Coffin bread, also known as coffin lid or coffin board (Taiwanese Hokkien: koaⁿ-chhâ-pang 棺柴枋, Chinese: 棺材板; pinyin: guāncaibǎn),[1] is a Taiwanese bread bowl which originated in Tainan.

Coffin Bread
Street vendor making Coffin Bread at Shilin Night Market in Taiwan

History edit

Coffin bread has been sold at night markets in Tainan and Taipei since at least the 1940s.[2] It became popular with US troops stationed in Taiwan.[3]

Description edit

Coffin bread starts as a thick Texas toast style slab of white bread. The bread is hollowed out and either toasted or fried before it is filled with a creamy stew of chicken, seafood, tripe, or mushroom. It is then topped with a piece of toasted or fried bread, creating the "coffin" look.[2]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Lin, Eddie (16 October 2019). "Has Taiwanese Coffin Bread Ghosted Los Angeles?". losangeleno.com. Los Angeleno. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b Craddock, Kat (18 March 2019). "Taiwan's Coffin Bread Perfects the Art of the Bread Bowl". www.saveur.com. Saveur. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  3. ^ Keeling, Stephen (2013). The Rough Guide to Taiwan. UK: Rough Guides. ISBN 978-1409350613.