World Sandwich Day: Traditional And Popular Sandwiches From Taiwan

World Sandwich Day is coming soon! To prepare for this wonderful day, let us look at the most popular sandwiches from Taiwan.

Taiwanese Breakfast Sandwich

Taiwanese breakfast sandwiches differ from those you would have at McDonald’s or the Morning Burrito, which you can get at Tim Horton’s. You can have “regular” sandwiches for breakfast in Taiwan. The popular ones mostly contain ham, cucumber, and a fried egg with mayonnaise. From that, people can change some ingredients, subtracting or adding some. For example, the most unique ingredient for Taiwanese sandwiches is pork floss. The pork floss is dried meat. Visually speaking, it looks like cotton. The meat floss in general is used as a flavorful topping, to put in meals such as the sandwiches, congee, or soy milk. The pork floss can be replaced with other meats, including fishes, but it is better with pork if you want to have a sandwich.

Gua Bao, Traditional Street Food Sandwiches From Taiwan

Gua Bao is another interesting sandwich coming from our friends in Asia. It means “cut-open bun” in Taiwanese Mandarin. The bread is not technically cut but folds on itself with the food in the interior. It is very light, puffy, and considered sweet. The dish also contains braised pork. To make it better, you should cook it with chili and soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and anise. Add pickled mustard, peanut powder, and cilantro to the bread and the meat. The slightly sweet, pillowy-soft bread pairs perfectly with the nutty crunch of peanut powder, creating a balanced sweetness. Each bite reveals the tender, juicy pork that melts in your mouth, adding a savory richness to the mix. If you do not intend to make one by yourself, you can find them in night markets in Taipei and other big cities in Taiwan. It is also a dish you can find in regions with significant Taiwanese diasporas.

Lu Rou Rice Burger

Lu Rou Rice Burger is inspired by Taiwanese and Japanese cuisine. Lu Rou is Taiwan’s national dish. It is composed of braised Taiwanese pork belly with hard-boiled eggs in meat broth, steamed rice, and blanched vegetables. The Japanese add a touch by making the rice hold itself like a bun and putting the Lu Rou in between, thus making a sandwich. It is becoming more popular in Japan, Taiwan, and some coastal regions of China.

Salad Bowl Sandwich

Named Salad Bowl Sandwich in English, in Taiwanese Mandarin, you can also name it Miao Kou for the market it originated from in Keelung, northern Taiwan. As you see in the picture, the bread looks as crispy as a chicken from KFC, but it is only on the outside. On the inside, it is entirely soft and milky. You eat it with stewed eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet mayonnaise, and ham. Other people also add a bit of salad to it. It is very optional.

Shaobings: Types of sandwiches from Taiwan

Shaobing, also called huoshao, is a type of baked, unleavened, layered flatbread in northern Chinese cuisine. Shaobing can be made with or without stuffing, and with or without sesame on top. Shaobing contains a variety of stuffings that can be grouped into two main flavors: savory or sweet.

Shaobing Youtiao

There are multiple versions of this sandwich based on regions. Still, no matter where, the Shaobing has the same kind of dough: very crispy on the outside and layered on the inside. The bread is almost always covered with sesame seeds. It is basically a donut stick in a bread. It is eaten with syrup and soy milk and is mainly suited for breakfast. Some people also eat it with fried eggs. It is also very optional.

Nio Rou Shaobing

It is another variation of the Shaobing. It is the same bread but stuffed with sliced beef, green onions and scallions instead of Youtiao.

Shaobing Jia Dan

This version of the Shaobing contains a rectangle-shaped scrambled egg.

Other sandwiches from Taiwan

So there you have it – in addition to all the North American chain restaurant options of hamburgers and hot dogs, which are obviously not sandwiches at all (c’mon guys!), these are the sandwiches you would get if you were going to Taiwan or had a big Taiwanese diaspora nearby. If you do not have a community nearby, you can still try to make some at home, as the ingredients can easily be found in ordinary supermarkets.

Now excuse us, but we need to go eat a sandwich!