Taiwanese Recipes

Some of the most famous and popular dishes you find in Taiwanese Recipes are the delicious Three Cups Chicken, Red-Cooked Pork Trotter, Taiwanese Beef Noodles and Tea Eggs. Most people associate all Taiwanese food with beef noodles, but there is more to it. Taiwanese cuisine is actually a blend of many different regional cooking styles from mainland China. In the 40s, the Nationalists fled to Taiwan from mainland China after a bloody struggle with the communists. These Nationalists, from all over China, brought with them their regional tastes. Taiwanese cuisine is a rich blend of Shanghainese, Beijing, Hunanese, Szechuanese, Cantonese, Teochew and Hokkien styles. There is also a strong Japanese influence in Taiwanese cooking, such as a fondness for seaweed. Seafood is also popular as Taiwan is an island. Taiwanese food, like Chinese cuisine generally, is characterized by its emphasis on the freshness of the ingredients and simple cooking styles. Ginger, garlic, soy sauce, scallions and Chinese wine are essential. A distinguishing factor in Taiwanese cooking is its wide use of fermented bean paste. Black bean sauce, fermented and then dried, is coupled with fish and shellfish. Fermented yellow bean paste is also popular. Sold in jars, and sometimes added with chilies, they last for a long time. Some of the most popular dishes are the simple, everyday fare enjoyed in common Taiwanese homes. Typical of Taiwanese cuisine is the great number of soup stocks, resulting in it being referred to as a “soupy” cuisine. Taiwanese food recipes also places emphasis on lighter flavors and natural sweetness of foods.