Colorful and eclectic, Taiwanese cuisine is a melting pot of food cultures from its native aboriginal tribes, provincial immigrants and Japanese colonial influences, built around the rich bounty of the region’s mountains and seas.
In places around the world, new expressions of Taiwanese cuisine have been born from the Taiwanese diaspora and younger generations of chefs with Taiwanese heritage. These third culture chefs combine the flavors of their Taiwanese background with new innovations and influences from the cities in which they now live, creating delicious food with classic Taiwanese tastes. Here are 10 MICHELIN-recommended restaurants from around the world to enjoy a taste of Taiwanese.
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United States
KatoOne MICHELIN Star, Los Angeles
Asian, Contemporary
Kato chef Jonathan Yao actually majored in anthropology at the University of California. A child of Taiwanese immigrants in America, his memories of Taiwanese flavors come from the cooking of his mother and grandmother. He took to the kitchen as a child, cooking for himself when his parents were busy, and fell in love with the craft. After cutting his teeth at illustrious restaurants such as Alma in Los Angeles and three-starred San Francisco restaurants Benu and Coi, he opened his own restaurant, Kato, in 2016 at the tender age of 25. A fan of Bruce Lee, Yao named his restaurant after The Green Hornet’s sidekick. And Kato was awarded one MICHELIN star in 2019.
The seafood-centric menu boldly showcases both the techniques and flavors of Southern California and Taiwan. A Kato signature of Three Cup Abalone echoes the flavors of Taiwanese three-cup chicken, boasting tender shellfish coated in a rich fragrant sauce of abalone liver and sesame oil. Steamed fish – a staple of Taiwanese family meals – makes its appearance at Kato in the form of Spanish turbot stuffed with aromatics and dressed in a sauce made from fish bones, rice wine, onion and ginger.
Eat Joy Food
Bib Gourmands, Rowland Heights
Taiwanese
Awarded a distinction in the newly released Bib Gourmands list of MICHEIN Guide California 2023, Eat Joy Food is tucked away in Pearl Plaza in Rowland Heights. Its proprietor is originally from Taiwan, settling in the US after studying abroad. On the menu you’ll find a wide variety of Taiwanese classics such as spicy duck blood, pan-fried milkfish, stewed mutton broth with herbs, oyster mee sua, pork liver soup, stir-fried chayote leaves and stinky tofu. The restaurant also uses premium Taiwanese Chishang rice.
Pine & Crane
Bib Gourmand, Los Angeles
Asian, Taiwanese
Pine & Crane in Silverlake, CA offers popular Taiwanese dishes such as beef noodles, dan dan noodles, scallion pancakes, Taiwanese sausages and bubble milk tea, as well as lesser-known dishes like a cold appetizer of sliced pig ears. Highly recommended by Michelin inspectors is its three-cup jidori chicken.
Founder Vivian Ku's parents are immigrants from Taiwan engaged in agriculture in California. The restaurant also offers vegetarian variations on classics such as vegetarian mapo tofu, and three cup mushroom.
Dai Ho
Selected Restaurant, Temple City
Taiwanese
Dai Ho is a Los Angeles stalwart serving up Taiwanese classic cuisine. Long queues are frequent and tables turn over very quickly. The most distinctive feature of the store is the concise menu hanging above the cash register with no more than ten options. Our inspectors recommend the sesame dry noodles and beef noodle soup. Noodle dishes aside, sides like beef tripe, pork shank, firm tofu and kaofu (braised wheat gluten) are not to be missed.
Win Son
Bib Gourmand, New York
Chinese, Taiwanese
Located in East Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, Win Son’s interior boasts exposed brick walls, a small bar and light wood tables, a modern industrial style that belies its classic Taiwanese cuisine menu. Taiwanese founder Josh Ku and executive chef Trigg Brown present a contemporary take on Taiwanese cuisine, influenced by the chef’s former training under a Taiwanese-American chef. Their interpretations of Zha Jiang Mian and Lu Rou Fan feel familiar but deliciously exciting. The duo published A Taiwanese American Cookbook last year, which includes traditional Taiwanese dishes as well as their own creative variations.
Wenwen
Selected Restaurant, New York
Taiwanese, Asian
Opened in 2022, Wenwen in Greenpoint, New York, has become a hit. Chef Eric Sze and partner Andy Chuang bring the vibrant flavors of Taiwanese cooking to the city. The façade is framed by floor-to-ceiling green-framed windows allowing for a full view of the open and airy interior of the restaurant. The menu combines familiar Taiwanese dishes with distinctive elements. In addition to the signature BDSM Chicken (Brined, Deboned, Soy Milk) dish from the founder’s previous restaurant 886, popular dishes at Wenwen also include Sacha Hot Honey Popcorn Chicken and Wok-fried Peashoots With Tofu Skin. Our Michelin inspectors recommend the celtuce salad and whole striped seabass with fish paste, seasoned with black sugar yuzu vinaigrette and red vinegar. Finish the meal with Fried Tangyuan With Ice Cream, a moreish dessert of black sesame-filled mochi balls served with vanilla ice cream, cilantro, dehydrated peanut butter and condensed milk.
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Europe
BaoBib Gourmand
Taiwanese
The trio behind BAO, Shing Chung, his wife Erchen Chang, and his sister Wai Ting Chung were inspired to bring the gua bao that they had tasted on a trip to Taiwan back to the UK, where it became a huge hit. The traditional tangzhong breadmaking technique is the secret to the restaurant’s soft and bouncy bao buns. The fillings vary from classic Taiwanese braised pork, fried chicken and beef short ribs to more innovative flavors like Horlicks ice cream. Not to be missed are the ‘small eats’ such as fried chicken with hot sauce, pig’s blood cake with cured egg yolk and chicken rice.
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Lily Lee
Selected Restaurant, Helsinki
Taiwanese
Located in Helsinki, Finland, the restaurant's website describes its dishes as inspired by Taiwanese cuisine, blending Hakka-style cooking, Japanese delicate flavors, Hong Kong’s street kitchens and classical Cantonese methods to create modern dishes based on traditional recipes. The menu is diverse and not limited to Taiwanese classics. In addition to various Chinese dishes such as dumplings, fried rice and roast duck, the menu also features kingfish sashimi, sesame prawn toast, and even fried veal sweetbread served with duck jus.
Hong Kong
What to Eat
Bib Gourmand, Hong Kong
Taiwanese
Starting out as a bento store opened by a pair of Taiwanese mothers on Wyndham Street in Central, the restaurant now serves up authentic Taiwanese flavors with many of its seasonings and ingredients flown in from Taiwan. Condiments like chili oils, sauces and preserved and pickled vegetables are all made in-house to ensure authenticity of flavor. For first-time visitors, must-order dishes include the beef shin noodle soup, egg crepe roll with Taiwan-imported ingredients and braised pork rice. Try these with small plates like pig ears, braised pork platter, stir-fried bird’s nest fern and fried chicken. Bento rice boxes including braised pork rice or red-braised pork ribs rice are served at lunch with side dishes that change daily.
Yuan is Here (Western District)
Bib Gourmand, Hong Kong
Taiwanese
The founder, Ah Yuan, started out selling street snacks at South Airport Night Market of Taipei at a young age and later set up shop in Sai Wan, Hong Kong. The signature Braised Pork Rice features hand-cut braised pork that is full of aromatic flavors, rich but not greasy. The sliced pork with garlic sauce whets the appetite with its tangy and spicy flavors while the deluxe seafood omelette is an elevated version of the classic oyster fritter. Other offerings like the deep-fried salty chicken, oyster mee sua and garlic sausages transport diners straight to Taiwan, while Michelin inspectors recommend the Jiufen-style taro rice balls for a sweet finish.
Hero Image：Lin Wei Yu/What to Eat
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The article is written by Hsieh Ming-Ling and translated by Rachel Tan.
Read the original article here.
