Youth in Kaohsiung Get Creative: Mapo Tofu Transforms into Pizza and Pasta!
The wave of Taiwanese culinary culture has evolved from an Eastern mainstream to embrace American, European, Italian, Spanish, and other multicultural influences. At Sojourner Café in the Hanshin Dome shopping district of Kaohsiung, a seventh-generation postgraduate teaching professional English and an eighth-generation mechanic working in mechanical assembly have collaborated to create a new take on traditional Taiwanese flavors. They believe that cuisine can coexist seamlessly between East and West, infusing every dish with playful delight.
Unbound by non-culinary backgrounds, the two young men at Sojourner Café and their team have embraced a playful spirit. With their free souls untethered by traditional restaurant norms, they’ve turned the typical Italian dining experience on its head in Taiwan. Rather than relying on sauces, they offer one innovative fusion dish after another. They believe life can be changed through food, and at Sojourner Café, what’s sold is a lifestyle attitude. Guests who nestle here can create a space for self-dialogue within the café.
Though outwardly low-key, Sojourner Café is actually tucked away right across from Sanmin Home Economics School. Despite facing the bustling Yucheng Road, its simple large iron gate effectively blocks out the outside noise. The generous use of woodwork and an industrial-style decor creates a serene atmosphere. Whether happy or sad, every visitor can find solace and emotional release at Sojourner Café.
Sojourner Café continues to shine with “creativity” and “high-quality ingredients,” which are also its core values. That’s why they serve playful dishes made with top-notch items such as Italian Barilla pasta, Italian Olitalia olive oil, and Yamazaki bread. Dishes like Japanese curry chicken pizza, Sichuan-style mapo tofu pasta and pizza, golden salted egg squid pasta, Mademoiselle Francais, and mini summer mango ice cream pancakes are all masterpieces born from the chef's relaxed creativity. In every hot dish, you can see the sincere and unpretentious style of the Sojourner team. With a “food-from-the-heart, joy-in-the-environment” ethos, the Sojourner Café team—approaching its second anniversary this summer—is set to keep cooking up more playful culinary surprises.
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[Sichuan-Style Mapo Tofu Pizza]
Another playful dish inspired by Sichuan-style mapo tofu is the Sichuan-Style Mapo Tofu Pizza.
[Sichuan-Style Mapo Tofu Pasta]
A famous dish from Sichuan cuisine, mapo tofu is known for its numbing, spicy, tender, and aromatic characteristics. The numbing taste of Sichuan peppercorns, the heat of chili peppers, along with the white tofu and green scallions creating a visual contrast, make the dish a feast for both eyes and palate. But the Sojourner team combines this iconic Chinese dish with Western pasta, using mapo tofu filling made from Kaohsiung Gangshan fermented broad bean paste, ground pork, Sichuan peppercorn, and mixed seasonings, paired with Italian Barilla pasta. The mapo tofu filling is slightly salty and spicy but not greasy, with spice levels kept within the range acceptable to most diners. Spice lovers can request the chef to increase the heat when ordering.
The pasta uses premium Italian Barilla noodles.
[Japanese Curry Chicken Pizza]
Sojourner Café doesn’t just mix Chinese and Western elements—it also offers creative fusion dishes with Japanese flair. The newly launched Japanese Curry Chicken Pizza features chicken marinated in Indian curry powder and yogurt, then deep-fried. The chicken is tender and juicy, exuding the aroma of Indian curry. The pizza crust is also topped with a homemade Japanese curry sauce, made by simmering plenty of vegetables along with carrots, potatoes, and fruit, resulting in a sweet and fragrant curry flavor.
The pizza crust is coated with homemade Japanese curry sauce. The fresh chicken thigh meat is marinated with Indian curry powder and yogurt, then deep-fried, resulting in tender and non-tough texture.
[Golden Salted Egg Squid Pasta]
The playful Sojourner team, while dining at a stir-fry restaurant, tasted a golden squid stir-fry and thought—why not create a fusion dish with Western pasta? But their creativity didn’t stop there. To challenge the conventional stir-fry image of golden squid, they instead coated squid tentacles in a special batter and deep-fried them, then stir-fried them with salted duck egg yolk, Italian Barilla pasta, assorted mushrooms, garlic, and sautéed onions. Finally, they sprinkled with chopped scallions to complete this stir-fry-inspired golden salted egg squid pasta.
The squid tentacles are coated in a special batter and deep-fried, resulting in a crispy, chewy texture.
[Mini Summer Mango Ice Cream Pancake]
The heart-shaped pancake immediately captures everyone’s attention at the table. On top of the Mini Summer Mango Ice Cream Pancake, the chef not only spreads homemade mango sauce made from Ataulfo mangoes but also layers a scoop of Meiji mango-flavored ice cream, drizzles with creamy Thai coconut milk, and garnishes with redcurrants and mint leaves. Of course, the chef wouldn’t forget to top the pancake with freshly sliced mango. Isn’t summer the season for mangoes?
[Mademoiselle Francais]
Mademoiselle Francais is the girls’ go-to sweet indulgence. A mountain of Japanese Yamazaki bread is pan-fried with a golden egg wash. Sojourner Café drizzles the golden Yamazaki toast with a homemade berry sauce made from various berries, adds a large scoop of vanilla Meiji ice cream, and decorates it with whipped cream, raspberries, and mint leaves.
As the mysterious purple berry sauce mingles and melts with the elegant white vanilla ice cream, it cascades down the golden bread mountain like multi-colored waterfalls, offering not only a blend of hot and cold textures but also a visual feast for the ladies.
And there's also the ever-popular"Banana Pancake"
Sojourner Café 蜗居咖啡
Address: No. 1035, Yucheng Rd., Gushan District, Kaohsiung City (Exit 2, Hanshin Dome MRT Station)
Phone: 07-5552530
Kaohsiung Food Map
Author Introduction: The Kaohsiung Food Map is curated by Ah Hsiung and Xiao Gao, who share the local cuisine and cultural flavors of southern Taiwan. They also introduce various tourist attractions from time to time, taste signature dishes from all over, capture beautiful scenery, and share Taiwan’s culinary delights and unique human warmth with everyone.
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