Finding Halal food in Taiwan has not always been easy. However, it is changing now. Taiwan, with its exciting cityscape, rich heritage, idyllic country side, great shopping and delicious food is a popular travel destination. Although Taiwan has so much to offer its visitors, Muslim travellers were previously hesitant in choosing it as a holiday destination due to difficulty in locating Muslim-friendly facilities, difficulty in communicating with locals, and the fact that most restaurants featured a wide variety of pork dishes. Today, however, there are numerous Halal certified restaurants spread across the city, thus making more popular amongst Muslims travellers.
Visiting Taiwan is no longer daunting, as locating good Halal eateries have become easier. Food is a major part of Taiwanese culture. In fact, “have you eaten?” - one of the greetings used commonly in Taiwan - clearly describes the importance of food in this beautiful country. In addition to local specialities like Hakka stir fries, Taipei beef noodles and snacks like shrimp rolls, oyster omelettes, steamed dumplings and shaved ice, tourists will also be able to enjoy fantastic Japanese cuisine along with other international flavours.
While most countries have one Halal certifying body, Muslims will be surprised to find that Taiwan has two certification boards; the Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association (THID) and the Chinese Muslim Association. There are two kinds of certification, “Halal restaurants” for those owned by Muslims, and “Muslim friendly restaurants” for Halal outlets owned by non-Muslims. Since both these certificates confirm the Halal status of the restaurant, Muslim tourists looking for a restaurant to dine at could now look for the logos displayed at these outlets before dining. Although Taiwan is a nation that speaks mandarin, the Halal logos displayed at the restaurants and the helpful information found online regarding these outlets makes it a lot easier to plan a trip to the island nation.
Locating Halal restaurants in certain parts of the city are easier than others. The more cosmopolitan Taipei is known to have more options, while those venturing out of Taipei city, especially to more rural parts of Taiwan may find it more difficult to locate Halal cuisine. When unable to locate Halal eateries in certain areas, the best option would be to find a vegetarian restaurant. Since many Taiwanese are vegetarians due to religious reasons, locating a good vegetarian restaurant will not be too difficult. Muslim tourists wanting to sample some of Taiwan’s yummy street food should be cautious as most of the meats are cooked in lard. It is, therefore, better to avoid these snacks unless they are certain the item they are planning to order does not contain any non- Halal ingredients.
Tourists who do their research prior to travelling to their destination of choice usually waste less time and are less stressed as they know what they want to do and where they want to go. Muslims traveling to Taiwan should research their destination as well and choose the places they want to see, things they want to do and the restaurants they want to eat at. While a print out of a list of Halal restaurants that interest them will definitely be helpful, Muslim travelers will find the HalalTrip app even more of a blessing. The app allows travellers to not only find the nearest Halal restaurant to them; it also helps them locate nearby mosques and prayer facilities.
With so much information and options available, Muslims travellers can certainly look forward to sampling some flavor-packed food, along with exploring spectacular sites, and enjoying some fantastic shopping when in Taiwan!
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