Famous snacks in Tainan

Name:Alice 杜幼淳

Tainan is a city in the southern part of Taiwan and also the fourth largest in the country. Tainan, meaning ‘South Taiwan’ is home to a population of over one millionin habitants.This traditional city is supposed to have the most Buddhist temples in Taiwan and is regarded as one of Taiwan’s major cultural center. Established in 1624, Tainan is one of the oldest cities in Taiwan and is famous for its historic constructions and its delicious food.

Coffin bread is one of the famous snacks in Tainan. This snack was also known as jigan ban ( “chicken liver plank”). Basically it is a thick slice of white bread that has been hollowed out, stuffed with a mix of ingredients like fried tripe and seafood, and then covered with a thin slice of toast. The stuffing now usually consists of a thick seafood chowder with assorted vegetables. While the name of this snack might lead you to think that the ingredients could be dangerous to consume, it’s just the shape of the sandwich and its cover that gave it such a peculiar name.

Dandan noodles is also a classical snack that every visitor should have a try. Legend has it that there was once a poor fisherman who suffered from a lack of food. In order to help out with the family expenses, he started to sell small soup noodles. Luckily, the weather were too cold that people wanted to eat something hot on their way home. This new snack soon became popular. It also named as 29 day lunar month noodles. Eventually it became one of the well known snacks of Tainan as we see today.

There is a very interesting story about Oyster omelet. According to legend in 661A.D., the Holland army occupied Tainan, and Zheng Cheng-gong led rank-and-file soldiers to attack from Deer Orifice. He wanted to recover the lost territory, because Zheng`s Military suffered from a defeat of Holland Military. However, Holland Military got angry underneath. They hid all grain. Zheng‘s Military had quick wits in an emergency: they used local resources like local-produced Oyster, sweet potato powder mix with water to fry a round flat cake. Unexpectedly, it was handed down, becomes a very popular local flavor---Oyster omelet. Its secret lies in fresh Oyster and sweet potato powder: only when both of them are in perfect combination can make the taste of Oyster omelet.

With so many snacks and so little time to introduce all of the delicious food in Tainan,I could only choose some to talk about. Next time when you go to Tainan, don’t forget to try some local snacks; you will be surprised by how simple snacks can offer you huge joy and happiness.