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Some of the most
famous and popular dishes you find
in Taiwanese Recipes are the delicious Three Cups Chicken, Red-Cooked Pork
Trotter, Taiwanese Beef Noodles and Tea Eggs. Most people associate all Taiwanese food
with beef noodles, but there is more to it. Taiwanese cuisine is
actually a blend of many different regional cooking styles from
mainland China. In the 40s, the Nationalists fled to Taiwan from
mainland China after a bloody struggle with the communists.
These Nationalists, from all over China, brought with them their
regional tastes. Taiwanese cuisine is a rich blend of Shanghainese, Beijing, Hunanese, Szechuanese, Cantonese, Teochew and
Hokkien styles. There is also a strong Japanese influence in
Taiwanese cooking, such as a fondness for seaweed. Seafood is
also popular as Taiwan is an island. Taiwanese food, like
Chinese cuisine generally, is characterized by its emphasis on the
freshness of the ingredients and simple cooking styles. Ginger,
garlic, soy sauce, scallions and Chinese wine are essential. A
distinguishing factor in Taiwanese cooking is its wide use of
fermented bean paste. Black bean sauce, fermented and then
dried, is coupled with fish and shellfish. Fermented yellow bean
paste is also popular. Sold in jars, and sometimes added with
chilies, they last for a long time. Some of the most popular
dishes are the simple, everyday fare enjoyed in common Taiwanese
homes.
Typical of Taiwanese cuisine is the great number of soup stocks,
resulting in it being referred to as a "soupy" cuisine.
Taiwanese food recipes also places emphasis on lighter flavors and natural
sweetness of foods.
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