In the introduction of her book Pork Delicacy, Taiwan Limited, author Fu Shiling describes the allure of oo-peh-tshiat, a Taiwanese dish of assorted offal and meat with a name that literally translates to “black and white cuts”:
“The name ‘oo-peh-tshiat’ has really sold this snack dish short. It reflects the immense trust and loyalty customers place in the shop, with sentiments such as ‘whatever you suggest’ or ‘I trust your judgement’.”
“Oo-peh” in Minnan dialect connotes the idea of “anything” or “whatever”, implying that customers have complete faith in the shop’s selections. In Taiwan, every part of the pig – from nose to tail, from skin to bone – can be savoured and is worthy of appreciation. Apart from offal, Taiwanese people also relish the connective tissue and cartilage of the animal. Thanks to the diverse range of textures and intense flavours they offer, these parts are enjoyed by many discerning gourmets. Beyond pork, the food-loving Taiwanese also make use of offal from poultry and livestock, using different preparations and cooking techniques for each specific cut.
In fact, offal dishes have a special place in traditional cuisines worldwide, with certain speciality offal dishes being part of unique travel experiences. Think Scotland’s haggis, Italian tripe sandwiches from Florence, foie gras in France, and veal sweetbreads, all of which are celebrated delicacies.
From oo-peh-tshiat to offal and other parts, Taiwan’s culinary practice of utilising every edible part of animals is a commitment to traditional thriftiness. For instance, chicken blood and blood cakes were traditionally made by farmers using blood from chickens they had just slaughtered. What’s more, consuming offal aligns with the traditional belief in the concept of healing or nourishing a body part by eating something that is visually similar to the respective body part, or eating the corresponding body part of an animal. This practice is thought to provide special nourishing properties, and reflects Taiwan’s dietary supplement food culture.
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Pork Offal Cuisine: From Snack Shops to Restaurants
The MICHELIN Guide Taiwan’s Bib Gourmand recommendations feature numerous quality establishment across Taiwan for enjoying oo-peh-tshiat. These include Mai Mien Yen Tsai in Taipei’s Dadaocheng, Chang Hung Noodles on Huaxi Street in Wanhua District, and A Ming Zhu Xing (Baoan Road) in Tainan’s West Central District.
At Mai Mien Yen Tsai, its simple menu highlights parts such as pig’s bladder, liver, stomach, and oviduct. The texture of pig’s bladder is similar to that of its stomach; they can be tender or crunchy depending on the cooking time. The liver has a robust aroma with a mildly metallic taste, and its texture can vary greatly depending on how long it has been cooked. The sliced pig liver at Mai Mien Yen Tsai retains a pink centre, delivering a smooth and delicate mouthfeel.
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In contrast, the signature pan-fried pig liver at Taiwanese restaurant Shin Yeh Taiwanese Cuisine is coated with cornstarch then quickly stir-fried with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar, resulting in a rich and glossy sauce that clings to the liver slices – an entirely different culinary experience.
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Tainan’s A Ming Zhu Xing (Baoan Road) has come up with an innovative technique of water bath heating using aluminium cups, which ensures the pig offal remains tender. The pig heart, composed of strong muscle tissues, offers a one-of-a-kind meaty fragrance and a pleasantly firm texture. Whether cooked in a water bath or using other methods, a precise cooking time yields a delicious umami sweetness.
Pig offal cuisine is an integral part of Taiwanese everyday life. You can find it at snack shops, but also in Taiwanese and Chinese restaurants that offer stir-fried dishes. For example, one of the signature dishes from Taichung’s Moment in Beijing is a classic northern Chinese dish of braised intestines in brown sauce.
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Over at one-MICHELIN-Starred Taiwanese restaurant Golden Formosa, the menu features various large intestine dishes, from braised intestines and intestines with julienned ginger, to three cups intestines with pig trotters, and intestines served with pickled vegetables, blending Hoklo and Hakka culinary traditions. Chi Chia Chuang (Changchun Road) offers a popular crispy large intestine dish, where marinated intestines are fried until the skin turns crispy and paper-thin while remaining tender inside.
Common pork offal also includes kidneys. Their freshness and cleanliness are particularly important, as mishandling can lead to an off-putting smell. However, when prepared correctly, they possess a delightful texture that is both tender and crunchy. One of the most popular preparations is to sauté them with sesame oil, such as the signature sesame oil kidneys at Lou's (Nantun). Alternatively, some snack shops serve boiled and sliced pig kidneys for a different tasting experience.
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Must-try Beef and Lamb Offal Dishes
Besides nose-to-tail cuisine made from pork, the Taiwanese also do not shy away from exploring the culinary potential of other animals, including beef, lamb, and poultry. Eating big bites of meat is an enjoyable experience, while savouring offal dishes presents a different kind of enjoyment with even more diverse flavours and textures.In southern Taiwan, the proximity to cattle markets means that Tainan and Kaohsiung offer many exquisite beef soup dishes. The star of beef soup is undoubtedly the rich broth made from simmering beef bones with vegetables, which is paired with freshly slaughtered beef. When visiting a beef soup shop, make sure you also try their stir-fried and offal dishes.
Freshly butchered beef slices, along with beef heart, liver, and mixed entrails, can all be the star ingredients of the beef soup. For stir-fries, Tainan’s A Cun Beef Soup (Baoan Road) offers stir-fired beef tongue with mixed beef offal, while Hsi Lo Tien Beef Soup serves stir-fried beef liver – both dishes are rare finds outside of the region.
As for lamb, it can be categorised into those with skin and those without, with lamb offal and tail being the gourmets’ favourites. Lin's Vegetable Lamb Hotpot offers hotpot with skin-on lamb and generous amounts of vegetables for a refreshing sweetness. The restaurant’s menu also features a selection of lamb offal including lamb heart, stomach, liver, and even lamb penis (or yang bian).
Great Things Come in Small Packages: A Guide to Poultry Offal
Chicken is the most common poultry in Taiwan, so apart from chicken liver, heart, and gizzard, Taiwanese people have a particular fondness for chicken testicles, which have a texture akin to soft tofu bursting with flavour. During winter, sautéing chicken testicles with sesame oil is considered a nourishing delicacy. Notably, the MICHELIN-starred restaurant Ming Fu features this ingredient in its signature Buddha Jumps Over the Wall as well.
Offal cuisine is deeply ingrained in the Taiwanese dining culture. On your next visit to Taiwan, why not experience the diverse textures and flavours of offal dishes, and explore the delightful sensations that each of these parts have to offer?
