TAIPEI 57
Of all the Asian countries, of all the culinary traditions, Taiwan’ s gastronomic legacy always wins for me. And it’ s ironic, because for once, politics got something right.
The beauty of Taiwan’ s diverse culinary culture is that it happily overlaps regional distinctions; it fuses styles and breaks with tradition. It takes the best, and makes it better, and although its customary to thank the chef, in this case we can also thank the Generalissimo, Chiang Kai-shek.
When his Nationalist forces fled Mainland China at the end of the civil war with Mao’ s Communist guerillas, his supporters followed across the Taiwan Strait, to the island of Formosa, bringing with them their various regional cooking styles.
Now whether you think Taiwan is a country in its own right or still part of China, I’ m sure you’ ll agree that the result was nothing short of magical; a natural fusion of the island’ s Hoklo and Hakka cultures, blended with plenty of Japanese influence and the best dishes from regional China. Add to the mix more than fifty years of simmering time and you have a unique culinary tradition that continues to draw in foodies from around the world.
One of the best places to see a cross section of Taiwanese cuisine is in the thriving, bustling and thoroughly friendly
capital Taipei. For many, this is a foodie mecca, where you can get awesome meals as easily at night-time hawker stalls as you can in the fine dining restaurants of the capital’ s sleek skyscrapers.
And the capital’ s many night markets are the best first step. Politics wasn’ t the only influence on Taiwan’ s culinary heritage. With oceans on all sides and a tropical climate perfect for wild flowers and fruit, many of Taiwan’ s classic dishes are laced with fresh seafood, from tuna and grouper through to squid and cuttlefish, while desserts are often brightly coloured with tropical fruit like lychees, dragonfruit, starfruit and papayas. Other key ingredients include soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, fermented black beans, pickled diakon radish from Japan, and a local basil known literally as the‘ nine story pagoda’.
Taipei’ s more than 20 night markets range from small local affairs right up to the likes of the Shilin Night Market, the biggest in the country. Formerly a fresh produce market where farmers would dock at the nearby river and sell their produce to the highest bidder, Shilin Markets are home to every Taiwanese delicacy imaginable, thanks to 539 stalls cooking up a nightly storm. Although the markets are now housed in a more modern structure( the old one was torn down as a potential fire hazard),
the ambiance is still great as students from the many city universities, families, office workers and tourists come together in search of a great bite to eat.
In addition to the main market building, the side streets which surround the Shilin Markets are also abuzz with restaurants and stalls, and make for a great foodie saunter on warm spring nights. If you’ re looking to let your tastebuds do the walking, catch the city’ s metro to Jiantan Station around 8pm, when the crowds are just starting to arrive.
www. jetsetter. hk