Taiwanese American Cuisine
Source: Wikipedia - Taiwanese Americans
Extracted: 2026-05-12
Categories: Food culture, cookbooks, restaurants
Historical Impact
- Taiwanese immigrant restaurateurs largely responsible for shifting American Chinese food from Cantonese-focused to diverse regional cuisine
- Immigration of Taiwanese chefs to US began in 1950s
- Many immigrants born in China, fled to Taiwan with KMT (1949), particularly former residents of Dachen Islands (evacuated 1955)
- Taiwanese restaurateurs changed food landscape of NYC and other cities
- Pioneered innovations: picture menus, food delivery
- Traditionally, Taiwanese food was hard to differentiate from Chinese/Japanese food abroad
Modern Movement
- 2018: Rapid growth in authentic Taiwanese restaurants in NYC and across the country
- Coincided with increased interest in regional Chinese food and Taiwan itself
- Increasing interest from ex-pats and second-generation Taiwanese Americans
Notable Restaurants
| Restaurant | Location | Notes |
|---|
| Myers + Chang | Boston | One of first to explicitly describe food as “Taiwanese American” |
| Kato by Chef Jon Yao | Los Angeles | Michelin-starred Taiwanese food |
| Stephanie Izard’s snack/dessert shop | Chicago | James Beard Award-winning chef, opened 2018 |
Cookbooks
| Title | Year | Author(s) | Notes |
|---|
| First Generation | 2022 | Frankie Gaw | Childhood recipes growing up in American Midwest |
| Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook | 2023 | Cathy Erway, Josh Ku, Trigg Brown | Collaboration on Taiwanese American cuisine |