These oil noodles with minced pork and shrimp make one of the most iconic snacks in Tainan.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Du Xiao Yue vendor —
Danzai noodles were originally sold out of buckets on a bamboo pole slung over a shoulder. Today, a chef in Du Xiao Yue cooks up noodles while seated on a stool.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Briased pork over rice —
Heaven in a bowl? Melt-in-the-mouth diced pork over rice is a great comfort food in winter.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Lu mian —
This delicious briny soup noodle soup is traditionally served at weddings in Tainan. Elsewhere in southern Taiwan it's given as a wedding gift.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Zong zi —
Yes you can get rice dumplings across Asia, but Tainan's zong zi, packed with savory fillings, are known for their chewy and mellow sticky rice texture.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Oyster Omelet —
Made with sweet potato starch, oysters, egg and lettuce with bean spouts, the simple oyster omelet was created during times of scarcity.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Tofu Pudding (douhua) —
Tofu pudding is made with soy beans and comes bathed in brown sugar and topped with either red bean, green bean or taro.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Pork trotter over rice —
Remarkably tender, pig feet taste great when braised in soy sauce and herbs and served with rice.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Squid potage soup —
Potage soup in Tainan is generally sweeter than versions elsewhere in Taiwan. Fushui Huazhi Geng's version contains boiled down milkfish.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Spanish mackarel —
The best time to have Spanish mackerel is from late summer to early autumn.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Milkfish —
Not a fan of milkfish popsicles? It's just as good when pan fried with a squeeze of lime juice,
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Duck soup pot —
Most restaurants have switched from stone to metal pots for cooking duck soup, but at Ah Mei, a traditional charcoal fire is still used.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Eight treasure soup —
This dish is a trove for the eight "treasures," ingredients that include glutinous rice balls, peanuts and green and red beans. It's traditionally served with shaved ice in summer and soup in winter.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Eel noodles —
To have a crunchier eel texture, some restaurants stir fry the eels before boiling them in broth.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Turkey Rice —
Turkey was first imported to Taiwan centuries ago when the island was ruled by Dutch colonists. A bowl of aromatic shredded turkey rice costs less than $1.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Coffin bread —
A combination of French toast and chowder, coffin bread is an edible bowl containing seafood chowder. Legend says the name was inspired when an archeologist tried the toast and told the chef, "It looks like the coffin I'm excavating now."
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Shrimp rolls —
Shrimp rolls are a Taiwanese rendition of Japanese tempura, except the shrimps are wrapped in caul fat and stuffed with scallions before they're deep fried.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Taiwanese meatballs (ba wan) —
A pocket of savory goodness, these involve pork and bamboo sprouts wrapped in gooey and chewy rice flour, corn starch and sweet potato starch. The sweet sauce gives the dish a contrasting kick.
Clarissa Wei/CNN
Savory rice pudding (wa gui) —
Whichever genius decided to pour in all the duck egg yolk, shiitake, pork and shrimp into a bowl of rice milk pudding with soy sauce and sesame oil, we thank you.
