Five MUST Eat Taiwanese Breakfast Foods That Taiwanese People ACTUALLY Eat!

Oh my god, it's so good! In today's video, I'm going to be introducing another top 5 Taiwanese foods, this time with the theme of Taiwanese breakfast. Now, every man and his dog here in Taiwan has made a Taiwanese breakfast video at some point, but in today's video, I am going to be trying to show you the real Taiwanese foods that real Taiwanese people eat for breakfast. So I've come back to my favorite market here at Wanhe Temple and we are going to be trying to find the most traditional of Taiwanese breakfast foods. First food on the list, we are going to be eating some Taiwanese Zou. I don't know what it is with me and Taiwanese guys with knives recently, but I just interrupted the chicken chopping man to ask him where I can find Zou. And he said, originally they had it here, but now they don't have it in this market. Exactly the reason that I wanted to introduce it, because it's incredibly traditional, but maybe it's falling out of favor. We're not going to give up, we're going to find some Zou here in Nantun District. Okay, so a little bit of a failure finding the Zou, but as this video is about what Taiwanese people eat, I decided to take a look at what the guy at the table next to me was eating, and I just ordered the same as him. I've already been treated to my meal before I've even started, but this is Rou Gen Cang, this one has got noodles, there's big chunks of pork, there's egg, and the boss just insisted that I add a little bit of spicy sauce. The pork is kind of like a ground pork, pretty sure it's not from the fillet, it's almost like a meatball style. You can see in there, there's black pepper, there's some spices, but it is so soft, melts in the mouth, delicious. Now, for any foreigners watching, you may think that noodles are just noodles, but just like in the West we have potatoes that you can do a million different ways, noodles are exactly the same. These are more standard, maybe spaghetti style noodle, but they do taste really fresh, I'm sure they're handmade. Fresh wheat noodles. You can spot the difference between a Pao Mian, a dried noodle, and a fresh noodle a million miles away. Look at the meat and the gravy and the bean sprouts and the noodles all mixed in together. This is definitely becoming a favourite of mine. We are definitely going to be getting some dough soon, but I'm really happy that I found this place so randomly, so lucky to come across it and be introduced to a real traditional Taiwanese breakfast food. Time for some dough. And as you can see at the start of the video, I had a little bit of trouble finding it in the main market, so I've had to cross the road and find this rather modern, fancy looking place. And this is Zou Da Xia, and I just asked the boss to give me the most traditional, special, special style dough. So we'll see what he gives me, but super excited to eat this traditional food. And here it is, the shop's speciality, Da Xia Zou. And if you're looking for a food that has multiple ingredients, this is the one for you. This is absolutely packed with more things than I could have time to introduce. Of course, you've got the base, which is the rice, but then there's big chunks of pork, youtiao, one of my favourite Taiwanese breakfast foods, there's squid, there's baby shrimp, there's shaoyu, there's fish meat, there's corn, there's vegetables. Like I said, too many ingredients to possibly ever talk about. This is something that I've eaten maybe once or twice, but I don't think it was as special or as complex as this one. Let's give it a go, see how it tastes. It's got a real seafood flavour to the base, to the soup, and I watched him as he was making it, and as with all Taiwanese cooks in restaurants like this, they just seem to make it look effortless, the way he's selecting ingredients, throwing in the soup, taking orders from other people, just like a conductor of an orchestra. Maybe that's a bit too dramatic, but yeah, I think this is something that it takes a bit of a skill and organisation to prepare. Oh, look at that big chunk of fish. Now, in English, dou has several different names. The more polite one would definitely be porridge, a little bit different to the porridge that we would eat back in the West. The porridge that my mum would give me when I was a kid was actually not made from rice, it was made from oats, and I remember it was a little bit boring, a little bit bland, so we would often just cover it with sugar or maybe honey if you came from a more middle-class family. Mine was definitely refined white sugar over the top, but it served the same purpose that it serves here in Taiwan. It's a substantial, filling meal. It's relatively cheap. A big bowl of dou, such as the one I've got in front of me, will probably get you through from breakfast until dinner, if needed. I didn't even notice, but there's clams in here too. It fills up with rice and the clam inside as well. We have made some serious progress into this big bowl of dou. I think I'm going to finish it, and then we'll be on to the next food. And for the next food, I've invited special friend Prozzie along. Welcome. Special friend. Because a very common Taiwanese breakfast food is quite simply from the convenience store. So we're here at Family Mart. Yep, a very popular breakfast shop. Taiwanese people don't just eat traditional Taiwanese foods, they do eat a little bit of a crossover sandwich-style food. Have you ever had one of these? Oh, is that like the bread's pressed together or something? It's sealed. A lot of Taiwanese people complain that our western-style sandwiches, the food always falls out. So this is like a crossover between that. Oh, it's warm. Yeah, very charred. This is my first time eating this. I see it all the time, but I've never had one. Okay, there's like caramelized onions or something in it. Is it? I was expecting it to be sweet. I could be wrong. I'm wrong. It's peanuts. Yeah, but it's not really sweet. I don't taste the sweetness. No? It's a good picnic idea. Yeah, it's just convenient. Marks out of 10 for the sealed sandwich? For a sandwich, it's a 6, it's fine. Tell everybody the reason that you're on the channel today. What are we promoting? Alan and I have started a podcast over on Patreon. A video podcast on Patreon. The videos are long-form discussions. It's a podcast, obviously. And we just tell stories that we can't normally tell on our regular channels. I give a ---- about what goes on in your life because I care about you're my friend. But as far as the women in your life go, I am very... So far, I think people are really enjoying it. We're getting a lot of positive feedback. Yeah, there's hundreds of people so far have watched the videos. And we're only up to episode 5. So definitely go check it out on Patreon. There's a link in the description below. And of course, if you want to support our individual Patreons too, that's there. Instagram? How's the underscore SR? Mine is LifeInTaiwan2017. I'm off for food number 4. Okay, and for the next food... We are going to be trying a traditional Taiwanese-style Fan Tuan. And I'm going to be comparing it to the 7-Eleven version. Which is more like Japanese onigiri. So I headed to one of the most famous Fan Tuan restaurants in all of Taichung. Soja Handmade Fan Tuan. So yes, Fan Tuan is an incredibly popular breakfast food in Taiwan. It's just so easy and portable. You can stop at 7-Eleven or stop at the side of the road and pick one up. Pop it in your bag and eat it when you get to work or school. And I'm not expecting much from the 7-Eleven version. Not to mention, I'm not a big fan of seagrass. But as I mentioned in the last video, I'm ready to put my body on the line. In search of the perfect Taiwanese foods. And I've gone for a simple salmon with salmon roe filling. There's dozens of different fillings. You can have it cold or hot. I didn't even think about getting mine hot. But I have to say, pretty good. The rice is nice and moist. Still separated, not too clumpy. And the salmon and salmon roe, incredibly fresh. That was surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting much from that. I remember not liking them years ago and never tried it. But I'll definitely try it again. I always expected the seaweed to be overpowering. But maybe my tastes have changed. But it's not so overpowering as it used to be. Now on to the main event. Just look at that. This is at least double the size. I should say that the 7-Eleven one cost me $42. This one is a 2-Pie Fan Tuan pork steak rice ball. And it only set me back $50. And this one is hot. So it's going to be a different experience altogether. But just wait until you see what is inside this one. Oh my god, it's so good. Immediately, as soon as I took a bite, the difference in quality and ingredients is miles apart compared to the 7-Eleven one. The 7-Eleven one wasn't bad. But this one is just chock full of really fresh, handmade ingredients. When I went to order it, there was a queue outside. It was like 7 o'clock in the morning. So the place is obviously popular. The guys are working their asses off making fresh Fan Tuan to feed the people of Taichung. Fresh steamed rice. Pork steak. Pork floss. And I think there's some sour vegetables in there too. The rice on this one is a little more sticky compared to the 7-Eleven one. So it's holding its shape together a lot better. This is so good. And the best thing about this one, it comes in its own bag. It's so big that you can eat it until you're full. Then wrap it up again. And you've got basically another Fan Tuan to feed you at lunchtime. We are not going to be eating any more Fan Tuan. We are on our way to eat Taiwanese breakfast food number 5. And for that, we've come to a very standard, run-of-the-mill Taiwanese breakfast shop. That yes, does have some of the more traditional dumplings, Luobo Gao, traditional Taiwanese breakfast foods. But they also serve a Taiwanese version of some western foods that we might eat. And the one I've chosen today is this absolutely delicious-looking Kala Ji Bao, fried chicken hamburger. Interestingly, one of the popular things I like to do here in Taiwan with chicken is add an egg, which is something that we don't really do in the West. If you're eating chicken, you tend not to eat their embryos. Yes, this is a very western food. It's very typical of a KFC fried chicken burger. But it's definitely something that a lot of Taiwanese people will eat. These restaurants are very popular, whether it's this one, Mai Wei Dung, Lai Ya Ham Bao, Hong Ya Ham Bao. There's chains of these places all over the country, and they serve a mixture of western and Taiwanese foods. So, as this video is sharing with you what Taiwanese people really eat for breakfast, I thought I had to include a fried chicken hamburger. Let's dig in, see how it goes. Yes, what you're looking for in a good fried chicken hamburger is a real crunch of the texture of the batter around the chicken, and then a nice, juicy, moist piece of chicken inside. And that's exactly what you've got. The egg adds something more interesting, and the fresh lettuce and tomato, again, adds another level of freshness and crunch as you bite through the burger. And for drink, we've gone for a simple, traditional Hong Ta. $70 for the hamburger, $20 for the drink, $90 for this rather simple breakfast. Probably a little bit expensive compared to some of the more traditional foods we had at the start of the video in that morning market. Horses for courses, Eagle or Boy or Eagle Kung, everyone has their own preference, is what I'm trying to say. But yes, I think that's the end of the video for now. Hope you've enjoyed this little journey through some of the more common top 5 Taiwanese breakfast foods that people eat here. And if you disagree with any of the foods, or you think I went to the wrong place, if you think there's a better option available somewhere, then that's exactly what the comment section is there for. I'm going to be making a lot more top 5 food videos. I eat a lot. So if you've got some suggestions for me of what top 5 foods you'd like to see me eat, then again, put it in the comment section down below. But I think that's it. Thanks for watching. As for now and as always, I'll see you next time in my life in Taiwan. Peace. Bye bye.