Coffin bread

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

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

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

• Taiwanese cuisine
• Bunny chow