When I went back to Taiwan this April May, a friend insisted I try “crispy butter rice cake”, comparing it to a crispy canelé. I picked up a box of three from a bakery, and one bite completely won me over, a crisp, buttery shell giving way to a soft, mochi-like chew inside. Each piece…
recipe
Chicken and Shiitake Mushroom Claypot Rice (Bo Zai Fan) 香菇滑雞煲仔飯
(This post contains an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.) Claypot Rice, or Bo Zai Fan (煲仔飯), is a beloved Hong Kong street food built around one simple pleasure: fragrant rice with a crispy, golden crust at the bottom. This chicken and shiitake mushroom…
Taiwanese Steamed Pork with Pickled Cucumber (Guazi Rou) 台式瓜子肉
Taiwanese Steamed Pork with Pickled Cucumber, known as Guazi Rou (台式瓜子肉), is another comforting and easy-to-make dish in Taiwanese home cooking. It’s the kind of savoury, rice-soaking dish that appears on family dinner tables again and again, and one bowl of rice is rarely enough. The dish pairs minced pork with Taiwanese pickled cucumber (脆瓜…
Classic Taiwanese Stir-Fried Rice Vermicelli (Tshá-bí-hún) 台式炒米粉
Taiwanese Stir-Fried Rice Vermicelli, known as Tshá-bí-hún (台式炒米粉) in Taiwanese Hokkien, is one of those classic home-cooked dishes that almost every Taiwanese family makes their own way. Growing up, my grandma cooked it whenever the family gathered together, and I still remember the aroma of dried shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp, and fried shallots filling the…
Crispy Water-Fried Pork Belly 水煎五花肉
Water-Fried Pork Belly is a cooking method that went viral across Taiwanese YouTube a few years ago, and it’s easy to see why. The method starts by gently poaching pork belly in a little water, which cooks the meat through and draws out any impurities. Once the water evaporates, the pork carries on cooking in…
Taiwanese Night Market Chicken Salad (Yan Shui Ji) 台式鹽水雞
Yan Shui Ji (鹽水雞) is one of Taiwan’s most popular night market dishes. Traditionally made with poached or steamed chicken, it’s tossed with a savoury dressing, garlic, spring onion, and a selection of blanched vegetables to create a light, refreshing, and high-protein meal that’s especially perfect for warmer days. There are two common ways to…
Shredded Poached Chicken with Spring Onion Sauce
I’ve been eating a lot more chicken recently because it’s a great source of protein, but I don’t want to keep making the same chicken dishes over and over again. So I’ve been experimenting with different recipes, and this Shredded Poached Chicken with Spring Onion Sauce has quickly become one of my favourites. It’s incredibly…
15-Minute Soup Dumplings in Gochugaru Chilli Sauce
If you’ve been following my recipes for a while, you’ll know how much I love using my Gochugaru Chilli Oil Blend to create quick and satisfying meals. It’s one of those simple flavour combinations that never fails to deliver. This time, I’m pairing it with some soup dumplings to create a dish that’s spicy, savoury,…
The Easiest Air Fried Teriyaki Salmon
Teriyaki salmon has always been one of my favourite quick and easy meals. I love making homemade teriyaki sauce because it only requires a handful of pantry ingredients, yet it delivers the perfect balance of savoury, sweet, and umami flavours. While I’ve made pan-fried teriyaki salmon many times, using the air fryer makes it even…
2-Ingredient Salted Kombu Marinated Egg Yolks
I recently travelled back to Taipei and picked up a packet of Japanese salted kombu (shio kombu) from Don Don Donki after seeing it everywhere on social media. It has become incredibly popular in Taiwan recently, with people using it in all kinds of recipes. One recipe that immediately caught my attention was salted kombu…