Food – Small Eats (小吃)

Beyond night markets and other street foods, Taiwanese love 小吃, because it’s again casual, unfussy, comfort food in relatively small portions so one can order multiple dishes. It’s the Taiwanese version of tapas. Many have deep roots as inexpensive but hearty local food specialties. One finds them at literal hole-in-the wall restaurants where decor is nonexistent and are stalls where walls are optional, which is rightly so for such inexpensive food. In fact, one becomes suspicious if there is too much decor or fancy presentation. One also becomes suspicious if the menu is too broad. These places specialize in usually one or two things that pair well together and they really concentrate on doing those well. The most popular ones usually have a long history of 40, 50, even 100+ years in existence and one can taste the true traditional foods (古味).

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