If you’re looking to cook authentic Taiwanese food at home, it starts with a well-stocked pantry. Cookbook author and TikTok creator Tiffy Chen says these four ingredients are the foundation of countless Taiwanese family recipes, from stir-fried noodles and braised meats to bubble tea and desserts. Many also appear throughout her cookbook, Tiffy Cooks, where they’re used to build the rich, comforting flavours of Taiwanese home cooking. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to expand your pantry, these are the staples she always keeps on hand.
1. Five-Spice Powder
“This is such an essential spice in Taiwanese pantries, and it’s found in so many popular dishes, like braised pork belly rice and cauliflower chicken. I love it because it has so much depth. It’s usually made with star anise, fennel seeds, clove and cinnamon stick, and then the fifth ingredient can vary depending on what your household prefers or what you have on hand – I usually use Sichuan peppercorn because of the nice numbing kick. When I smell it, I think of my childhood right away.”
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Taiwanese Stir-Fry Noodles (Chao Mi Fen)
Flavoured with soy sauce, fragrant five-spice powder and plenty of vegetables, these Taiwanese-style stir-fried rice vermicelli noodles are a comforting weeknight favourite.
Get Recipe2. Soy Sauce
“This is a classic – I had a comment [on a video] that was like, ‘You always use soy sauce. Do all these dishes taste the same?’ and it’s like, ‘No.’ Soy sauce is one of the things I can’t live without, and I think it’s one of the best condiments to use to flavour things. You can use it as a dipping sauce or for stir-frying, seasoning or braising, and it can change the flavour of a dish so much. If there’s no soy sauce in our kitchen, we don’t know what to do.”
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Hot and Sour Soup
This comforting hot and sour soup uses soy sauce to build its rich, savoury flavour.
Get Recipe3. Tapioca Starch
“Tapioca starch is the main ingredient in so many desserts and deep-fried dishes as well as boba pearls. (And I love bubble tea.) I use it when I make deep-fried chicken and in my gluten-free dishes. It’s also known as ‘sweet potato starch’ in Taiwan. It’s a game-changer – you can do everything with it.”
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Brown Sugar Bubble Tea
Learn how to make Tiffy Chen’s brown sugar bubble tea with homemade boba pearls made from tapioca starch.
Get Recipe4. Rice
“I grew up eating a lot of rice. My nickname growing up was ‘fàntǒng,’ which kind of translates to ‘rice bucket’ but also means someone who is obsessed with rice. I can eat rice with anything – even Goldfish crackers. I think the first time I was ever called ‘fàntǒng’ was when my grandma had made stir-fry noodles and I asked for rice. She was like, ‘You have noodles already,’ and I was like, ‘I want to eat rice with them.’ Then my family was like, ‘Okay, she’s a rice queen.’”
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Buttery Seafood Fried Rice
TShort-grain rice is the foundation of this buttery seafood fried rice, where salmon, scallops, prawns and butter come together in an umami-rich Taiwanese and Japanese-inspired dish.
