Taiwan Cycling

This one is hot and sour soup but don’t get it mixed up with Chinese sweet and sour soup. This is Taiwan’s version which you can find at most stalls in night markets and restaurants. The real version calls for pig or duck blood cake which isn’t really used in the US so when you get a chance to try it in Taiwan, have a bite.

"Where there's a wisp of smoke from the kitchen chimney, there will be lurou fan [braised pork with rice]," goes the Taiwanese saying.

The popularity of this humble dish cannot be overstated.

"Lurou fan" is almost synonymous with Taiwanese food.

"Lurou fan is the more ordinary and down-to-earth dish for any Taiwanese," says Rae Lin.

"From your mother's version of lurou fan to the one served in a restaurant, it's the one dish we truly can't live without."

Simon Tian bu la has more than 50-year history.

Tian bu la refers to fish paste that's been molded into various shapes and sizes, deep-fried, then boiled in a broth. Before eating, the pieces of solid fish paste are taken from the broth and smothered in brown sauce.

The eggs are the perfect foil for the little oysters easily found around the island, while sweet potato starch is added to give the whole thing a gooey chewiness -- a signature Taiwan food texture.

Chinese pineapple cakes are a famous pastry in Taiwan. 

This iconic Taiwanese pastry -- mini-pies filled with candied pineapple -- is one of Taiwan's best food souvenirs.

For one of the top pineapple cake experiences there's SunnyHills, which uses only local pineapples.

The result is a darker filling, rougher texture and sourer taste than most.

The pies at other shops are filled with a mix of pineapple and chewable bits of winter melon.

They have a fruity sweetness and a golden casing of crumbly, buttery pastry.

Beef noodle soup inspires competitiveness and innovation in Taiwanese chefs.

Everyone wants to claim the "beef noodle king" title.

It's so famous that the store is now synonymous with the street, dubbed "Tao Yuan Street beef noodle" -- most supporters don't actually know its real name is Lao Wang Beef Noodle -- and has inspired a few other wannabes on the same road.

Bubble tea represents the "QQ" food texture that Taiwanese love.

The phrase refers to something that is especially chewy, like the tapioca balls that form the "bubbles" in bubble tea.

It's said this unusual drink was invented out of boredom.

Chun Shui Tang and Hanlin Tea Room both claim to have invented bubble tea by combining sweetened tapioca pudding (a popular Taiwanese dessert) with tea.

Regardless of which shop did it first, today the city is filled with bubble tea joints.

In spite of a wave of bao madness overseas in recent years -- a lot are overpriced and underwhelming -- the best gua bao still comes from the island.

It's a hamburger, Taiwan-style.

A steamed bun sandwiches a hearty filling of braised pork belly, pickled Chinese cabbage and powdered peanuts.

The filling is chopped into small pieces and mixed together so there's a bit of everything in every bite.

Take a big mouthful and you get salty, sour and sweet flavors and greasy pork swimming in your mouth.

Ba wan is a Taiwanese mega-dumpling.

Made with a dough of rice flour, corn starch and sweet potato starch, it looks almost translucent after cooking.

Pork, veggies and sometimes eggs are stuffed inside and gravy poured on top.

A small staff inside the wet market in Kaoshiung's Hunei District offers freshly handmade ba wan.

Bear in mind they usually sell out before noon.

This could be the world's premier love-it-or-hate-it snack and Taiwan does it just right.

The "fragrant" cube of bean curd is deep-fried and draped with sweet and spicy sauce.

If you hold your nose, it looks and tastes just like a plain ol' piece of fried tofu, with a crisp casing and soft pudding-like center.

But what's the fun in eating that?

Inhale deeply and relish the stench. The smellier, the better.