Book 1, Lesson 5: Food and Taiwanese Cuisine

Lesson 5 takes you to the table.

Note: This page serves as a companion to the A Course in Contemporary Chinese series by the Mandarin Training Center of the National Taiwan Normal University. You can use this post as a reference, but we strongly advise you to purchase the book to get the full didactic value it offers.

After learning to shop and handle money, Book 1 Lesson 5 of A Course in Contemporary Chinese (Dangdai) immerses you in Taiwan’s legendary food culture. This is the vocabulary of night markets, famous restaurants, and the conversations that happen over steaming bowls of beef noodle soup.

Food is central to Taiwanese life. It is how friendships are built, how business is conducted, and how culture is transmitted. Within your first week in Taiwan, someone will ask you what you have eaten, recommend their favorite 小吃 stall, or invite you to try 臭豆腐. You need the words to participate—and to express your opinions.

The Theme: Eating and Opinions

The scenario of Lesson 5 revolves around food experiences. People discuss famous dishes, recommend restaurants, describe flavors, and talk about cooking at home. It is the vocabulary of daily life in a culture obsessed with eating well.

The vocabulary divides into several categories:

Taiwanese Foods

The iconic dishes you will encounter everywhere: 牛肉麵 (beef noodle soup), 小籠包 (soup dumplings), 臭豆腐 (stinky tofu), 甜點 (desserts). These are not just vocabulary items—they are cultural institutions.

Taste and Description

Words to describe food: 好吃 (delicious), 辣 (spicy), 甜 (sweet through 甜點), 有名 (famous), 不錯 (not bad). These adjectives let you move beyond “I like it” to actually describing your experience.

Restaurant Vocabulary

The language of dining out: 餐廳 (restaurant), 店 (shop/store), 點 (to order), 碗 (bowl). Essential for navigating Taiwan’s countless eating establishments.

Expressing Opinions

How to share your thoughts: 真 (really), 最 (most), 這麼 (so/this much), 有一點 (a little bit). These intensifiers and qualifiers make your opinions nuanced rather than flat.

Cause and Effect

Words that connect ideas: 所以 (so/therefore), 可是 (but), 因為 (because, implied through context). These conjunctions let you explain why you feel the way you do about food.

Vocabulary Table

Click any character to view stroke order, pronunciation, and example sentences in our dictionary.

Character	Pinyin	Meaning	Type
牛肉	niúròu	beef	Noun
麵	miàn	noodles	Noun
真	zhēn	really; truly	Adverb
好吃	hǎochī	delicious (for food)	Adjective
說	shuō	to say; to speak	Verb
少	shǎo	few; little	Adjective
有名	yǒumíng	famous	Adjective
小吃	xiǎochī	snacks; street food	Noun
最	zuì	most; -est	Adverb
湯	tāng	soup	Noun
這麼	zhème	so; this (degree)	Adverb
知道	zhīdào	to know	Verb
家	jiā	(measure word for businesses)	Measure word
店	diàn	shop; store	Noun
一定	yídìng	definitely; certainly	Adverb
點	diǎn	to order (food); point; o’clock	Verb/Noun
碗	wǎn	bowl (measure word)	Measure word/Noun
是啊	shì a	yes; that’s right	Phrase
小籠包	xiǎolóngbāo	soup dumplings	Noun
臭豆腐	chòudòufǔ	stinky tofu	Noun
太好了	tài hǎo le	great!; wonderful!	Phrase
昨天	zuótiān	yesterday	Noun
餐廳	cāntīng	restaurant	Noun
可是	kěshì	but; however	Conjunction
辣	là	spicy	Adjective
怕	pà	to fear; to be afraid of	Verb
所以	suǒyǐ	so; therefore	Conjunction
自己	zìjǐ	oneself; self	Pronoun
做飯	zuòfàn	to cook; to make food	Verb
得	de/děi	(particle); must	Particle/Verb
會	huì	can; will; to know how to	Auxiliary verb
甜點	tiándiǎn	dessert	Noun
不錯	búcuò	not bad; pretty good	Adjective
可以	kěyǐ	can; may	Auxiliary verb
教	jiāo	to teach	Verb
到	dào	to arrive; to reach	Verb
有一點	yǒu yìdiǎn	a little bit	Phrase
不好	bù hǎo	not good; bad	Adjective

Key Grammar

最 (zuì) — The Superlative

最 creates superlatives—the “most” or “-est” form:

這家店最有名。 — This shop is the most famous.
牛肉麵是最好吃的。 — Beef noodle soup is the most delicious.
我最喜歡小籠包。 — I like soup dumplings the most.

Unlike English, which adds “-est” or “most” depending on the adjective, Mandarin simply places 最 before any adjective.

真 vs 很 — Degrees of “Really”

Both can translate to “really,” but they function differently:

真 (zhēn) expresses genuine surprise or emphasis:

這個真好吃！ — This is really delicious! (I’m impressed!)
你真會做飯。 — You really know how to cook. (I’m surprised!)

很 (hěn) is more neutral, often just linking subject and adjective:

這個很好吃。 — This is (very) delicious. (Neutral statement)

真 carries emotional weight; 很 is often grammatically required but semantically weak.

有一點 — “A Little Bit” (Negative Connotation)

有一點 typically precedes adjectives with negative connotations:

這個菜有一點辣。 — This dish is a little spicy. (Implying: too spicy for me)
今天有一點不好。 — Today is a little bad.
湯有一點鹹。 — The soup is a little salty. (Implying: too salty)

For positive qualities, use 有點兒 cautiously or choose different structures.

會 (huì) — Learned Ability

會 indicates ability acquired through learning:

我會做飯。 — I can cook. (I learned how)
你會說中文嗎？ — Can you speak Chinese?
她會做小籠包。 — She can make soup dumplings.

Compare with:

能 (néng) — ability due to circumstances
可以 (kěyǐ) — permission or possibility

會 specifically implies a learned skill.

所以 and 可是 — Connecting Ideas

These conjunctions structure your reasoning:

可是 (kěshì) — “but”:

我喜歡臭豆腐，可是我朋友不喜歡。 — I like stinky tofu, but my friend doesn’t.
這家餐廳很有名，可是太貴了。 — This restaurant is very famous, but it’s too expensive.

所以 (suǒyǐ) — “so/therefore”:

我怕辣，所以我不吃。 — I’m afraid of spicy food, so I don’t eat it.
這個很好吃，所以我常來。 — This is delicious, so I come often.

These words let you explain your food preferences with reasoning.

Measure Words: 碗 and 家

Two new measure words essential for food contexts:

碗 (wǎn) — for bowls of food:

一碗牛肉麵 — one bowl of beef noodle soup
兩碗湯 — two bowls of soup

家 (jiā) — for businesses, shops, restaurants:

這家店很有名。 — This shop is very famous.
那家餐廳不錯。 — That restaurant is pretty good.

Note: 家 here is different from 家 meaning “home/family.”

得 (de) — Complement Marker

得 links verbs to descriptive complements:

他做得很好。 — He does it very well.
你說得對。 — You said it correctly. / You’re right.
她吃得很少。 — She eats very little.

The structure is: Verb + 得 + Description. This allows you to describe how an action is performed.

自己 (zìjǐ) — “Oneself”

自己 emphasizes doing something personally:

我自己做飯。 — I cook myself. (I cook for myself / I do my own cooking)
他自己去。 — He goes by himself.
你要自己點。 — You need to order yourself.

Cultural Notes

牛肉麵 — Taiwan’s National Dish

If Taiwan has a national dish, it is 牛肉麵 (niúròu miàn) — beef noodle soup. Every neighborhood has multiple shops claiming to serve the best version. The annual Taipei Beef Noodle Festival is a serious culinary competition.

The dish typically features:

Braised beef chunks
Wheat noodles
Rich, often slightly spicy broth
Pickled vegetables on the side

When someone asks 你吃過牛肉麵嗎？(Have you eaten beef noodle soup?), they are asking about a cultural experience, not just a meal.

小吃 — Street Food Culture

小吃 literally means “small eats”—the snacks and street food that define Taiwanese culinary culture. Night markets (夜市) are temples of 小吃, offering hundreds of options:

小籠包 — soup dumplings
臭豆腐 — stinky tofu
蚵仔煎 — oyster omelette
滷肉飯 — braised pork rice
珍珠奶茶 — bubble tea
雞排 — fried chicken cutlet
蔥油餅 — scallion pancake
割包 — Taiwanese pork belly bun

小吃 is not considered lesser than restaurant food. Some of Taiwan’s most celebrated dishes exist only at street stalls. Michelin-starred establishments serve dishes that originated in night markets. The best 牛肉麵 in Taipei might come from a shop with plastic stools and no air conditioning.

Night markets are social institutions. Taiwanese people do not simply eat at night markets—they 逛夜市 (guàng yèshì, “stroll the night market”). It is an activity, not just a meal. You wander, you browse, you eat a little here and a little there. The vocabulary of this lesson—點, 要, 好吃, 有名—is the vocabulary of night market navigation.

臭豆腐 — The Smell Test

臭豆腐 (stinky tofu) is fermented tofu with a powerful aroma that many foreigners find challenging. It is typically deep-fried and served with pickled cabbage and chili sauce.

The smell can be detected from a considerable distance—sometimes an entire block away. Locals joke that you smell the 臭豆腐 stall before you see it. The fermentation process creates a pungent odor often compared to garbage or dirty socks. Yet the taste is remarkably mild, with a crispy exterior and soft interior.

Your reaction to 臭豆腐 will become a common topic of conversation:

你敢吃臭豆腐嗎？ — Do you dare to eat stinky tofu?
我怕臭豆腐的味道。 — I’m afraid of stinky tofu’s smell.
聞起來很臭，可是吃起來很香。 — It smells terrible, but it tastes delicious.

Eating 臭豆腐 is something of a rite of passage for foreigners in Taiwan. Successfully enjoying it earns respect; politely declining is understood. Either way, you will be asked about it repeatedly.

小籠包 — The Art of Soup Dumplings

小籠包 (xiǎolóngbāo) are perhaps Taiwan’s most famous culinary export. These delicate dumplings contain seasoned pork and a rich soup sealed inside a thin wrapper.

The technique for eating them is specific:

Lift the dumpling carefully with chopsticks (the skin tears easily)
Place it on your spoon
Bite a small hole in the side
Sip the soup first (it is extremely hot)
Then eat the dumpling, usually with vinegar and ginger

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), which originated in Taipei, has become an international chain, but countless local shops serve excellent 小籠包 at a fraction of the price. Asking someone 你知道哪家小籠包好吃嗎？(Do you know which shop has good soup dumplings?) is an excellent conversation starter.

做飯 vs 外食 — Cooking Culture

The vocabulary includes 做飯 (to cook) and 自己 (oneself), reflecting an important cultural reality: many Taiwanese people rarely cook at home.

The abundance of cheap, delicious food—from breakfast shops to night markets to convenience stores—means that 外食 (wàishí, eating out) is often more economical and convenient than cooking. A bowl of 牛肉麵 costs roughly the same as buying ingredients to make it yourself, with none of the effort.

When someone says 我自己做飯, it often signals either:

A health-conscious choice
A hobby or passion for cooking
Living in a situation where eating out is impractical

This context makes 會做飯 (knowing how to cook) somewhat impressive in Taiwan. If you can cook, especially if you can cook well, it becomes a notable personal characteristic worth mentioning.

辣 — The Spice Divide

Taiwan’s relationship with 辣 (spicy food) is complex. Traditional Taiwanese cuisine is relatively mild compared to Sichuan or Hunan cooking. However, hot pot restaurants, Sichuan restaurants, and spicy variations of local dishes are everywhere.

When ordering, you will often be asked:

要辣嗎？ — Do you want it spicy?
小辣、中辣、還是大辣？ — Mild, medium, or very spicy?
不辣的可以嗎？ — Is non-spicy okay?

The phrase 我怕辣 (I’m afraid of spicy food) is extremely common and perfectly acceptable. Unlike some cultures where spice tolerance is a point of pride, Taiwanese people readily acknowledge when something is too spicy for them.