RANKING Taiwan's Top 50 Foods! Which Taiwanese Food is the Best?

Taiwanese food is arguably some of the most delicious, varied and culture-inspired food on the planet, especially when compared to the stereotypical bland, boring food that comes from my home country of the UK. But one question has always intrigued me on my channel after making scores of videos focused around the hundreds of traditional delicacies available here. Which Taiwanese food is best? Are beef noodles better than danbing? Does stinky tofu supersede baowen? Is aboriginal food more cultural than Hackenese food? And the question everybody is dying to know the answer to, would xiaolongbao kick Gautier's ass in a fight to the death? Well, make sure you watch to the end of this video, which has been very kindly sponsored by Skillshare, in order to find out how me and Prozzie, two guys who love our food, rank some of the most famous traditional and cultural Taiwanese foods. Yes, I am here, Prozzie is here, we have got a list of 50 of the most popular Taiwanese foods and we are going to be ranking them from super class to ABCD. Perfect. So don't forget to watch to the very end of the video to find out if you agree or disagree with our ranking of your favorite Taiwanese foods. And one other thing you should definitely do, like and subscribe. Yes, 50 popular Taiwanese foods, five tiers ranging from S, super class for our favorites, down to D for the foods we dislike. Let's not waste any time and get straight to the first food straight off the bat, chicken's claws. All right, that's going to be an easy deed here. We are not going to be hanging around with these ratings. We've got 50 to get through, and I have to agree, chicken's claw straight into D. It's not good. Next one, I'm pretty sure Prozzie maybe has had this before, IU jelly. Okay, so Prozzie has an experience, the wonder that is IU jelly. And it's something that I've actually made before on several trips around Taiwan. We've made it with the kids in school. You can make it from rubbing the seeds inside a stocking and then it sets. It's good, it's refreshing, really good to drink and eat in summer. So I'm going to take the lead on this one, put it in at a solid B. Food number three, baozi. We used to call those get sick buns in China because they would just sit in a window getting like room temperature warm or like lukewarm gathering bacteria. But I don't know, I've had really good baozi and some really bad baozi. One of the criteria I really want to measure these foods on is their importance to Taiwanese culture as well as how delicious they are. Okay, because I think about baozi, it reminds me of me being poor in China. I went for a rough time and I remember having to like save baozi to eat because I didn't have any money. Well, because of your China poverty story, we're going to put them in at C, I think. Fan Tuan, have you had it? I don't think so. I absolutely love it. I think it's going to be the first A food. Really? Next food is baowan, also known as rouyuan. Yeah, I've had that. I really like them. I think they're really good. They look a little bit sloppy and slimy. Yeah, the texture is not great. B or C tier. And also they are very important to Taiwanese culture. So I think that lets it boost up towards most B. Next one is a possible contender for an S. That's S tier all day. That is a fundamental Taiwanese staple food, right? It's the one thing that Taiwanese people can like. They know it's going to be good. Other foods are like, you might not like sticky tofu, you might not like chicken feet, but they know that doesn't matter where you come from, everyone's going to love a good beef noodle soup. Everyone loves it. So we have our first S tier. Candied strawberries, candied tomatoes, candied fruits. What would you give it? I freaking love those. That's an S tier for me. Is it? I love them. We are on to another dessert food. This is che luan bing, I think. Wheel cakes. Again, a very popular night market food or sort of street market food that kids will often love to eat. They come in custard, cream, chocolate maybe flavor. I like a good custard one. I think it's a solid B. They're not bad. They're pretty good. The worst thing you can get is when somebody in the office, in work, buys a bag of them and there's one left and you bite into it and it's red bean. Oh my god, it's so disappointing. Okay, next food, tong you bing. It's really good for a hangover because it's quite oily and it soaks up a lot of the alcohol. C, I guess, but I know a lot of people are going to put it, they're going to want it in B, but I think C. I really imagine the comment section is going to be wild with this. We've got 50 foods. Everyone has their own personal opinions on it. We are just flying through them, giving like rash judgments, but that's what this video is all about. Damian gung. Most Taiwanese don't even know what that is because you can only get it in Taichung. Yeah, that's a D food. I'm sorry, it's not good. Dun bao fan. I haven't even seen that. Okay, so this one's up to me. I'm going to put that one in at an A. What? Dun bao fan. I love it. It's so special to me. It better be freaking good then. Dan bing. Dan bing is an A, maybe even S. A good dan bing is freaking good. Is it as culturally significant and delicious as beef noodles? Maybe. Like the thing is a really good dan bing is a clear S, but you can get some that are just not very good. Let's stick it in an A. Yeah, let's do A and then I'll think about maybe an S. Dou hua. What the f**k is that? Oh, sorry. It's the texture that gets me. It's sweet, right? You would say D. Because it reminds me just like sweet sloppy tofu. Yeah, I'd say D. I know I'm going to make Taiwanese people angry by being so harsh on their food. No, that's why I invited you. I think the yin and yang is working quite well in this video. No, I don't hold back. I'm very honest about Taiwanese food. Fried noodles? Standard Taiwanese? I mean, B. Very quickly, before we get to the next food, I just want to take a moment to thank today's sponsor, Skillshare. So very quickly over to me at the desk. Yes, thanks to Skillshare, which is an online learning community with thousands of inspiring classes for anyone who wants to explore their creative side and develop new skills. If you are looking for a full career change and want to develop some life changing new skills, or like me, you just wanted to learn a new skill within your current career or lifestyle, then Skillshare is for you. I recently completed MKBHD's Skillshare course on YouTube success, and it has helped me take my editing skills to a whole new level that you may have noticed in my past couple of videos. I'm planning to learn a new skill from Skillshare every month and would love your help in suggestions of things that I can learn. Therefore, Skillshare is offering the first 1000 people to join the community using my link in the description down below, a completely free one month membership. So go check it out, take a look through the thousands of different courses available and suggest some that you'd like to see me take in the comment section down below. And of course, join some clappers for yourself and make 2022 a year of learning, growth and connection through creativity. Thanks again to Skillshare. Now back to me and the sofa. Next, a very traditional food that we probably eat before you even come to Asia, fried rice. Yeah, same as fried noodles. Well, that's why I put them next to each other fried noodles. Which one would you order first? Oh, rice. Are you a noodles or a rice man? Probably a rice man. Gautier, potstickers. Okay, yeah. They're fine. They're fine. I love the chewy crispy bottom when they're really like a little burnt on the bottom. I don't know. Okay. Okay, now I'm going to go s I think it's an S. Okay, it's good chicken. So good, especially in the on a night out when you're going to the spiciness of the season. Like just steamy, juicy chicken. I think B because although I've had this and it can be good, some of it does suffer from the sloppy jalopy that I mentioned. Next one is a C. C. Sorry. Oh, that is contentious. This is a tough one, man. I know. Lunchbox is such a general thing. It's like food. It's like a food. Yeah. Should we go with B? Yeah. Next one? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's an A. No way. D. Oh, really? That's bad. You are putting like all of the Ds are like Cs and Ds are like some of the most important things that people eat most often. I don't think I can put it in D. I think it has to go C. Okay, fine. Because there is some stuff in that pile of animal bits that's actually not bad. Pig's blood. Yeah. Just standard straightforward Misha. It can be A a lot of the time. Okay, let's whiz that straight into A. Are you surprised by our rankings? Please comment down below. Let us know what you think. I think there's going to be shaking your computer monitor like what are you talking about? Food number 23 is a food that we ate recently up in Shinju. Yeah. For our Lunar New Year celebrations is mullet roe and it was phenomenal. It was really good. But I don't know if that's because it came with the cheese and apple. That chef did a damn good job with that stuff. Yeah, she worked magic with that food. I'm going to put it in A. Oyster noodles. Are you an oyster guy? I love oysters but I don't think they belong in eggs and noodles. C. That's where I would put it. B. Okay. Pidan and tofu with the soy sauce. Not bad. Appearance wise would be a D. Oh god. Yeah, it looks like hell. Flavor wise again if you eat the Pidan just by itself is again going to be a D. But eating it with the tofu and the soy sauce together would push it up a little bit. So it's looking somewhere C. So Pidan makes it into C tier bringing us on to another dessert snack food. Very popular gift for taking home to parents and family from Taiwan. Pineapple cake. Oh no, I can't believe it. We disagree on this. It's so good. I don't like it. Well, because my grandmother loves it, I'm going to go for a B. QQ Dan. Sweet potato balls. C. C? I know you really love them. I love them. I was going to go more like A. Jeez. Again, I think there's some that are good and some that are not so good. That's why I would say C. We'll go B. B is getting full. I know. We are just like the most average people ever. We're like, isn't Taiwanese food good? And we're like, yeah, it's B. Luobo Gao, radish cake. Luobo Gao. That's another B. I think it's a little bit too doughy, a little bit chewy, a little bit. Yeah. Should we go C then? Yeah, let's go C. Because B is getting a bit ridiculous. Sanbeiqi. Sanbeiqi. Sanbeiqi is pretty good. That's an A. Shaobing. You often put youtiao into it and when you eat it, it just covers your shirt. Yeah, it's pretty good. But I think we're going to have to stick it in C because it requires other foods to make it good. Good point. Barbecue, Sao Kao, like the skewer restaurants. Again, some places, really high quality cuts of meat, really yummy. Other places, it's like the chewiest, tiniest, grossest. I'm looking at C, man. C? That's fine. It sticks in meat, isn't it? Shaved ice. Shaobing. Yeah. It's the one food that will save you from the absolute unforgivable heat of Taiwan. Okay. It saves lives. So that's going to go A. A, okay. Sui Jian Bao. I ate this in a recent video with Eddie and Andre. No opinion. No opinion on Sui Jian Bao. Don't eat them. Okay, well, it's up to me then. I'm going to put it into B tier. Sui Jiao, a standard, straightforward, run-of-the-mill boiled dumpling. I kind of want to pull a controversial move and say S. Oh, I thought you were going to say D. No, I love dumplings. I'm a dumpling boy. S though, S. Okay, A. Spicy hotpot. That's an S. S? I love malatang. It's so good. I love malatang. I eat it often. This one is going to be a difficult one to judge. Stinky tofu. C. That wasn't difficult. C. I hate having to smell it. It should be a crime if they've got the pickled veg down and it's not too fermented flavor. It's not that bad. So, it's not D. I've come around a little bit. I wouldn't argue if you put it in D. I enjoy it though. So, C. Okay. Tea eggs. C? Yeah, they're whatever. Tianbola, tempura. Have you ever had it? Don't think so. Okay, I'm going to put it into B. Tia bambian. I'm so sorry. That is a D all day long. That is insane. It's so good. They bring it out and it's still sizzling and the egg is still cooking. It overcooks by the time you're done eating it because it's over like a sizzling hot plate. Where would you put it? I'm going to B or C. What? You're British. Yeah, the only good thing about Chinese. It's an A for me. I really, really, really like it. Yeah, for some reason, the turkey doesn't seem to be that dry. So, it's like juicy, fulfilling. They have a little slice of ginger in there, like pickled ginger. Okay, let's agree to agree on that. It's A. Taiwanese hamburger. It's good. The bun is fine, but it can get a little dry, but pork belly is amazing. It's one of the best slices of meat ever and then the cilantro brings out like a freshness. It's an A or a B. Let's put it into an A. Taiwanese hot dog, where the bun is made of rice and then the sausage goes in the middle. I'll let you decide because I don't think I've had it, but I wouldn't. You haven't had the Taiwanese hot dog? Okay, let's go for C. Taiwanese sausage in general. The foreigners have a big problem with Taiwanese sausage is that it's too sweet. Jesus, like that's a D for me. I don't like it. Xiaolongbao, something that I eat probably two or three times a week from the same guy. Really? A good Xiaolongbao for me is possibly S. Definitely A. I'm with you. It might be S, yeah. Let's go S. I like Xiaolongbao. You tiao, the crunchy Taiwanese donuts. I don't know. I don't eat them enough to have really an opinion on them. I know you love them. I do enjoy them. If they're fresh, the worst thing is if you get a soft churro. Nobody wants a soft lychee. I'm going to go A for it. Wow. Next one is in honor of our friend Koo, the taro god himself. Taro in general or taro balls. Have you ever had taro balls? Yeah. But they do say the worst thing you can do to a hotpot is put taro in. If you put taro into a hotpot, it just destroys the hotpot. I don't like taro on hotpot, yeah. Yeah, but we can't put it in D because Koo will cry. Yeah, okay. Zou, porridge. Sloppy rice. It's just sloppy rice. I don't like it. I'm not allowing you to put zou into D. We'll go into C. All right. I just don't like it. Zongzi or triangle rice dumplings. Yeah, I'm tempted to put them in D, but a few of them were pretty good. I think you would be kicked out of Taiwan if you put zongzi into D. I think that would be like sacrilege. They're not that good. They're so good. You get a big chestnut and a mushroom and a big chunk of pork. A mushroom and pork's good, yeah. I did not enjoy the sweet ones. Can't go lower than B. Okay, B because some can be B, but I don't really like it. Thank you very much. I always get my own way. Zoubing, similar to a tongyoubing, but without the tong. A very easy, quick snack food that can probably rank between B and C. I'll let you choose. B. I like them. They could be pretty good. We'll go with B. Okay, so there we go. There's our final tier list of Taiwan's top 50 most famous foods, according to Alan and Prozzie. I'm sure not everybody will agree with us. I'm sure there's going to be fireworks in the comment section, which is what we really love to see. I'm going to get yelled at again. Yeah, I love it. Yell at Prozzie if you disagree with him. If you disagree with me, just keep it to yourself. My anxiety can't take it. Don't forget, check out the link in the description down below for Skillshare's free month. Go check it out. Use this year to improve yourself, learn a new skill, move forward into a brighter 2022. As for now, time to say goodbye. Thanks to Prozzie. Kate, we have to move the sweet sticks to A. They don't belong in A. I'm sorry. That's fine. That's fine. That bothered me. Okay, good. Happy now? Yeah. Okay, with that final adjustment, thanks to Prozzie. Thanks for having me. Yeah, always good to film with you, mate. As for now, as always, I'll see you next time in my life. Until then, peace. Bye.