Dishes

What to eat in Kaohsiung

The dishes behind the shops: what they are, where they came from and how locals eat them. Each one lists the places in this guide that serve it.

滷肉飯

Braised pork rice

Steamed rice under a spoonful of pork simmered in soy sauce, Taiwan's everyday bowl.

6 places

鴨肉飯

Duck rice

Sliced duck over rice, usually with a duck soup on the side. Tainan also serves duck with preserved cabbage.

3 places

肉羹

Pork thick soup

Pieces of pork bound with fish paste, served in a starch-thickened broth with vegetables.

3 places

牛肉火鍋

Beef hot pot

Thin slices of same-day beef swished in a light broth at your table, drawing on southern Taiwan's beef-soup tradition.

2 places

烤香腸

Grilled Taiwanese sausage

Sweet, fatty pork sausage grilled over charcoal and eaten with raw garlic, or tucked inside a sticky-rice sausage.

2 places

米糕

Migao (sticky rice with pork sauce)

A small bowl of steamed glutinous rice topped with braised pork sauce, fish floss and peanuts.

2 places

Pork heart glass-noodle soup

Slices of gently cooked pork heart in clear soup with glass noodles, often with other offal alongside.

2 places

鹹豆漿

Savoury soy milk

Hot soy milk seasoned with vinegar and soy sauce and topped with things like dried shrimp, pickled greens and youtiao, eaten at breakfast.

2 places

鹹湯圓

Savoury tangyuan soup

Pork-filled glutinous rice balls in a savoury pork-bone broth.

2 places

燒餅

Shaobing and soy milk breakfast

Flaky baked flatbread, filled with egg, a fried cruller or pickled greens, eaten with soy milk for breakfast.

2 places

糯米腸

Sticky rice sausage

Pork intestine stuffed with glutinous rice, steamed and often charcoal-grilled, sold at sausage stalls.

2 places

黑輪

Taiwanese oden

Fish cakes, tofu and other pieces simmered in a light broth, Taiwan's version of Japanese oden.

2 places

剉冰

Taiwanese shaved ice

A mound of finely shaved ice under sweet toppings such as beans, tangyuan and syrup.

2 places

圓仔湯

Tangyuan (sweet rice-ball soup)

Chewy glutinous-rice balls in a sweet soup, served hot or cold, often with red beans or peanuts.

2 places

餛飩

Wonton soup

Pork dumplings in thin wrappers, served in broth or tossed with chilli oil.

2 places

當歸鴨

Angelica duck noodle soup

Duck simmered in a dark herbal broth flavoured with dang gui (Chinese angelica root), usually eaten with noodles.

1 place

肉圓

Ba-wan (meat dumpling)

A soft, translucent starch dumpling stuffed with pork and served in a sweet-savoury sauce.

1 place

牛肉麵

Beef noodle soup

Noodles with long-braised beef in a dark soy-and-spice broth, now one of Taiwan's most popular dishes.

1 place

紅茶牛奶

Black tea with milk

Old-style black tea mixed with fresh milk, drunk in Kaohsiung with toast at any hour.

1 place

爌肉飯

braised pork belly rice

A thick slab of soy-braised pork belly on rice, with the braising sauce and pickles.

1 place

芋頭扣肉

Braised pork belly with taro

Pork belly steamed with taro in a bowl and turned out onto a plate. The Jiaxian version adds shredded bamboo shoots.

1 place

豬腳飯

Braised pork knuckle rice

Spiced, herb-braised pork knuckle over rice, glossy and peppery.

1 place

braised pork tendon

Pork-trotter tendon braised until springy, eaten on rice or as a side.

1 place

滷味

Braised snack platter (lu wei)

Tofu, eggs, offal and other bits simmered in a spiced soy master stock, sliced and served as a platter.

1 place

粉圓冰

Brown-sugar tapioca shaved ice

Shaved ice soaked in brown-sugar syrup with chewy tapioca pearls.

1 place

草仔粿

caozai guo herb rice cake

A green, palm-sized glutinous rice cake coloured with cudweed or mugwort and filled with savoury shredded radish.

1 place

燉湯

Double-boiled soup

Clear, slow-cooked soup steamed for hours in a covered ceramic pot.

1 place

鴨下水

duck offal

A plate of blanched duck heart, liver, intestine and gizzard, ordered on the side at duck rice shops.

1 place

鴨下水湯

duck offal soup

Mixed duck offal in a rich broth, the usual soup to go with duck rice.

1 place

鴨肉油飯

Duck sticky rice

Glutinous rice fragrant with sesame oil and ginger, topped with boneless duck.

1 place

鮮魚湯

Fish soup

Fresh fish in a clear, light soup, a staple of Tainan breakfast shops and home-style canteens.

1 place

四神湯

four-herb soup

A clear pork soup with four medicinal ingredients, often made with job's tears, eaten with migao or other rice snacks.

1 place

炸牛蒡

fried burdock fish cake

Fish paste mixed with burdock root and deep-fried, a side at fish-noodle shops.

1 place

Fried sugar rice cake

A sugar-coated rice snack that Kaohsiung locals buy as an afternoon treat.

1 place

Fried sweet potato puff

A fried sweet potato snack sold at a Kaohsiung sugar rice cake stall.

1 place

Fried taro balls

Deep-fried balls of taro, a side dish in Kaohsiung's taro country and at seafood restaurants.

1 place

水果大福

fruit daifuku

Soft mochi wrapped around fresh fruit and a sweet filling.

1 place

羊肉爐

Goat hot pot

Goat meat and offal in a herbal bone broth, the speciality of Gangshan in northern Kaohsiung.

1 place

羊雜湯

Goat offal soup

A herbal goat broth served with mixed goat innards, a regular order at the goat restaurants of Gangshan in northern Kaohsiung.

1 place

苦瓜羊肉

goat with bitter melon

Goat meat stir-fried with bitter melon, one of the side dishes at the goat restaurants of Gangshan in Kaohsiung.

1 place

割包

Gua bao

A folded steamed bun stuffed with braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, coriander and sweet peanut powder.

1 place

黑白切

Heibai qie (sliced pork and offal)

A plate of assorted boiled pork cuts and offal, sliced and eaten as a side to rice or noodles.

1 place

蜜汁秋刀魚

Honey-braised saury

Pacific saury cooked in honey sauce until even the bones are soft enough to eat.

1 place

鐵蛋

Iron egg

A small egg braised and air-dried over and over until it turns dark, chewy and intensely savoury.

1 place

Job's tears milk

A pale, lightly sweet drink made by simmering Job's tears grains.

1 place

獅子頭

Lion's head meatball

A big, soft pork meatball stewed until tender, named for its likeness to a guardian lion's head.

1 place

旗魚丸湯

Marlin fish-ball soup

Springy balls made from black marlin in a light bone broth, a Hamasen harbour classic in Kaohsiung.

1 place

虱目魚米粉湯

Milkfish rice-noodle soup

Milkfish belly and fish paste in a light broth with rice noodles, an early-morning bowl in Kaohsiung.

1 place

Millet dumpling

An Indigenous Taiwanese parcel of millet and pork wrapped in leaves.

1 place

綜合豬雜湯

Mixed pork offal soup

A clear pork broth with an assortment of offal such as tongue, stomach, intestine and liver.

1 place

麻糬

Mochi

Soft, chewy glutinous-rice cakes, often filled with peanut, sesame, bean paste or fruit.

1 place

泰式炒河粉

Pad thai

Thai stir-fried rice noodles with egg, tofu and tamarind, balancing sour, sweet, salty and hot.

1 place

煎肉圓

Pan-fried ba-wan (Cishan style)

Ba-wan dumplings steamed and then pan-fried in lard until lightly browned, a speciality of Cishan.

1 place

木瓜牛奶

Papaya milk

Ripe papaya blended with milk into a thick, sweet drink, with a disputed claim to Kaohsiung roots.

1 place

菜粽

Peanut zongzi (vegetarian rice dumpling)

A plain leaf-wrapped dumpling of glutinous rice and peanuts, boiled soft and eaten with sauce and peanut powder.

1 place

Plum-sauce tofu

Crisp-skinned silken tofu in a sweet-sour sauce of aged shiso plums, a signature of Meinong's Ibu Kitchen.

1 place

Pork trotter noodles

Braised pork trotter with noodles, either tossed dry in sauce or with thin noodles in soup.

1 place

金瓜米粉

Pumpkin rice noodles

Thin rice noodles stir-fried with shredded pumpkin, a staple at Cijin's seafood restaurants.

1 place

Qie-zai noodles

Noodles shaken dry in a strainer and served in pork broth, eaten with plates of sliced meat and offal.

1 place

冰糖元蹄

Rock-sugar braised pork hock

A whole pork hock braised slowly in soy sauce and rock sugar until tender.

1 place

蝦仁炒蛋

Scrambled egg with shrimp

Bouncy shrimp folded into silky, half-set scrambled egg, a home-style Chinese dish.

1 place

沙茶羊肉

Shacha goat stir-fry

Goat stir-fried with shacha sauce, the signature dish at Joes, a Gangshan goat restaurant dating to the mid-1950s.

1 place

汕頭麵

Shantou noodles

Dry noodles tossed in lard, fried shallots and garlic, brought to Kaohsiung's Hamasen by migrants from Shantou.

1 place

Sliced duck

A plate of boiled or smoked duck, chopped and served on its own, often next to duck rice.

1 place

黑白切

Sliced pork offal (hei bai qie)

A plate of cooked pork cuts and offal, sliced to order at noodle stalls.

1 place

豬舌

Sliced pork tongue

Poached pork tongue, sliced and served with garlic, a favourite cut on a Taiwanese offal plate.

1 place

湯包

Soup dumplings (tangbao)

Steamed buns with a pork filling and a mouthful of hot broth inside.

1 place

蒸餃

Steamed dumplings

Wheat-wrapped dumplings of pork, beef or vegetables, steamed and dipped in vinegar and soy.

1 place

芋粿

Steamed taro cake

A dense steamed cake of taro and rice, often flavoured with shallots, shiitake or dried shrimp.

1 place

stir-fried beef with Chinese kale

Fresh beef and Chinese kale tossed in a very hot wok, the side dish most tables add to a bowl of beef soup.

1 place

炒蛤蜊

Stir-fried clams

Clams tossed in a hot wok, at Kaohsiung's Chao Ming with crunchy mung bean sprouts.

1 place

苦瓜封

Stuffed bitter melon soup

Bitter melon stuffed with minced pork and served in soup, a light partner for braised pork rice.

1 place

潤餅

Taiwanese spring roll (run-bing)

A thin wheat crêpe wrapped around vegetables, egg and peanut powder, eaten fresh.

1 place

Taro and sago sweet soup

A sweet soup of small sago pearls and slow-cooked taro, served as dessert.

1 place

泰式咖啡

Thai iced coffee

Strong black coffee brewed with roasted grains, served over ice and often sweetened with condensed milk.

1 place

三杯雞

Three-cup chicken

Chicken cooked down with sesame oil, rice wine and soy sauce, finished with basil.

1 place

筒仔米糕

Tube rice cake (tong-zai migao)

Seasoned glutinous rice steamed in small tubes with braised pork, turned out onto a plate and topped with sauce.

1 place

Turmeric chicken

Chicken cooked with turmeric, a house speciality at a mountain-food restaurant in Jiaxian.

1 place

碗粿

Wa-gui (bowl rice cake)

A savoury rice pudding steamed in its own bowl, with pork, egg and dried shrimp inside.

1 place

白斬雞

White-cut chicken

Whole chicken gently poached, cooled and chopped, served plain as a side.

1 place

Winter melon tea

A sweet drink made by boiling winter melon with brown sugar or caramel.

1 place

紅油抄手

wontons in chilli oil

Sichuan-style pork wontons served in a chilli-oil dressing instead of soup.

1 place

意麵

Yi mein (yi-mian noodles)

Springy egg noodles, served dry with meat sauce in Yanshui and Kaohsiung, or pot-cooked in broth in Tainan.

1 place