As the political capital and commercial center, Taipei in northern Taiwan is well-known throughout Asia. Many frequent visitors are familiar with Kaohsiung, the major port and industrial powerhouse in the south. Taichung, roughly equidistant between the two, has long been seen as Taiwan’s “third city.” Population statistics suggest a different pecking order, however. The municipality…
An examination of the incident shows things that Taiwan did well, plus areas in need of improvement. On July 9 and 10 last summer, the ATM network of the First Commercial Bank in Taiwan was hit by a well-coordinated hack that took control of the system, forcing selected ATM machines to spew cash out to…
Greater Taipei, home to almost a third of Taiwan’s 23.5 million residents, is a wonderfully diverse yet conveniently compact region. In addition to manmade attractions like Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum, and a fabulous array of restaurants, the cities of Taipei, New Taipei, and Keelung boast mountains almost 7,000-feet high (2,133 meters), engrossing coastal…
After spending around two decades in Taiwan, three years ago TOPICS contributor Mark Caltonhill returned to live in the UK. Within weeks, he was missing “three-cups” slow cooking, kongxin cai (空心菜), and perhaps most of all, stinky tofu (臭豆腐). Here is his report. Arriving at Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport in the 1990s after each annual…
The evolution of Taiwan’s mass market eating establishments has speeded up over the past decade to meet developing tastes and higher expectations. In recent years the long and colorful tradition of food vendors setting up roadside stalls has become less common, as hygiene requirements and city ordinances tighten up. Taking its place is a multitude…
Chefs have toned down the spiciness to accommodate local taste. Cuisine from China’s southwestern Sichuan province has a well-deserved reputation for intense flavors given its frequent use of chili peppers, numbing Sichuan peppercorns, bean paste, and garlic. Many aficionados of the cuisine insist that the spicier, the better. Anything less than fiery is considered pedestrian….
Taiwan has a long history of growing a wide variety of mushrooms, and was once a major exporter. BY STEVEN CROOK AND KATY HUI-WEN HUNG We eat too much of what is bad for us, experts say, and not nearly enough fruits and vegetables. But one positive trend is visible in some parts of the…
More Muslim tourists means more demand for halal-certified restaurants. Applications are surging in Taiwan for halal (清真) certification – assurance that a restaurant’s food preparation strictly follows Muslim law. This growth likely helped Taiwan achieve its ranking as the world’s seventh-most Muslim-friendly travel destination among non-Muslim countries, according to the “Global Muslim Travel Index 2016”…
Famous foreign personalities like Jamie Oliver bring business expertise, but in the long run it is local master chefs like André Chiang who will carry the torch. Celebrity chefs spread stardust over a nation’s food scene. They take the spotlight and make the headlines, introduce new ingredients and food preparation styles to give cooking an…
The number of breweries, and pubs offering their product, has been growing rapidly. Only a few years ago finding craft beer in Taipei was a bit of a challenge. Only a handful of bars had them in stock, and even fewer offered craft beer brewed in Taiwan. Nowadays, you could hardly throw a rock in…
