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A classic Taiwanese danbing and savoury soy milk.

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Cheap 7/11 grilled pork. I lost track of time and ended up getting dinner after almost all the restaurants had closed their kitchens. The solution was then to head to the closest convenience store and getting some food to bring back home.

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Went on a walk in a new direction and found a place with some take-away “onigiri” (really onigirazu, literally “not onigiri”) with pork (as well as kimchi in one of the cases), mayonnaise and lettuce.

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Homemade tofu and rice with a hard-boiled egg. One of the things I have been surprised at here is how cheap tofu is. In Europe tofu is a fairly niche item for certain dishes, vegans or vegetarians. Here it is instead a staple, and presumably the economies of scale and competition drive down the price considerably.

I have always found braising or frying tofu to be very annoying, as it requires a lot of preparation and drying time. Part of this was alleviated by finding these pieces of tofu with “skin” on them (similar to that of stinky tofu) that helps them hold together in the pan. I am reminded by the main thesis of Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations; the size of the market increases its specialization.

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Aboriginal Taiwanese boar sausage. The Taiwanese identity is very interesting in many ways; it includes the Austronesian people’s that have lived here for as long as humanity has, the old Chinese migrants from the Ming and Qing dynasties, those from the Japanese colonial period (although they are very few) and of course those that came with the Kuomintang. All these parts synthesise into one identity, or part of one. That is most obvious in the cuisine.

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Seafood udon noodles close to home.

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Fried beef sparerib. Saw recently how Jensen Huang was in town and enjoyed the cuisine at various night markets, and could not hold myself from another night of delightfully unhealthy food.

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Taiwanese bread at a bakery. Passed a nice bakery with a line outside it while walking around town and decided to stop and buy some of the local bread. Very dessert-like but not at all bad.

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Luo rou fan with extra pork and bean sprouts. Wanted to order some fermented cucumbers but due to a miscommunication I did not notice until the food arrived that I bought some pork with a side of pork. It cost the same as the cucumbers, so I did not pay any extra.

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Vegetarian hotpot. I actually forgot to take a photo today, so instead this is the dinner I had for double ten day with my roommates. I considered removing the conveyor-belt sushi since this is a bit more impressive, but I guess it was meant to be for me to forget an image.

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A nice bowl of Vietnamese beef pho while reading The Economist in the evening.

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Conveyor belt sushi. Today is the Taiwanese national day; Double ten (十十) day. It celebrates the Wǔchāng uprising (武昌起義) of the Xīnhài revolution of 1911 that toppled the Qing dynasty and led to the creation of the Republic of China that is today Taiwan. Today is therefore the 115th year of the republic.

After waking up early to see a parade (it was not really visible to the public) and airshow the party decided upon sushi, and we went to a conveyor belt-sushi place in the Taipei main station.

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A humble bubble tea (珍珠奶茶). It is surprising that it has taken me so long to highlight this, given that it is practically the national drink of the country and that I had originally considered posting it as the first picture upon arrival. They are quite filling for a simple drink — the pearls are almost enough to fool you into thinking you’ve had a proper meal.

Tonight I felt like taking a short stroll in the evening, and so wandered up on the same mountain from a few days ago, bringing something with me to consume as I watched planes take off from Songshan behind the Taipei skyline.

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Quick snack at the night market with a scallion egg package.

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A very simple dinner at a place recommended by a friend. I had some century egg-fried rice that also came with a light soup with tofu-skin in it.

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This is the easiest and best value (if also most unhealthy) meal I have made and eaten here. Homemade lǔ ròu fàn (滷肉饭), braised pork rice from a ready made packet for the price of only $60. Simply heat the pork, boil some rice, and optionally chop some vegetables for a filling meal.

It is probably a good thing that I can not get the critical ingredient back home.

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A simple home made version of the Japanese Chazuke or Taiwanese/Chinese Hakka Lei Cha. Rice with seaweed, peanuts, Alaska pollock (crab sticks) seared in soy sauce, and some leafy greens all in a bath of jasmine tea.

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Today is the Swedish Cinnamon bun day, and so in a slight repeat of 42 days ago I had another cinnamon bun, this time with a friend. There is apparently a Swedish-style bakery in Taiwan, but unfortunately in Tainan (台南) — on the opposite end from Taipei (台北). The only remaining option then was to to go to ikea and buy frozen ones that could be made in the oven since we do not have the tools needed for baking at home.

While there I also had to buy something that I know has made the same trip I have to this strange land:

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Woke up early today and did some chores before heading out with all the other Taiwanese people of the neighbourhood to buy breakfast at little kitchens dotted around the streets of Taipei. I then did a short hike in Fuzhou Shan (福州山) park to eat it:

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Changed up the fried rice recipe slightly by switching to a noodle wok. The gas stove burns so hot here that making anything that needs a slow simmer is almost impossible.

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Vietnamese food is relatively rare in Stockholm, at least compared to cities like Berlin. But Taiwan is a country that has surprised me in the degree in which it is connected to south-east Asia. It exists in the boundary zone between Japan, mainland China, and the Philippines, and its culinary tradition strongly reflects that. One such example is tonight’s dinner, grilled meat with cold rice noodles (烤肉涼拌米粉).

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I remember having dragon fruit as a child and not liking it — not that I actively disliked it, just that it did not taste as strongly as I had hoped from its appearance (and name). Having it now I quite enjoy it, and it is a good idea to take the opportunity to have tropical fruits while I am here.

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My roommate received a box of snacks that was too large for him and very kindly shared it with the rest of us. This candy was very good, especially since I have been craving proper sweet things to eat ever since I came here.

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Some simple donburi at a local Japanese restaurant.

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The best ramen I have had in Taipei so far, and at a price below that which I have had before.

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Today I went to the Shìlín (士林) night market, the largest in Taiwan. While I had lots of different things, this was the most pleasant surprise of all; tiny lightly fried one-bite dumplings.

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Tonight was the mid-autumn festival, aka the moon festival, and here in Taiwan it has been a tradition to go out and eat barbeque, as well as to eat mooncakes. Me and my roommate went out and hung out in Da’an forest park and had some traditional mooncakes after dinner.

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One of the unexpected situations in this country is getting a craving for something cold to drink late in the evening. Thankfully the streets surrounding my apartment offer a wide selection of such refreshments after a long day of study.

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My (Swiss) roommate went to a meetup for Swiss students in Taiwan, and very kindly brought back this piece of Toblerone as well as a small pin for me.

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A repetition of an earlier day, some Koah Pau.

A late seminar meant that I had to grab some take-away, and fortunately found these at a place that was almost half the price of the ones close to my apartment.

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It is too soon to say.

— Zhou Enlai (周恩来) on the consequences of the French revolution.

Happy new year! Today is the final day of the 234th year of the French revolutionary calendar (Quintidi 5 jour complémentaire). Tomorrow will then be Primidi 1 Vendémiaire an 235 de la Révolution. To celebrate this new year’s eve I scouted out a French bakery and bought some simple French croissants, as well as a baguette not pictured here.

Every single (European) foreigner I have met here has been of unanimous opinion — the Taiwanese do not know how to make good bread. The same is true of the mainlanders, although they add some foul tasting additive to all the bread I had there last year. But it seems that it is still possible to find quality European-style baked goods as long as one goes to a speciality location.

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I was invited to go to a tea house with a friend and had some lovely high-quality Pu’er tea while chatting along. Apparently the Pu’er tea industry went through a large transformation in 2007, shifting production from a high-quality artisanal industry towards large-scale plantations that drove the quality down. Teas from before 2007 are therefore often higher quality, something I found quite fascinating. I also had this quite unique (to Asia) rice pudding alongside the tea, which reminded me the Nordic Risifrutti:

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Two scallion pancakes eaten beneath the faint glow of a traffic light while on my way to Carrefour.

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After an exhausting day trip to Cihu it is very relaxing to just swing by px Mart and make a simple meal at home. Fried pork in chili, laoganma, sesame oil, onion, and garlic with rice topped with some scallions.

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A simple, cheap meal out on the town. Fried noodles with beef, chili, and some sort of peanut sauce.

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Unfortunately forgot to take a picture of this when properly served, but went on shopping trip adventure to Carrefour today, a larger supermarket that I do not usually go to because it is farther away. You could buy pre-prepared century eggs like this for a price that is probably a little too high, but worth it for novelty’s sake.

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A simple bowl of ramen nearby after a day of shopping.

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A form of Taiwanese grilled sausage with lettuce, garlic, and bread alongside with some freshly made mango juice prepared in front of my eyes.

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A variety of meats served on skewers and grilled in a oven at a night market nearby.

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Today I attended a wonderful Swedish kräftskiva (crayfish party) hosted by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei. Wonderful people, and food, as well as classic Swedish drinking songs, trivia, and a raffle.

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Despite the very heavy rain it was quite busy at the night market today. I was unsure of whether or not to go myself but felt I needed to move around after quite a long day of study at home. Thankfully managed to get a roofed table at this place and ordered something that the chef recommended. Details unclear, but in broad strokes it contains chicken, rice and a side of boiled cabbage.

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A quick and cheap plate of fried rice served with some pork, all at a very reasonable price. Everything tastes better when it’s worth the money.

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Pork cutlet with rice and steamed vegetables, also served with some sweet winter melon tea seen in the corner of the picture.

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Scallion pancakes. Went to a new night market on the other side of town. This one felt more touristy, but at this point I have tried enough food to tell what is and is not worth the money. Also bought a “Thai-style chicken bun”, but did not take a picture of it. Being able to mix and match different foods at a reasonable price really is one of the best parts of night markets.

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Unfortunately did not have time to get anything interesting for dinner today. My lesson took quite a while to finish and got caught up with a ~6 hour long conversation with (primarily one of) my roommates. Thankfully 7-Eleven is open 24 hours a day, contrary to its name, and works in a pinch. In this case duck with rice and pak choi as well as some Oolong tea.

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Continuing on the fruit theme from yesterday, we have the humble banana. But this is no “ordinary” banana, for they are of an entirely different variety from practically all other bananas sold in the world. Before the 1950s, the primary cultivar of commercial banana production was the Gros Michel, until the inevitable result of monocultural cloning — commercial bananas are seedless — occurred. A fungal infection specifically targeting the Gros Michel made it impossible to grow at large scales, and so the industry shifted to the Cavendish cultivar instead, the one you will find in your supermarket today.

But the cavendish is also cloned, and a similar fungal disease targeting the cavendish is inevitable. In fact, it has already appeared, an it first did so on Taiwan. For that reason the Taiwan Banana Research Institute has long been looking for new types that can be grown in the affected soils of Taiwan. The scale of production is however so small that it does not significantly impact the global market (most Taiwanese banana exports seem to go to Japan) and so the only place you are likely to find these strains is in Taiwan itself.

This is then the first non-cavendish banana I have had in my life. Tastes quite good, although they tend to be a little bit smaller than the cavendish.

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Mango shaved ice with condensed milk. The Wikipedia page for this dish “one of the world’s best desserts”,¹ although I can not find this claim repeated in the sources cited. Nevertheless, it is not a controversial claim to make. The simplicity of having condensed milk and ice — a sweet, simple, and yet filling combination — works perfectly in the Taiwanese summer weather. In fact, the climate is an integral ingredient to this dish; it would be impossible to replicate this back in Stockholm. The mango (locally produced on Formosa and immediately noticeable in its quality) compliments the clean flavour of the ice wonderfully.

Post scriptum: The owner who served it to me very enthusiastically pointed out that Jensen Huang (the ceo of Nvidia, born in Taipei) had recently dined there. Here is their picture:

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There is this lovely place near my apartment that seems to be entirely family run and offers these classic Koah-pau (割包) for a pretty low price — take-away only. Traditionally (and in this case) includes red-braised pork, coriander, pickled mustard greens, and ground peanuts.

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My daily rhythm has gotten quite late as a consequence of being done with my studies at around 6-7 pm, but I find solace in being able to so easily go by the night market for dinner. This here is some fried chicken beef — something surprisingly good.

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Decided to try something that I have never heard of before; sweet rice balls with red beans, chicken, and served in a bowl of cold ice tea, with a side of stewed vegetables in garlic with pork. Very different from anything else I’ve had before.

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One of the luxuries of living in a country crossed by the tropic of cancer is the ability to easily buy fresh fruit nearby. Getting pineapple this good would be impossible back in Stockholm.

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Today was dominated by attending the imec Technology Forum (itf) Taiwan. Getting to listen to lectures by top staff at what is arguably Europe’s (and perhaps the world’s!) most high tech company and organisation, as well as experts from tsmc, Micron, Foxconn, and more was incredibly interesting and rewarding. Suitable for a Belgian company, the attendees were treated to branded imec waffles during the networking break.

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A quick and easy breakfast consisting of some simple basil dànbǐng pancakes. This really the perfect breakfast food — filling and healthy enough to eat regularly but light enough to eat early in the morning. Followed up by going to a nearby café and doing some studying for the course that begins tomorrow:

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Another night-market night after a long day of studying. Ended up eating this braised pork knuckle — very heavy and braised with quite a lot of cinnamon gave it a lot of Christmas notes. Quite difficult to strip meat off the bones with just chopsticks, but I figured it out. A side of some more classic pork and a cup of black ice tea.

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Pasta pesto with chicken. Hung out with some lovely people from Taiwan for dinner today, eating at a Italian restaurant. I have a friend who — when travelling — keeps track of how long he can eat only the local cuisine for. Unless you count a quick snack I have now failed said challenge; and to think it happened when dining with locals!

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Today I found a place while out doing some chores that looked good, but unfortunately it did not offer any seating. So I therefore walked over to the local park and ate there while witnessing the beautiful pink sky.

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A late night dinner after a day wandering the city. Today a small hole-in-the-wall shop near Da’an forest park. Some kind of fried pork, teriyaki sauce, iceberg salad, sweet potato, and black rice, with a quick melon flavoured bubble tea afterwards.

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Today I decided to walk in a new direction from my apartment that I usually don’t go in — away from the mrt — because I had seen some places to eat at when I came home yesterday. Turns out there is a whole street teaming with activity just nearby. With a Typhoon currently travelling over the Ryukyu islands, a bowl of hot beef noodles braised in soy sauce is always a good choice.

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I went to the store today and, due to the constant heat, was craving some watermelon. Imagine my surprise when instead of red, it was this beautiful golden colour instead! Apparently this is a naturally occurring version of watermelon, although this is my first time eating it. Tastes quite similar to the red variety, if perhaps a bit sweeter.

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Today I exercised my democratic right to vote in the 2026 local and parliamentary elections of the Kingdom of Sweden at the Swedish trade representative office in Taipei. There I was given some home-made traditional cinnamon buns while chatting with a woman who had lived in Taipei for now 20 years.

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A second (much better) attempt at cooking at home due to the continuing weather. At this rate of improvement I expect to cook the greatest meal mankind has ever made sometime next week. This is fried rice with pork, garlic, the rest of the Bok choi, and eggs, all sautéed in soy sauce.

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Few things beat a hot bowl of noodles after being soaked by the Taiwanese rains. Hiding away from the shimmering lights of the city reflected by the drops of water, I am alone with my noodles for just a few moments.

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Semi-failed first attempt at cooking in the apartment: Baozi (包子) steamed in an air fryer at too high a temperature served with Bok Choi fried in garlic and soy sauce. To drink, a glass of oolong tea (烏龍茶).

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A small classic lunch consisting of a bowl of rice with pork braised in soy sauce. Most impressive of all is the price — only $40 (roughly 1 Euro)!

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Another night market dinner, this time with my roommate, consisting of a bowl of noodles with a tea egg and some tasty fried balls of some kind. Not pictured is a cup of Papaya milk.

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Some Taiwanese Fried Chicken (tfc) eaten at a night market close to home.

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Some dànbǐng (literally egg pancake, a popular Taiwanese breakfast dish) filled with small pieces of pork tenderloin for breakfast. Woke up earlier today than usual, and found that there were still breakfast resturaunts open. Hopefully this means that I am slowly weaning myself off of the jetlag.

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Wonderfully delicious Taiwanese beef noodles in a spicy broth.

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Japanese Beef Donburi and a couple of Onigiri.

Today I woke up very late (due to being jet-lagged) and ended up talking to my roommate the rest of the day. By the time I realized I had not eaten for 24 hours all the restaurants were closed, and so I went down to the local 7-eleven and bought some simple pre-prepared meals. The Donburi was very good, but the fillings of the Onigiri were disappointing for different reasons.

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This is the (appropriately named I might add) stinky tofu, one of the signature dishes of Taiwan. I ate it at a very popular and bustling restaurant with a wonderful atmosphere, but realized soon after ordering that I only had enough cash on me to cover the meal itself, not including anything to drink. “Not a problem” I thought. “I’ll go and have something to drink afterwards”. Lets just say I was practically running to the 7-eleven next door after paying.

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Fried rice with beef; The first proper dinner in Taipei. Bought at a small restaurant in at the Shida night market near National Taiwan Normal University (ntnu).

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The second day of airplane travel, although what feels like one, continuous day. My flight was unfortunately grounded for 5 hours, meaning that my short 2.5 hour trip from Beijing to Taipei became almost as long as the original transcontinental flight from Stockholm to Beijing. The clear highlight was this candy that the kind woman next to me offered. I had thankfully brought some famous Swedish plockgodis that I gave to her in return.

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What’s the deal with airline food?!

The first proper meal on this trip is chinese food — in the western sense — in a small heated package. Somewhat difficult to describe other than repeating the stewardess’ “Rice with beef” followed by “beef is spicy”.

Served with a clashing piece of smoked salmon in a bulgur salad with a piece of bread and small chocolate cake. Not pictured is a cup of hot jasmine tea and a copy of the Rénmín Rìbào (人民日报) that I was so graciously given as reading material while flying directly above St. Petersburg.