From a single tea leaf, a cup of bubble tea and a bowl of douhua to the lights of the night market — sail six stops along Taiwan's coast to meet its flavors and people, and see how a Taiwanese food company carries them to the world.
Along Taiwan's coastline — setting off from the tea hills and finally sailing from the harbor to the world.
Brand Philosophy
Tang Sugar Brand Philosophy: Taiwanese Food and Taiwanese Service, Bringing the Flavors of Taiwan to the World
From the Formosa Oolong that sailed to New York in 1869 to bubble tea loved around the globe, Taiwan has long been sending great flavors to the world. Tang Sugar (Caitang International) is a Taiwanese company proud of the food Taiwanese people make and the service they provide. With consistent ingredient quality, clear partnership terms and verifiable supply capability, we…
It introduces Taiwan's tea, bubble tea, night-market food, fruit and sugar, everyday life and Made in Taiwan, and shows how Tang Sugar brings these flavors and Taiwanese service to partners around the world.
How is Taiwan Stories different from the blog?
Taiwan Stories covers culture, origins and Taiwan through foreign eyes; the blog covers drink recipes, ingredient dosage and sourcing. The two link to each other, so you can go from a story to a recipe.
Taiwan’s Breakfast Culture: Soy Milk, Shaobing and Youtiao, Dan Bing and Breakfast Shop Milk Tea — The Taiwanese Breakfast Foreigners Miss Most
Key answer
What do Taiwanese people eat for breakfast? Traditional Chinese-style options include soy milk, shaobing with youtiao, rice rolls, dan bing (egg crepes) and turnip cake; Western-style breakfast shops serve sandwiches, burgers and teppanyaki noodles — all with a cup of breakfast shop milk tea or black tea. Taiwan’s breakfast culture has two roots: rice porridge with pickles, and the soy milk, shaobing and youtiao brought by migrants around 1949. Around 1955 soy milk stalls appeared by Zhongzheng Bridge in Yonghe, later giving rise to “Yonghe soy milk,” and Western-style breakfast shops spread from the 1980s. Taiwanese breakfast is what many foreigners miss most after going home. Tang Sugar supplies the black tea and milk tea ingredients breakfast shops use.
A breakfast shop on every corner
Taiwanese people rarely cook breakfast at home, because there’s a breakfast shop at the end of the lane. It opens at five or six in the morning, the griddle sizzles, and the owner knows what regulars want the moment they walk in. From Chinese-style soy milk shops to Western-style breakfast shops, Taiwanese breakfast offers lots of choice, low prices and fast service — one of the everyday surprises foreign visitors love most (further reading: Taiwanese hospitality and service).
Two roots of Taiwanese breakfast
Rice tradition: In farming days, farmers started the morning with a bowl of rice porridge or rice, with pickles, pork floss and last night’s leftovers, to fuel a day in the fields.
Wheat foods and soy milk: Around 1949, a wave of migrants brought the habit of soy milk with shaobing and youtiao to Taiwan. Around 1955, veterans set up small stalls by Zhongzheng Bridge in Yonghe to grind soy milk and bake shaobing, and “Yonghe soy milk” became famous.
Western-style breakfast: From the 1980s, Western-style breakfast shops selling sandwiches, burgers and milk tea spread quickly, and developed uniquely Taiwanese dishes such as dan bing, teppanyaki noodles and hash browns.
Taiwanese breakfasts foreigners should try
Breakfast
Chinese name
What it is
Soy milk
豆漿
Sweet, savory or iced
Clay oven roll with fried dough
燒餅油條
A flaky baked roll wrapped around a fried dough stick
Taiwanese egg crepe / dan bing
蛋餅
A thin crepe fried with egg and rolled, with cheese or corn if you like
Taiwanese rice roll
飯糰
Sticky rice wrapped around fried dough, pork floss and pickled radish
Turnip cake
蘿蔔糕
Pan-fried until crisp outside and soft inside
Breakfast milk tea
早餐店奶茶
Black tea with creamer, sweet and smooth
Breakfast shop milk tea: many people’s first milk tea
The milk tea at Taiwanese breakfast shops is usually black tea mixed with creamer, sweet and smooth — the first milk tea many Taiwanese people ever drank. The iced black tea is often old-fashioned black tea boiled with sugar (further reading: old-fashioned black tea and foam tea shops). Its flavor runs in a direct line to the bubble tea that came later.
Tang Sugar: bringing that cup of breakfast milk tea overseas
Taiwanese-style breakfast shops and cafés are multiplying overseas, and an authentic cup of breakfast shop milk tea is what reminds customers of Taiwan. Caitang International Co., Ltd. (brand name Tang Sugar) is proud of Taiwan’s breakfast culture and supplies:
This article belongs to Stop 3, Night Markets & Street Food, of the Taiwan Stories series. Series opener: Tang Sugar brand philosophy.
FAQ
What do Taiwanese people eat for breakfast?
Common choices are soy milk, shaobing with youtiao, dan bing, rice rolls and turnip cake, plus sandwiches, burgers, teppanyaki noodles and milk tea from Western-style breakfast shops.
Where does Yonghe soy milk come from?
The common account is that around 1955, veterans opened soy milk stalls by Zhongzheng Bridge in Yonghe selling soy milk, shaobing and youtiao, and “Yonghe soy milk” became famous across Taiwan; accounts of its exact origin vary.
What is 蛋餅 in English?
蛋餅 is usually written as Taiwanese egg crepe, or simply dan bing.
What is savory soy milk?
Savory soy milk is hot soy milk with vinegar, soy sauce, dried shrimp, scallions and youtiao; the vinegar makes the soy milk curdle like soft tofu. It’s a classic at Taiwanese soy milk shops.
How is breakfast shop milk tea different from bubble tea shop milk tea?
Breakfast shop milk tea is usually black tea with creamer, mixed in advance and sweet; drink shop milk tea is mostly brewed and shaken to order, with your choice of sugar, ice and toppings.
