Mudskipper soup - Tainan, Taiwan

I’ve always thought of myself as an open-minded person. After all, I grew up in different cultures and started traveling from age 1. I love to try anything new – new foods, new traditions, new clothes, new languages… you name it.

Still, never has my open-mindedness been tested as much as it was in Taiwan, sampling food for seven days.

Taiwanese cuisine – a blend of aborigine Taiwanese, Chinese and Japanese influences – presented a whole new world of flavors. At home, I normally stick to Vietnamese or Thai when it comes to Asian- it’s “safe,” and I know exactly what I’m getting.

But in Taiwan, almost every day, I was faced with odd-looking dishes: river fish, livers of various kinds of animals, pork (lots of pork consumed in Taiwan), intestines, chicken feet and other types of snacks at night markets, some of which I couldn’t make out. I had to taste flavors that lingered on my palate and had to be washed away with a sip of vinegar. I also had to get accustomed to new table etiquette (I never really mastered the art of chopsticks and never had to before this trip, but boy, did I learn fast!)

There were a couple of days when the meals were more of the “expected” type – delicious dumplings, beef noodle soup, lamb and oysters. But I’ll admit, there were those other times when I had to take a deep breath before even lifting that particular piece of meat or fish towards my mouth. Like the time I was sampling a beautifully presented “Lotus” fish soup.  I was sipping away and occasionally crunching on green and soft looking vegetable shoots in the mixture, only to find out on closer examination that the latter were small green river fish – with the eye staring right back at me. I put my spoon down and, that was that! But afterwards, I realized that it was all in the mind – the broth was actually quite tasty.

In fact, in Taiwan, I found that most of the “unusual-looking” foods turned out to not taste as bad as I assumed.

As they say, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

This trip – the first “food based” tour I’ve taken – was a reminder of what travel is all about, and how much food and culture go hand in hand.You can’t experience one without the other and if you even try, you’re missing out, big time. Especially in Taiwan, where eating is like shopping – part of life’s daily enjoyment.

Here are eight dishes and foods that took me by surprise in Taiwan. Some were served, others I spotted at the night markets. Either way, Taiwan put a whole new meaning to “snacking.”

What do you think, would you try these? Or do you avoid local foods that seem “strange” to you when you travel?

Lebawit Lily Girma

Travel writer, Photographer, Guidebook author and Blogger Lily Girma has lived and studied in Africa, Europe and the Americas. In 2008, she left behind a prestigious law career to follow her passion. Her work has been published in various outlets, including CNN Travel, BBC Travel and New York Times Magazine, and her photography commissioned by tourism boards. Her first edition of "MOON BELIZE" travel guidebook is due for publication this Fall 2013 (10th edition, Moon Handbooks by Avalon Travel/Perseus Books). Lily's work reflects a deep love for culture and adventure in all its forms.

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