Dish finder in Taipei

Braised beef shank and thick noodles in a rich soy and spice broth, with pickled mustard greens on the table. The clear-broth version is milder.

Minced pork belly braised in soy and spices, spooned over rice. Cheap, everywhere, and best with a braised egg and a bowl of soup.

Delicate pork dumplings full of broth, which Taipei's dumpling houses made world famous. Smaller shops do them as well for much less.

A soft crêpe rolled around egg, often with cheese, corn or bacon, from the neighbourhood breakfast shop. Add soy paste or chilli at the counter.

Warm soy milk, sweet or savoury, with a sesame flatbread wrapped around a fried dough stick. The breakfast queue starts before six.

Small oysters fried with egg, greens and a sticky sweet-potato starch batter, under a sweet red sauce. The name is said in Taiwanese at the night markets.

A peppery pork and spring onion filling baked inside a crust on the walls of a clay oven. Hot inside, so wait a minute.

A folded steamed bun stuffed with braised pork belly, pickled greens, peanut powder and coriander.

A chicken breast flattened, battered and fried until it is larger than your face, dusted with pepper salt. Ask for it cut (切) or whole.

Fermented tofu, fried crisp and served with pickled cabbage, or stewed in a spicy broth. The smell is stronger than the taste.

Chicken cooked down in a clay pot with sesame oil, rice wine and soy, finished with a fistful of Thai basil. A staple of stir-fry restaurants.

Fine wheat noodles in a thick, savoury broth with oysters or pig's intestine, eaten standing up from a paper bowl. Add garlic and vinegar.

Pick tofu, vegetables, noodles and meat into a basket and it is simmered in a spiced soy broth. Say whether you want it spicy (要辣) or not.

Taiwan's Buddhist tradition means meat-free buffets in every neighbourhood: fill a box, pay by weight. Look for the 素 sign.

Milk tea with chewy tapioca pearls, invented in Taiwan. Order the sugar and ice level: half sugar, less ice is a sensible start.

A mountain of shaved ice or milk snow under fresh mango and condensed milk. A summer dish, at its best from May to August.

Chewy taro and sweet potato dumplings, served hot in winter or over shaved ice in summer. The famous ones are up the hill in Jiufen.