Vegerarian Guide

Taiwan is remarkably vegetarian-friendly, with approximately 13% of the population following a plant-based diet, making it one of the highest rates globally. This abundance stems from Taiwan’s deep Buddhist heritage, where vegetarianism has been practised for centuries. However, the Taiwanese approach to vegetarian food differs significantly from Western concepts, and understanding these nuances will transform your dining experience from confusing to delightful.

Understanding Types of Vegetarian in Taiwan

Taiwan operates on a more nuanced classification system than the simple “vegetarian” or “vegan” categories you might be accustomed to. The government legally recognises five official categories on packaged foods, and knowing these will help you navigate menus, food labels, and conversations with restaurant staff.

Official Categories

Complete/Pure Vegetarian 全素 / 純素

This is the closest equivalent to “vegan” in Taiwan, though it traditionally refers to Buddhist vegetarianism rather than ethical veganism. It excludes meat, eggs, dairy, and the five pungent roots (garlic, onions, spring onions, chives, and leeks). Most traditional Taiwanese vegetarian food falls into this category because eggs were historically classified as meat, and dairy wasn’t part of the traditional diet. However, modern Buddhist vegetarians don’t actively avoid dairy the way Western vegans do, so whilst rare, you might occasionally encounter dairy in dishes labelled 全素.

Egg Vegetarian 蛋素

Includes eggs but excludes meat and dairy. This category exists partly because with modern factory farming, eggs are less likely to be fertilised (and thus don’t contain potential life), making them more acceptable to some Buddhist practitioners.

Dairy Vegetarian 奶素

Includes dairy products but excludes meat and eggs. Less common than other categories.

Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian 蛋奶素

Includes both eggs and dairy but excludes meat. This Western-style vegetarianism has become increasingly popular, particularly in modern restaurants catering to health-conscious young Taiwanese and international visitors.

Plant-Based with Five Pungents （植物）五辛素

Vegetarian food that includes the five pungent roots (garlic, onions, etc.) but excludes all animal products. Think of this as “health vegetarian” rather than “Buddhist vegetarian”.

Unofficial but Common Categories

Side-of-the-pot Vegetarian 鍋邊素

A pragmatic category where someone eats vegetarian but accepts that their vegetables might be cooked in the same pot or with the same utensils as meat. They’ll pick around visible meat but won’t worry about shared cooking equipment. This flexibility is common in households where only some family members are vegetarian.

Convenience Vegetarian 方便素

Even more flexible - someone who generally eats vegetarian but will make exceptions for convenience or social situations, such as having a slice of birthday cake that contains eggs.

Why This Matters for Your Journey

When ordering food, simply saying “I’m vegetarian” might lead to assumptions you didn’t intend. The restaurant might serve you something with eggs or dairy, or conversely, they might assume you avoid garlic and onions when you don’t. Instead of relying on category labels that even locals debate, be specific about what you don’t eat. Say “I don’t eat meat, eggs, or dairy”. This direct approach prevents misunderstandings and ensures you get exactly what you want.

Where to Find Vegetarian Food

Dedicated Vegetarian Restaurants

Taiwan has approximately 6,000 vegetarian restaurants - an extraordinary number for an island of 23 million people. These establishments range from humble street-side noodle shops to upmarket restaurants featured in the Michelin Guide.

How to Identify Them

Look for the character 素 prominently displayed on signage. Some restaurants use 蔬食, which literally means “vegetable food” and is similar to the Western term “plant-based”, it’s more neutral and less religion-focused.

What to Expect

Traditional Buddhist vegetarian restaurants typically operate as buffets（素食自助餐）, especially at lunchtime. You select dishes from a heated display, and staff weigh your plate to calculate the price, usually between NT$80-150 for a satisfying meal. The food tends to be completely vegan (no eggs, though dairy is rarely used anyway), and crucially, there’s no garlic or onions.

Modern vegetarian restaurants offer more diverse cuisine like Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, and creative fusion. These establishments increasingly cater to health-conscious diners rather than purely religious motivations, so you’ll find garlic and onions used liberally. Some even offer “Western vegan” options clearly labelled as such.

A Word on Mock Meats

You’ll encounter an astonishing variety of mock meats in vegetarian restaurants. Some dishes on the menu will have names like “vegetarian chicken” or “vegetarian duck,” which might initially confuse you: these are always plant-based versions, never actual meat. Taiwanese mock meats have been refined over centuries and are made from soy protein, wheat gluten (seitan), mushrooms, or konjac. They’re designed to mimic not just the flavour but the texture and appearance of meat, allowing vegetarians to enjoy traditional Taiwanese dishes that were originally meat-based.

However, be aware that many mock meats contain dairy (usually whey protein) to improve texture, and some contain eggs. To be safe, stick to clearly labelled 純素 products or choose simple tofu and obvious plant-based ingredients.

Night Markets and Street Food

Taiwan’s night markets are legendary, and fortunately, many stalls offer vegetarian options: some entirely by accident of traditional recipes.

Vegetarian-Friendly Street Foods

• Stinky tofu（臭豆腐）: Usually vegan, though always ask, as some vendors deep-fry it using lard
• Green onion pancakes（蔥油餅）: Ask them to skip the egg; also verify they don’t use lard
• Sweet potato balls（地瓜球）: These crispy, chewy balls are typically vegan; also verify they don’t use lard
• Grilled corn and sweet potatoes: Simple and reliable; always ask about the ingredients in the sauce when ordering grilled corn
• Steamed buns（饅頭 / 包子）: Vegetable-filled versions are common; ask for 菜包 (literally vegetable-filled buns) or no filling ones（饅頭）
• Douhua（豆花）: Tofu pudding in sweet syrup with toppings like peanuts or red beans
• Mochi and rice cakes: Traditional versions are plant-based
• Fresh fruit: Night markets have fantastic fruit stalls

What to Watch For

Many night market foods are fried in shared oil, which may have been used for meat or seafood. If this concerns you, ask “Is this fried together with meat?” Also, bubble tea shops rarely stock oat milk despite its popularity in coffee shops, so if you’re vegan, you’ll need to order drinks without milk.

The Key to Success

Use apps like Happy Cow (which has extensive Taiwan coverage) or Google Maps to identify vegetarian-friendly night market stalls before you visit. Some night markets like Shilin in Taipei and Fengjia in Taichung have well-known vegetarian vendors. Look for the 素 character on stall signage.

Regular Restaurants

Non-vegetarian restaurants vary wildly in their vegetarian friendliness. Buddhist vegetarian culture means many Taiwanese people eat vegetarian occasionally, particularly on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar, or for 49 days after a family member’s death, so restaurants often accommodate vegetarian requests. Also, you can use apps like Happy Cow or Google Maps to identify vegetarian restaurants.

Some restaurants mark vegetarian dishes with a green leaf icon. Fancier establishments increasingly list ingredients or have English menus. In smaller cities and rural areas, expect language barriers: having key phrases written down on your phone is invaluable.

Hotpot Restaurants

These are surprisingly vegetarian-friendly. Order a vegetable broth base（蔬菜湯底） and select from the extensive array of vegetables, mushrooms, tofu products, and noodles. Just avoid the meat and seafood sections. Taiwanese shacha sauce（沙茶醬）, commonly used for hotpot dipping, traditionally contains dried shrimp, but vegetarian versions made with mushrooms are increasingly available.

Convenience Stores

Taiwan’s convenience stores like 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life, etc., are genuinely convenient for vegetarians, stocking far more than crisps and chocolate.

What You’ll Find

Since 2020, major chains have launched dedicated vegetarian ranges. 7-Eleven and FamilyMart has its own vegetarian brand with over 300 products. You’ll find:

• Ready meals (rice bowls, noodle soups, dumplings, curry): take to the counter for microwaving
• Ready-to-eat food: Onigiri, steamed sweet potato, steamed buns
• Nuts and dried fruit: check for 素 symbol as some nut mixes include dried fish
• Soy milk and plant-based drinks
• Instant noodles: many vegetarian options, clearly labelled

Critical Warning

Don’t fully rely on English labels that say “plant-based” or “vegetarian” on convenience store items. Some products labelled “plant-based” may still contain eggs or dairy. Taiwan’s plant-based marketing often means “mostly plants” rather than “exclusively plants.” Always check the Chinese ingredients label or look for the official vegetarian symbols（純素, 全素, or 蛋奶素）. Use Google Translate’s camera function to scan ingredients lists if you can’t read Chinese.

Buddhist Vegetarian Culture

Understanding Buddhist vegetarianism enriches your appreciation of why Taiwan is so vegetarian-friendly and why the food tastes the way it does.

The Five Pungent Roots（五辛）

Buddhist vegetarianism traditionally excludes:

1. 蔥：Spring onions, scallions, Welsh onions
2. 蒜：Garlic and garlic shoots
3. 韭：Chinese chives, Chinese leeks, garlic chives
4. 薤：Chinese onion, rakkyo, pickled in Taiwan as 蕗蕎, 蕎頭 or 小蒜
5. 興渠：Asafoetida (though in Taiwan, onions often fill this category)

Why Are They Avoided?

Buddhist texts suggest these pungent vegetables stimulate desires and passions when eaten raw, and increase anger when cooked, both of which disturb the mental clarity needed for meditation and spiritual practice. For devout practitioners, avoiding these ingredients is about maintaining mindfulness rather than dietary restriction.

What This Means for You

Traditional Buddhist vegetarian restaurants create deeply flavoured food without any garlic or onions: a remarkable culinary achievement. They use aromatic oils infused with celery, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms, plus generous amounts of ginger, which isn’t forbidden. If you’re accustomed to garlic-heavy cooking, this might initially taste bland, but pay attention to the subtle layering of flavours: it’s a different culinary philosophy.

If you want garlic and onions in your food, seek out restaurants using the 植物五辛素 label or modern vegetarian establishments that aren’t Buddhist-influenced. Conversely, if you have an allium intolerance, Buddhist vegetarian restaurants are your paradise.

Religious Observance Days

Many Taiwanese Buddhists eat vegetarian on specific days:

• 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar: Traditional vegetarian days
• 49 days following a family death: Period of vegetarian eating for mourning families
• Before major religious festivals: Some practitioners increase vegetarian eating

This means vegetarian restaurants get notably busier on these days, and regular restaurants are more accommodating to vegetarian requests because staff are accustomed to serving vegetarian customers.

The Mock Meat Tradition

Buddhist monks couldn’t eat meat, but they still participated in communal meals and festivals where meat would traditionally be served. Mock meats were developed between the 10th and 13th centuries: initially as temple offerings to deities in place of animal sacrifices, and later as a way to help new vegetarians transition whilst still enjoying familiar textures and the social experience of shared meals.

Taiwan is the world’s leading exporter of vegetarian mock meats, supplying Asian restaurants globally. Far from being a modern “processed food” trend, Taiwanese mock meats represent a thousand-year-old culinary tradition of incredible technical skill. The best versions are works of art: not trying to “trick” anyone, but rather celebrating the versatility of plant ingredients.

What Mock Meats Are Made From

• Soy Protein: Dried soy protein (often textured vegetable protein/TVP) rehydrates into meat-like textures. Higher quality products use whole soybeans processed to retain more nutrition.
• Wheat Gluten (Seitan): Extracted from wheat flour, gluten becomes bouncy and fibrous when cooked, perfect for mimicking chicken or duck. Often called “mock duck” in Western countries.
• Mushrooms: Shiitake stems, shredded and fried, create convincing “shredded meat.” Oyster mushrooms and other varieties add umami and texture.
• Konjac: This gelatinous root creates convincing seafood textures, particularly for things like fish balls or sashimi.
• Tofu Skin (Yuba): The film that forms when making tofu, dried into sheets. It absorbs flavours beautifully and creates layered textures.

Hidden Non-Vegetarian Ingredients

Even when a dish appears vegetarian, hidden animal products can lurk within. Here’s what to watch for and how to avoid them.

Common Culprits

Oyster Sauce（蠔油）

This thick, dark, umami-rich sauce is made from oyster extracts. It’s ubiquitous in Chinese cooking, particularly in stir-fries and as a seasoning. Many restaurants use it automatically because it adds depth of flavour. Vegetarian oyster sauce (usually made from mushrooms) exists and is increasingly common, but you can’t assume it’s being used.

Fish Sauce（魚露）

Common in Thai and Vietnamese dishes served in Taiwan. It’s made from fermented anchovies and adds a distinctive salty, savoury flavour. Less common in traditional Taiwanese cooking but increasingly used as Taiwan’s food scene becomes more pan-Asian.

Lard（豬油）

Traditionally, many Taiwanese dishes were cooked in lard because it was cheaper than vegetable oil and added flavour. Whilst less common now, some vendors still use it, particularly for:

• Green onion pancakes（蔥油餅）
• Fried rice
• Some noodle soups (as a flavour base)
• Steamed buns (in the dough)

Shacha Sauce（沙茶醬）

A popular barbecue and hotpot sauce made with garlic, shallots, chillies, and crucially, dried shrimp. It has a complex, slightly seafood-y flavour. Vegetarian versions exist (made with mushrooms) and are increasingly common, particularly in vegetarian hotpot restaurants, but mixed restaurants usually use the traditional version.

Chicken or Pork Broth（高湯）

Many noodle soups, rice dishes, and stir-fries start with a meat-based stock for depth of flavour. Even vegetables might be blanched in meat broth. This is so fundamental to Taiwanese cooking that chefs might not even think to mention it.

Shared Cooking Equipment

Not an ingredient per se, but worth noting: unless you’re in a fully vegetarian restaurant, your food is likely cooked in the same woks, fryers, and pots as meat dishes. For strict vegans or those with severe ethical concerns about cross-contamination, this might matter. However, if you’re comfortable with “鍋邊素” (side-of-the-pot vegetarian), this is par for the course in Taiwan.

Ingredients That Might Surprise You

Honey

Whilst not hidden, some products labelled 純素 may still contain honey, as veganism in Taiwan is less concerned with insect products than Western veganism. If honey matters to you, check specifically: the character 蜂蜜 is easy to spot on ingredient lists.

Dairy in Unexpected Places

Milk powder or whey appears in:

• Many mock meats
• Some “Oatly” products in convenience stores have had milk powder added: rely on the Chinese ingredients list, not the English brand name
• Bakery items almost universally contain milk or eggs, even when they look plant-based
• Some instant noodles, even those that appear vegetarian

E Numbers and Additives

Some colourings and additives are animal-derived (like carmine/E120 from insects), but these are less common in Taiwan than in Western processed foods. If you’re concerned about highly processed ingredients, stick to restaurants rather than packaged convenience foods.

How to Protect Yourself

Learn Key Phrases

• “這個是純素的嗎？”: “Is this completely vegan?”
• “有含任何動物的東西嗎?”: “Does this contain anything from animals?”
• “請不要放蠔油、魚露、豬油”: “Please don’t add oyster sauce, fish sauce, or lard”

Write It Down

Have these phrases on your phone to show staff. Better yet, create a card in Chinese explaining your dietary requirements: “我是素食者。我不吃肉、魚、蛋、奶、蠔油、魚露” (I’m vegetarian. I don’t eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, oyster sauce, or fish sauce).

Use Translation Technology

Google Translate’s camera function is invaluable for scanning ingredients lists on packaged foods. It’s not perfect, but it catches the major red flags.

When in Doubt, Eat at Vegetarian Restaurants

The safest option is always restaurants marked with 素. They’re not using hidden animal products because their entire customer base would object.

Accept Some Uncertainty

Unless you speak fluent Mandarin and personally interrogate the chef about every ingredient, there will always be some uncertainty when eating out. Decide your personal threshold: are you comfortable with “probably vegetarian” or do you need “definitely vegan”? And adjust your eating strategy accordingly.

Final Thoughts: Choosing Your Own Adventure

Taiwan offers extraordinary opportunities for vegetarians and vegans, from traditional Buddhist temple food to cutting-edge plant-based burger joints. Rather than telling you where to eat or what to order, this guide has equipped you with the framework to make informed choices based on your own dietary requirements, ethical boundaries, and sense of culinary adventure.

Ask questions. Learn key phrases. Read labels carefully. And most importantly, approach Taiwanese vegetarian culture with curiosity rather than assuming it will match Western veganism exactly. The differences - whether it’s mock meats, the avoidance of garlic, or the flexibility around dairy - reflect different cultural and religious traditions, and understanding them enriches your experience.

Taiwan’s vegetarian scene isn’t perfect, but it’s remarkably welcoming. With nearly 3 million vegetarians among 23 million people and 6,000 vegetarian restaurants across the island, you’re never far from excellent plant-based food. Now you have the tools to find it, understand it, and enjoy it on your own terms.