Many say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
People in Taiwan, definitely don’t ignore this fact with many eateries catering specifically to the breakfast crowd. Unlike the United States, breakfast (早餐 / zao can) does not consist of heavy, meat-loaded meals. Instead, the focus is on meals that provide just the right amount of energy to get through the day. There are a few types of foods that I’ve generally found served for breakfast:
Sandwiches (三明治 / san ming zhi)
Breakfast sandwiches in Taiwan typically consist of lettuce, cheese, and mayo. Some have pork sung, tomatoes, egg, and/or ham added to them. The bread is often white bread and the edges are often cut off to look cute.
Rice Roll (飯糰 / fan tuan)
Rice rolls are a rolled log of rice with a combination of ingredients inside. Oftentimes rice rolls will have pork sung, pickled vegetables, and a long piece of fried dough (油條 / you tiao) inside. Occasionally, rice rolls have egg and other ingredients in them.
Fruit (水果 / shui guo)
Freshly cut fruit is never far away, either as a morning snack or simple way to finish a meal.
Soy Milk (豆漿 / dou jiang)
Sweet or unsweetened, hot or cold; you’ll find soy milk to be a drink of choice at many breakfast eateries alongside the usual staples—coffee, tea, and fruit juice. Hot soy milk is often served in a bowl and enjoyed like soup, sometimes with a side of you tiao.
Egg Cake (蛋餅 / dan bing)
I don’t really have a good picture of egg cakes or dan bing, mostly because I can’t eat them, but you can see kind of what they look like in the number 8 position. Dan bing are like crepes with fried egg and onions rolled in.
What are you looking to enjoy most for breakfast in Taiwan?