Everything it’s essential find out about discovering Halal meals and sustaining your self in non-Muslim nations!
The pleasure of travelling is discovering gastronomic gems — however when you’ve dietary restrictions, you must get a bit of inventive.
Someone as soon as shared how they walked for hours to search out Halal meals in Taiwan. When they lastly discovered an Indian Restaurant, a paper signal on the storefront mentioned ‘NOT HALAL’. If he did his analysis, he would’ve recognized that Taiwan is Muslim-friendly with loads of Halal choices ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
Preparing your self beforehand takes out the guesswork when in search of Halal meals abroad. I had a course of for locating Halal meals whereas I used to be in Taiwan — so listed here are seven suggestions I discovered helpful when in search of halal meals wherever you might be on this planet.
1) Talk to locals even earlier than the journey
Prior to my solo journey to Taipei, I reached out to my strolling tour information to see if he knew of any Halal spots. He outfitted me with actually useful hyperlinks just like the Muslim Food Map by Taiwan Halal Centre, which was an excellent support to see the density of Halal and Muslim-friendly meals within the totally different areas of Taipei.
Facebook teams
If you don’t have a strolling tour information, attempt reaching out by native Facebook teams!
I used to be in search of Halal Traditional Taiwanese Breakfast choices and reached out to the Friends of Taipei Grand Masjid Facebook web page for solutions. Though none have been prompt, they outfitted me with Chinese phrases to ask for a vegetarian model simply in case I needed to dine in at these locations.
The Islam Taiwan web site they shared allowed me to search out Uncle Ma’s! Islam Taiwan has even began a Discord Channel!
They additionally shared apps like Taiwan Halal: Tour, Restaurant (Android solely) and Halalin — which lists Halal snacks and groceries in every comfort retailer and has a ‘Halal Card’ itemizing objects Muslims can and can’t devour in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Chinese.
2) Scour Through TikTok and Instagram
Tiktok too has loads of creators posting their Halal discoveries in Taipei.
While planning for a visit to Taipei, I got here throughout Kuliner Halal Taiwan on TikTok — a database of Halal meals in Taiwan from eating places to groceries. I might rapidly scan by their account for eating places out there and plan the journey round it.
reki_id was one other native creator the place I found KUO ZANG mini Hot Pot — a lesser recognized Halal spot that’s not listed in Taiwan’s tourism web site!
Most of those TikToks, nonetheless, are in Malay or Bahasa Indonesia — so preserve a lookout on our TikTok web page as we’ll be developing with extra Halal meals content material ????
Instagram’s a treasure-trove of Halal journey content material too!
youcaneatwithme’s Instagram reels lists Halal, Muslim-friendly, Pescatarian-friendly and vegan locations in Korea serving genuine meals. Plus, she offers tips about find out how to adapt the meals served to your dietary restrictions.
*Pro-tip: Save time and use the algorithm to your favour by liking and saving Halal abroad content material. It’ll flood your feed with Halal and Muslim-friendly locations abroad — taking the trouble out of in search of these locations.
3) Visit the native Mosque or Islamic Centre
Other than a spot of worship, Mosques are an excellent level of contact for all issues halal and an opportunity to attach with the native Muslims for Halal hidden gems!
Most Mosques world wide like Taipei Grand Mosque and Kowloon Mosque And Islamic Centre promote meals on Fridays — so you will get a Halal model of the native delicacies with zero doubts!
Mosques are generally situated in Muslim-populated communities/neighbourhoods so that you’re more likely to be near Halal butchers and eating places too.
4) Explore Convenience Stores and Supermarkets
Don’t skip comfort shops or supermarkets in any nation you’re in as there are often some Halal-certified and vegetarian-friendly snacks and drinks. The choice’s often a mixture of native and imported snacks and drink.
I managed to search out some Halal Goat Cheese in a comfort retailer whereas in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam!
Found these ‘Made-in-Taiwan’ native Salted Egg Yolk Cookies by T.Okay. Food (NT$38, ~S$1.70) in Family Mart in Taipei, Taiwan!
It’s a candy biscuit with some savoury notes scattered in every chunk. It’s positively an acquired style however I actually loved its duality.
Roasted candy potatoes are a vegetarian-friendly hot-food merchandise bought in most Taiwanese comfort shops when you’re ever craving a scorching snack.
Convenience shops and supermarkets may be an choice to tide you over when you’re overseas and in a pinch for Halal meals. Take your time to discover them since you by no means know what random Halal gems you may discover!
5) Look Through Tourism Websites
Other than doing a fast Google seek for ‘Halal food in (name of country)’ previous to visiting any nation, I’ll head to their tourism web site too.
Tourism boards of assorted nations — like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea — are beginning to accommodate Muslim-friendly journey by offering guides on the place to search out Halal meals or the place to hope!
6) Know Local Phrases
It’s good to familiarise your self with phrases within the native language to ask if one thing is Halal or not.
While in Taipei, I saved these widespread phrases as my lock display screen so I merely whipped out my cellphone to ask if issues have been vegetarian or halal. I’d attempt to pronounce the phrases or just present the display screen to the distributors to keep away from miscommunication.
The most necessary phrase I discovered when in search of Muslim-friendly meals in Taipei is:
这个有没有猪油 (Zhè ge you méi you zhū yóu)
Does this have lard?
I virtually bought pastries from a retailer which makes use of lard. The store didn’t promote any meat — solely candy pastries and scallion bread. When I requested “这个有没有猪油 (Zhè ge you méi you zhū yóu)”, the vendor knowledgeable me that the candy pastries contained lard.
Honest errors like this occur — however we will at all times equip ourselves to keep away from ending up in these conditions by understanding what to ask.
7) Browse Through Airports
Photo credit score: Hsin Tung Yang
Airports are the final stretch of any journey — but it surely’s additionally a chance to find extra Halal meals locations or souvenirs.
Pita Pit in Auckland Airport gives Halal rooster choices ready individually from their different menu objects whereas Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport has a number of memento snack retailers in Terminal 1’s Departure Hall promoting loads of Made-in-Taiwan Halal-certified snacks.
*Pro-tip: The largest choice in Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 1 Departure Hall is at Level 3, proper earlier than the doorway to immigration.
Do your due diligence to search out Halal or Muslim-Friendly Food
The first mistake we are likely to make is to imagine that it’s arduous to search out Halal or Muslim-friendly meals in non-Muslim nations. My philosophy is that halal meals is at all times out there — you simply gotta do your analysis.
My Halal meals state of affairs on my solo journey to Taipei was simple breezy as a result of I had accomplished the legwork beforehand and deliberate my itinerary across the Halal spots.
Check out our different Halal guides for planning a visit to non-Muslim nations:
– Muslim-friendly 4D3N Taipei Itinerary — A Solo Traveller’s First Time in Taiwan
– Taipei Muslim-Friendly Food Guide — 13 Tried and Tested Halal Certified Places
– Planning Your Vietnam Itinerary — Your Most Frequently Asked Questions
Got some other tips about discovering Halal meals in non-Muslim nations? Share with us within the feedback beneath!
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