why, just look at the generous chunks of fresh mango atop the powdery snowflake ice. And a panna cotta to top, too!

A little fun fact: every piece of mango is sliced with precision to ensure a consistency in the size for the best dining experience, and the number of mango chunks is even on each side! Also, every bowl of Mango Snowflake Ice actually comprises almost a whole mango fruit.

We matcha addicts sure couldn’t resist this one – Matcha and Red Bean Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta (S$12.90). Matcha with azuki (red beans) is a always stellar combination.

What pleased us the most was the fact that the matcha ice did not taste artificial nor was it too overpowering. And yes, that’s a lot of azuki. Talk about value for money!

While you might gravitate towards the signature fruit options, don’t dismiss the very unique Tiramisu Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta (S$15.90) just yet. We were just slightly obsessed with the textures of this bowl, from the chewy mochi bits to the lady fingers, and yes, the same creamy panna cotta (we lost count of the number we ate!).

You might be keen to know that this version is alcohol-free. Unfortunately, no Baileys for our tiramisu because Smoothie House caters to vegetarians and our Muslim friends too, but be rest assured that the taste is in no way lacklustre.

Need your yogurt fix? Yes, you can have it in the form of a bowl of snowflake ice with the Yogurt-Berry Snowflake Ice (S$15.90). This is certainly something unique and different from the regular fruity snowflake ice.

Of course, we love the tartness of this rendition and the addition of berries couldn’t be a better complement to the bowl of smooth ice.

SMOOTHIES

If you are looking for something simpler to something to quench your thirst, the Smoothies (S$6.50) at Smoothie House are actually really good and do not pale in comparison with the signature snowflake ice.

Pick from flavours such as Strawberry, Mango and Yogurt. It is freshness in every sip in these huge cups of smoothies.

MINI ICE CUPS FOR TAKEAWAY

Besides just bowls of shaved ice, Smoothie House in Singapore also offers individual portions in adorable takeaway cups – we reckon they will look so good on your social media feeds!

These takeaway cups are genius, because we all love dessert cups on the go. Priced at S$6.90 each, we still recommend the signature Mango Snowflake Ice – the chunks of mango are no less generous and fresh.

The one true thing that we appreciate most about here at Smoothie House is the fact that everything is not overly sweet nor tastes artificial. Fresh fruit, original ice blocks from Taipei, and huge portions for sharing; what’s not not love, right? Even more so for the month of December with the 1-for-1 promotion!

1-FOR-1 SNOWFLAKE ICE FROM NOW TILL 31 DECEMBER 2015

Simply flash this post upon ordering and you are entitled to a complimentary Mango Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta worth S$12.90 when you order any of the 3 regular snowflake ice bowl (Mix Strawberry Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta, Yogurt Berry Snowflake Ice, or Tiramisu & Red Beans Snowflake Ice with Panna Cotta). The 1-for-1 promotion is only valid at Smoothie House’s Paya Lebar Square outlet from now till 31 December 2015.

Smoothie House
60 Paya Lebar Road
#02-15/16/17, Paya Lebar Square
Singapore 409051
Tel: +65 6702 2221
Daily: 11am – 10pm
(Last Order: 9pm)
Nearest Station: Paya Lebar

One Raffles Place #03-25
Singapore 048616
Tel: +65 6532 1025
Daily: 11am – 10pm
Nearest Station: Raffles Place

This post is brought to you by Smoothie House Singapore.