Innovative dishes
In terms of cultural exchange, hometown dishes brought in by new immigrants have not only enriched the taste buds of Taiwanese diners, but have also enlivened the creativity of Taiwan’s own food culture.
Thai cuisine is a good example. Taiwanese cuisine has long been influenced by the spicy foods of Sichuan and Hunan provinces in China which were brought to Taiwan many years ago, creating a culinary tradition of eating spicy food. But the unique flavors of the highly spiced, sour Thai dishes were an unprecedented experience for Taiwanese.
Gourmet Andy Wu, who has studied Thai cooking in Thailand, shares some of his alarming experiences trying out the local Thai snacks in his blog: “A bowl of seafood rice noodles looks ordinary. But you’re supposed to add some fish sauce, then sprinkle on a few drops of vinegar in which raw peppers have been marinated, and finally add Thai pepper. After only a few mouthfuls, I was sweating. It was an experience, but great fun.”
The interesting thing is that yueliang xiabing (minced shrimp wrapped in a spring roll and deep fried), a dish that most Taiwanese would order when they go to a Thai restaurant, was invented by Taiwanese! Some say that the dish originated from Taiwan’s jiujia cuisine of the 1960s (jiujia are upscale restaurant-bars catering to middle-aged businessmen and employing hostesses to accompany diners). Another source claims that it’s derived from the Thai dish tod mun goong—minced shrimp mixed with minced chicken and lemongrass, shaped into a round and then coated with breadcrumbs to deep fry. A few years ago, the Thai Tourism Bureau stepped forward to clarify the origin of yueliang xiabing: it’s definitely not a traditional Thai dish. However, because tourists visiting Thailand like to order it, nowadays yueliang xiabing is actually offered in restaurants in Thailand.
Although Taiwan can boast a variety of delicious foods of its own, some authentic Southeast Asian flavors are rare here due to the difficulty of finding appropriate ingredients. Hong Man-chi, vice-chairwoman of TASAT and an immigrant from Vietnam, enjoys cooking and has tasted Vietnamese cuisine all around Taiwan. While she’s pleased that her hometown food is available in Taiwan, she’s also sad that the spring rolls offered in Taiwan’s Vietnamese restaurants are so inauthentic in flavor.
She explains that spring roll wrappers and rice noodles in Vietnam are always freshly made, but the Taiwan variety is imported, so they’re never as fresh as the authentic Vietnamese article. Vietnamese spring rolls also come in a range of more than 10 flavors, and use exquisitely delicious ingredients. The beef spring roll, for example, has such ingredients as green starfruit, green banana, boiled young jackfruit, perilla, and mint leaves. The escargot spring roll includes peanuts, scallion, and jicama, a sweet tuber that tastes like Asian pear.
Through the skill and hard work of Taiwan’s Vietnamese daughters-in-law, delicious Vietnamese cuisine has won the hearts of many. Photos show some popular dishes from Yuexiangguan in New Taipei City(from left to right): Shredded chicken salad. Deep-fried spring rolls. Fresh spring rolls. Pigskin in aspic. Rice noodles with pork and seafood. Fried beef and rice noodle salad.