Beef noodle soup is more than simply a delightful dish. It is also a reflection of Taiwan’s vibrant and diverse society. Since its emergence in the mid-20th century, this uniquely Taiwanese fare has become central to the nation’s dynamic food culture. Indeed, there are now more than 30,000 beef noodle soup shops throughout the country. This video explores the intriguing history of beef noodle soup. It also introduces the major varieties of the soup, as well as the assortment of garnishes that people eat with this mouth-watering dish.
Food
FIH Regent Group forecasts flat food, beverage revenue
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2015
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter
FIH Regent Group (FIH, 晶華國際酒店集團), which runs the Formosa Regent
A chef prepares sashimi at the Formosa Regent Hotel in Taipei yesterday. The hotel announced it is to reopen its buffet restaurant today after a two-month renovation. Photo: CNA
Taipei (晶華酒店), expects food and beverage revenue to stay flat this year from last year due to an economic slowdown and a NT$100 million (US$3.08 million) renovation of a popular buffet restaurant, senior executives said yesterday.
The five-star hotel on Taipei’s Zhongshan E Road houses eight restaurants and a dozen banquet facilities to meet the needs of wedding receptions and other functions.
“We expect food and beverage revenue this year to be about the same as last year’s figure of NT$2.3 billion” having spent two months renovating the buffet restaurant, FIH food and beverage general manager Simon Wu (吳偉正) told a media briefing. [FULL STORY]
Supplier of tainted bean curds busted in Pingtung County
Tsai brothers likely to face seven-year imprisonment
Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-19
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed Monday that batches
Tainted bean curds found in Pingtung. Central News Agency
of bean curds containing excessive hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) sold in traditional markets in Pingtung last week may have presumably been consumed.
According to the FDA, results of the tainted products manufactured and distributed by Li-Chen Foods in Pingtung County failed to pass safety regulations after samples of pressed tofu were randomly picked up last Thursday pending laboratory tests.
The Monday bust, comprised of health authorities and police from the municipal government, found six barrels of hydrogen peroxide at the factory complex weighing 1,350 kilograms in total. [FULL STORY]
Taiwan planning to set standard for chocolate
Taiwan News
Date: 2015-10-12
By: By Lung Pei-ning and Elizabeth Hsu, Central News Agency
Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s food authorities are planning to set a clear-cut definition for chocolate, so that no product can be described as chocolate if it does not match the proposed definition.
There are currently no national standards for chocolate in Taiwan, Hsueh Fu-chin, a deputy division chief at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said Monday. “There is no definition from the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), or from the FDA.” However, there is a wide spectrum of chocolate products in the Taiwan market, and chocolate is a favorite among teenagers and children, Hsueh said while trying to explain to the media why it is necessary to set standards for chocolate.
According to the definition set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, chocolate (in some regions also named bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate or “chocolat fondant”) shall contain, on a dry matter basis, not less than 35 percent total cocoa solids, of which not less than 18 percent shall be cocoa butter and not less than 14 percent fat-free cocoa solids. [FULL STORY]
Doctor warns against going crab crazy
FEELING CRABBY?While a Keelung doctor has some eating advice, purveyors offer a few tips on how to choose the freshest catch this fall, as well as pricing
Taipei Times
Date: Oct 13, 2015
By: Yu Chao-fu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
As crab season has arrived in Taiwan, Lai Hui-lien (賴卉蓮), a physician at
A customer inspects live crabs at the Wanli District seafood market in New Taipei City on Wednesday last week. Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Keelung Hospital, is urging members of the public to show restraint.
Crab meat is very rich in protein, which means it is not healthy to eat too much of it, Lai said, especially people who suffer from hypertension or cardiovascular diseases.
People with gout or skin allergies should avoid crab completely, she said.
Deemed to be “cold” in terms of Chinese medicine, crabs should not be eaten alongside with beer and pears, Lai said.
Crab season coincides with persimmon season, but the two do not go together, as the protein in crab meat can coagulate with the tannin in persimmon and lead to indigestion, which can cause food in the intestines to ferment and lead to stomach pains and diarrhea, the doctor said. [FULL STORY]
Introverted expat: 10 ways to get away in Taipei
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/11
By: Rachel McGuffin
Taipei, Oct. 11 (CNA) Although Taipei is full of great tourist destinations,
Sharing a drink with a new friend by Brian Cherry
sometimes all you want is an escape away from the crowds where you can relax without having to pay an arm and a leg to do so. Whether you’re looking for a place to think or a fun activity to do alone, these tips will satisfy all your introverted needs while keeping your budget on track.
1.Relax in a café. Going to a café to work on a project or relax with a cup of coffee may seem like common sense, but cafes here in Taipei are unlike any other in the world. Gone are the days of monopolized coffee culture, now on almost every corner one can find a unique, hole in the wall café with its own cool vibes and dark corners. Try a cat café where you can chill with a feline friend, or try creating your own art at an art café to explore your hidden talents. It’s not just about getting a great cup of coffee, but experiencing a new way to decompress from your day. Check out the plethora of blogs on google for more café info! [FULL STORY]
U.K. magazine writer rhapsodizes over Taiwan’s gourmet food
Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/10/04
By: Jeniffer Huang, S.C. Chang and Elizabeth Hsu
London, Oct. 4 (CNA) Tom Parker Bowles, a famous food critic for Esquire magazine, has
Photo from Esquire website.
given a rave review of Taiwan’s gourmet food and human warmth in a long article titled “How Taiwan became the hottest food destination on earth,” in the October issue of the British magazine.
Bowles has a well-known mother by the name of Camilla — who happens to be the wife of Britain’s Prince Charles.
Bowles’ trip to Taiwan, where, the Esquire editors said, “even the offal tastes divine,” and his resulting six-page article, are expected to boost interest in Britain about visiting the island.
His good impression about Taiwan started from “those gentle smiles at customs, and the sense of heartfelt welcome, such blessed contrast to the blank-faced, purse-lipped suspicion of mainland China.” [FULL STORY]
General Tso’s Chicken Got its Start in a Fancy Restaurant in Taiwan
From haute cuisine to takeout
smithsonian.com
Date: October 1, 2015
By: Danny Lewis
Take a look at just about any Chinese restaurant in the United States and their menu will
general tso’s chicken
probably have General Tso’s Chicken hanging out somewhere between the lo mein and the beef with broccoli. But while the sweet and saucy chicken nuggets typically come in a greasy takeout box with an egg roll and pork fried rice on the side, the dish was first cooked in a fancy restaurant in Taiwan in the 1950s.
General Tso’s Chicken may be named after a 19th century Hunanese general, but he certainly never ate anything resembling the sticky-sweet meal. The dish as most Americans know it today was invented by Peng Chang-kuei, a chef from the Hunan province. A well-known and talented chef, Peng orchestrated and supervised the grand banquets of the Chinese Nationalist government from the end of World War II until they were toppled by Mao Zedong’s Communists in 1949, Fuschia Dunlop wrote for The New York Times Magazine in 2007. Peng fled the country and found refuge in Taiwan alongside the Nationalist leadership.
“Originally the flavors of the dish were typically Hunanese — heavy, sour, hot and salty,” Peng told Dunlop in 2004.
During the 1950s, Taiwan became a haven for classical Chinese cuisine. Peng opened a restaurant in the capital of Taipei and for years served food inspired by traditional Hunanese cooking, including the now famous General Tso’s Chicken, as Jennifer 8. Lee shows in her film, “The Search for General Tso.” But the dish as most Americans know it today is nothing like Peng’s original version. [FULL STORY]
Rob Schneider attends Taiwanese restaurant event in LA
Want China Times
Date: 2015-10-01
By: CNA and Staff Reporter
Hollywood star Rob Schneider attended the “Overseas Quality Restaurant” awards
Rob Schneider at the awards ceremony at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Los Angeles, Sept. 30. (Photo/CNA)
ceremony Tuesday at the Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECO) in Los Angeles, in an effort to promote restaurants which serve authentic Taiwanese cuisine.
Nearly one hundred restaurants run by Taiwanese expats were awarded the “Gourmet Taiwan-Overseas Quality Restaurant” label, an initiative sponsored by Taiwan’s Overseas Community Affairs Council to bring Taiwanese delicacies under the international spotlight, throughout the United States and Canada for the past three years.
Steve Hsia, director-general of TECO in Los Angeles, said that Taiwan’s cuisine is so famous that it has been chosen as one of the top 10 best destinations for foodies by CNN. And with this restaurants award program, it can attract more foreign visitors to Taiwan to enjoy the country’s unique delicacies, he added.
The poll to which Hsia referred was in fact heavily skewed as the large majority of people taking part were Taiwanese internet users voting for themselves, though this has not precluded its usefulness as a publicity tool. [FULL STORY]
Project to increase cultivation of non-GM crops in Taiwan
Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-21
By: CNA and Staff Reporter
The Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) under Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, has
Soybeans. (File photo/Teng Po-jen)
decided to implement a five-year project to promote the cultivation of non-genetically modified grain. The decision was made during a meeting attended by agriculture officials from central and local governments on Friday.
AFA deputy director Chen Chun-yan said the agency expects as much as 32,000 hectares, an increase of 20,000 hectares, to be dedicated to crops other than rice and wheat by 2020.
Chen said the project is intended to encourage local farmers to grow non-GM crops such as soybeans, black beans and flint corn, increasing local supply amid growing public concern over genetically engineered farm produce.
Starting this year, 1,500 hectares of farmland will be dedicated to growing these non-GM crops on a trail basis, with a comprehensive production system to be put in place by 2016, including an official logo and QR code, he added. [FULL STORY]
