Halal Food in Taiwan

by azi 3:57 AM 5 comments

For muslim, their main concern when they travel are places to pray(solat) and food. Thus, with my experience I had here, I will give you some hint and tips, which might be useful when you come to Taiwan.

Asia University is located at Taichung. It is quite difficult for me to find any other local muslim friends here. I could recall meeting only two muslim girls during the time in Taichung. One of them are from Thailand, joining summer program at other university while the other student came from Indonesia, studying in Asia University. I was always given strange look by the locals while walking around with my friends. One of the reasons might be that they are not use to people wearing 'Tudung'. 

Based on my research at Google, there are actually two bodies that give Halal certificate in Taiwan:

1- Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association

2- Chinese Muslim Association

They also have two types of Halal Certification:

1- "Halal Restaurat", owned by muslim

2- "Muslim Friendly Restaurant", a food outlet owned by non-muslim

Firstly, in Taichung city you will be able to find these two restaurants:
                           - Anatolia Turkish Restaurant

                           - Little India Muslim Restaurant

Both of these restaurants are quite expensive. I remember my friends told me they spent around 300NTD for lunch. For a student or a budget traveller, I do not recommend you to eat there.

Secondly, in Taichung Railway Station, the restaurannts nearby are:
                                               - Rumah Makan Kiki

                                               - Toko Indonesia Makanan Kalimantan

These restaurants owned by Indonesian. The price are affordable. I will share about this restaurant in my other post. 

Lastly, there are one muslim-friendly reastaurant within walking distance from Asia University. Muslim students always enjoy their meal here, which I will share in other post too. ^^

When you visit other country, for sure you will want to try their local food. Here's a list of local foods that you can try.

  

1. Seafood

Seafood is one of the best choice. You cannot eat chicken or any meat here because we do not know the way they killed these animals. You can eat their super delicious squid, prawn and many other seafood.

    But, before you buy you must make sure:

    a) They don't cook or sell pork. Because if they use the same pan, we cannot eat it.

    b) they don't use "minyak babi"

    c) they don't put any liquor

They only sell squid, You can eat this!!!

2. Vegetarian Food

This is the safest food. They do not mix any meat or source from animals to cook. Furthermore,the price are reasonable. I would strongly recommend you to eat this.

You also can find vegetarian food sell at market, family mart and 7-Eleven.

In Taichung, local people are not really fluent in English. So, it is better for you to bring along any friends that can speak mandarin or you can use the apps in you handphone. It is really helpful. However, it is still better if you learnt a few simple phrases or words like pork in mandarin and any word that might be helpful. Some vegetarian stall or restaurant may sell meat. Therefore, it is better for you to ask before buying it.

Besides seafood and vegetarian, you can also eat other things,such as:

Sweet potatoes. They did not mention specifically for vegetarian but usually stalls that sold this do not sell other meat products. You just need to make sure that they do not put any inappropriate ingredient.  This is safe to eat!!

I am sure with all these you can survive in Taiwan. Enjoy the food here. They are super duper awesomeeee..