Iron Egg appears as a signature dish in 1 Taiwan cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Iron egg · Taipei
Tie dan are quail or chicken eggs braised repeatedly in soy and five-spice and air-dried until shrunken, chewy and intensely savoury, a Tamsui-coast snack.
Iron eggs originated in Tamsui in 1965, when shop owner Huang Chang-Chih's eggs over-braised in the sea-wind humidity and shrank to a chewy, dark, intensely flavoured snack. The accident became a Tamsui Old Street institution, now sold across Taipei convenience stores and 7-Elevens. Quail eggs work better than chicken; they shrink more uniformly and give a chewier bite.
Where to eat in Taipei:
- Tamsui Old Street