by Aria Hsia (image: tabitabi-taipei.com)
Breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, and should also be the most nutritional. Studies have shown that in addition to kickstarting your metabolism helping you burn calories throughout the day, breakfast also provides sustenance and energy for whatever lies ahead. Some people prefer to sit down and enjoy a full spread on the table, yet those running late may simply opt for a plain cup of coffee. In a busy city like Taipei, there are so many breakfast options for you to choose from, so there really is no excuse to skip such an important meal. Here is a closer look at the variety of options, and how breakfast has evolved in Taiwan throughout history. Japanese Occupation (1895-1945) Back in the old days, before Taiwanese people had the luxury of feasting on McMuffins and pancakes from mass chain restaurants like McDonald’s, they used to eat much more traditional foods in the mornings. I’m talking congee, pickles, and youtiao (油條;fried dough). Taiwan was originally a rural country, with the majority of the population being farmers. Having enough energy was vital for working long hours in the fields under the scorching sun. Under Japanese colonial rule, Taiwan was heavily influenced in terms of diet. Miso soup was incorporated into their morning meals, along with a steaming bowl of congee. In addition to miso soup recipes, the Japanese also passed along the western trend of cafes, known in Japanese as kissaten(喫茶店). In 1912, the introduction of western cuisine lead to the creation of Taiwan’s first westernized cafe, Lion Cafe, which served coffee, milk, toast and eggs. The Japanese soon realized that their heavily rice-based diet restricted their daily vitamin intake, thus began to encourage the population to substitute white rice with oats and other whole grains, along with milk and toast. Post World War II The end of World War II signaled a massive wave of cultural resurgence when the KMT troops retreated to Taiwan, bringing their traditions along with them. Northern China is well known for their expertise in dough-based foods, from buns, pastries, to noodles, as rice was hard to grow in the harsh weather conditions of the north. Their recipes gradually trickled down into the Taiwanese public, and was well received. In the 1960s and 70s, baseball was all the rage. Even my parents could recall tuning in to watch livestreams of the game in the ungodly hours of the night. To combat their cravings for a midnight snack, they often turned to the only store that remained open — soy milk restaurants, what we call doujiangdian (豆漿店). Doujiangdian menus were largely influenced by the flavors of northern China, and have remained largely the same throughout the decades. The must have items include soy milk, shaobing (燒餅; pastry) with egg and youtiao, rice ball, danbing (蛋餅; breakfast wrap with egg), and steamed buns. To experience the doujiang hype for myself, I paid a visit to the immensely popular doujiangdian called Ruian Soy Milk with a couple of friends. A ten minute bike from the NTU campus, Ruian Soy Milk is nestled around the street corner of a quiet neighborhood. From outside, the shop looked seemingly old and inconspicuous, but the newspaper clippings pinned to the walls said otherwise. A big reason for Ruian Soy Milk’s popularity is probably due to the fact that it is open 24 hours, thus satisfying NTU students’ midnight cravings. A quick look at the menu confirmed that this was in fact a very traditional breakfast place. Soy milk was at the top of the list, along with a few other common breakfast beverages such as rice milk and milk tea. Between the four of us girls, we ordered scallion pancake, turnip cake, danbing, xiaolongbao (小籠包soup dumplings), youtiao, and xiandoujaing (鹹豆漿; salty soy milk). As pictured below, we enjoyed quite a feast. I was familiar with everything on the table except for xiandoujaing, which I had heard of, but never had the courage to try before. It is simply plain soy milk with an extra shot of vinegar and some spring onions sprinkled for garnish. The acidity of the vinegar reacts with the soy milk, causing it to clump up and form a thicker texture. Although it didn’t look the most appetizing, it was not an unpleasant taste and I can see myself ordering this in the future. The combination of xiaolongbao and doujiang, and left a warm and comforting feeling in my stomach, and made it worth getting up early in the morning. No wonder my parents loved to stay up late watching the baseball games. The Emergence of Fast-Food Chains In 1984, the first McDonald’s opened in Taiwan. It was a revolutionary move, as the clean, brightly-lit atmosphere not only transformed Taiwanese people’s taste for food, but their taste for their eating environment. In the past, breakfast shops were mostly dim-lit and sparsely decorated, sometimes even a stall set up by the street. McDonald’s air-conditioned and sanitary dining space inspired breakfast shop owners to step their game and reinvent their image. One man in particular, Kun-yan Lin, caught on fast. He noticed the simplicity yet popularity of hamburgers, and decided to sell sandwiches and burgers instead of the traditional menu. His breakfast shop was called Mei Er Mei (美而美), and went on to become the equivalent of McDonald’s in Taiwan’s breakfast world. I am quite familiar with Mei Er Mei style breakfast, as it is the most accessible and common breakfast shop in Taiwan. You can spot at least one in every neighborhood, and in extreme cases like my neighborhood, there are four on the same street all within a one minute walking distance. Despite their menu being advertised as “western” back in the 80s, it is now regarded as a staple and iconic Taiwanese cuisine. What sets Mei Er Mei breakfast shops apart from others is their reliance on the griddle — instead of cooking with pots and pans, their chefs cook everything on the sizzling hot metal surface. Their variety of options on the menu is also a huge selling point, as they offer basic breakfast items like sandwiches and danbing but also more unique foods we typically don’t eat for breakfast, like fried noodles. As I don’t eat noodles for breakfast on a daily basis, I thought I would try it out for the sake of research. I ordered the most common noodle dish, tiebanmian (鐵板麵; skillet fried noodles), which is essentially noodles served with a mushroom sauce. The mushroom sauce is the same kind of sauce they serve with steak at Taiwanese style steakhouses, a sticky orange liquid with slices of mushroom. The noodles admittedly weren’t my favorite, but I appreciated the variety of breakfast Mei Er Mei had to offer. The second breakfast shop I visited that I categorized as more “modern” and “westernized” was an independent shop in my neighborhood called Hot Heart Lulu. From the store’s exterior, I immediately guessed that the owner was young and hoped to draw customers with its “Instagramable” aesthetics. The tables, benches, and countertops were all made of same beige wooden material, and the walls were decorated with cute little drawings of flowers. I noticed that the majority of customers ordered at the counter, and waited for their food to be served, instead of ordering to-go in a hurry. It seemed much more like a brunch stop or cafe instead of a typical Taiwanese breakfast shop like Mei Er Mei. Their menu also included an impressive assortment of beverages, from caramel milk teas to hazelnut lattes, confirming my thought that this store doubled as a cafe after breakfast hours. I chose the most popular item off their menu and luckily I had my sister to share it with me, otherwise I could not have finished the massive meal by myself. The impressive set included toast, scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon and pork cutlet, hash brown, salad, and yogurt, all for 120 NT dollars. How anyone is expected to finish this alone for breakfast beats me. The elaborate placement of the meal made me realize how much breakfast has evolved in Taiwan, simply by aesthetic terms. It seems that breakfast shops not only emphasize on taste, but also how well their food photographs and appears on our phone screens. While the purpose of eating breakfast used to only be about filling our stomachs for energy, it has evolved into an activity that allows us to indulge ourselves with good food and good company. a
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The Taida Student Journal has been active since 1995 with an ever-changing roster of student journalists at NTU. Click the above link to read about the authors Archives
May 2024
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