Taiwan stinky tofu stalls hit by Iran war shock

As disruption in the Strait of Hormuz drives up pressure on oil-linked goods, including plastic, small vendors that make up the delicious night markets in Taiwan are being forced to improvise.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Walking through a night market in Taiwan is a wonderfully overwhelming experience. The packed crowd, surrounded by various food options, is full of people having a hard time deciding what to eat.

There’s baked pepper buns, stinky tofu, fried yam balls, and oyster pancakes.

And of course, after tasting it all, no one walks home without a bubble tea.

The place where ordinary Taiwanese people go for a bite has become an iconic signature for the country, attracting tourists from all over the world.

But it could all disappear if the Iran war lasts much longer.

One of the most famous tourist spots in Taipei, Raohe Night Market. (Photo credit: Taiwan Tourism Administration.)

Taiwan is one of many countries that have suffered from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel first struck Iran on February 28.

The plastic that defines Taiwan’s night markets, from food packaging to utensils and even in the lids of the bubble tea cups, is made using crude oil from the Middle East.

Although the two-week ceasefire agreement announced on April 7 brought hope that the Strait of Hormuz might allow ships to pass through, Trump’s new naval blockade means renewed challenges to sailing oil and fertilizer through the waterway.

Taiwan imports 65% of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq, according to a report from the Executive Yuan, the highest administration office in the Taiwan central government. Taiwan, its food scene, and its culture are left exposed to a war thousands of miles away.

A-Chan Mee Sua, a stinky tofu shop located in the busiest market area near Taipei Main Station. Photo by Elaine Lin.

A-Chan wakes up at 6 o’clock every morning to prepare food for the day: noodles (mee sua in Taiwanese), chicken fillet, and his signature dish, stinky tofu. His shop, A-Chan Mee Sua, is in the most popular market area that runs from day to night, near Taipei Main Station. He has been running the business for more than 30 years since he took over from his parents.

He sells an array of food that can be found in the night market, most of which gets wrapped in plastic before purchase.

The last thing A-Chan wants is to fail the business that belongs to his family heritage. He keeps the shop open every day except on official holidays such as the Lunar New Year, and makes sure that every customer enjoys every bite.

Now, the shortage of plastic bags is making A-Chan anxious. “Damn Trump! Stop the war!” he said.

After finishing a tour at the night market, you usually end up with at least five plastic bags, including packages for food, utensils, and the bubble tea lid. Photo by Elaine Lin.

To counter the plastic shortage, some vendors are recommending that customers bring their own plastic bags. Some charge the customers extra fees for bags. As the war in Iran drags on, the plastic shortage crisis has only continued to worsen.

Taiwanese media started showing plastic distributors complaining about the limited production, panicking the consumers. The plastic bags became rare and harder to find in the market, suggesting that either the distributors or the consumers are stockpiling, causing prices to skyrocket and forcing the Taiwanese government to announce a supply-distribution stability plan.

For heated food vendors, the issue is even worse — some plastic bags are made specially to endure the hot temperatures. “The price of those almost doubled,” A-Chan said.

But to A-Chan, the high cost of the bags isn’t the real problem. “It’s still affordable, but the issue is we can’t buy them, even if we pay more,” he said.

The Counteroffensive tried to find out if any distributors were stockpiling, and after visiting at least four distributors, only one was willing to comment.

“Please stop reporting on the shortage. People kept coming to panic buy.” The owner of the Hua-Yuan Trading House said.

A panic buy — which refers to sudden and excessive purchase of daily groceries, such as food, and fuel — has happened multiple times in Taiwan, especially when a typhoon or earthquake hits badly.

A-Chan’s mother, Mrs. Tseng, trusts her supplier. “They don’t stockpile. They need to maintain a good relationship with clients. If they hid bags from us, they would lose business soon.”

When asked what they plan to do with their business if the war lasts long term, Mrs. Tseng said with faith, “the war won’t end immediately, but it won’t last longer than six months. It will cost [the Americans] too much!”

The night market vendors and their supply chains are mostly small businesses. The floating cost of plastic could easily take over their profit, and that’s not the only concern.

Plastic bags can be seen everywhere in a night market. The ones at the bottom can endure higher temperatures between 90°C and 110°C. Photo by Elaine Lin.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or LPG, is one of the most important tools for the hot food vendors. 33.7% of Taiwan’s LPG is imported from Qatar, according to the data from the Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs, which makes Qatar its biggest supplier.

In order to control inflation, the Taiwanese government held up the price of LPG for household use toward the end of March. But the night market vendors aren’t as lucky.

Moreover, the rise in the price of vegetable oil could cause more damage to the food vendors. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says that vegetable oil ​prices have increased 5.1% since last September.

All these factors can make it harder for night market vendors to make ends meet. Chris, the vendor who sells fried yam balls in a southern city of Taiwan, Tainan, is feeling the pain.

“I just started my business at the end of last year.” He can’t believe his luck: “In four months, I saw the Black Swan,” referring to the extremely rare wartime events unfolding that are impacting his business.

Most of these vendors are paying the rising cost out of pocket. It can take out hundreds of dollars from their profit per month.

Night Market is the most iconic signature of the Taiwanese culture. There are a variety of food choices, and the price is very affordable. The vendor’s profit is easily affected by the floating commodity prices. Photo by Elaine Lin.

To keep the night market lively during hard times, the Taiwanese government is trying to hold down oil prices for as long as it can. CPC Corporation, Taiwan, owned by the government, has paid 103.7 million dollars (3.3 billion NTD) for the extra cost of gas in the past two weeks, without sharing the burden with users.

Everyone tries to do their best to survive until the Strait of Hormuz opens. The plastic bag issue is probably easier to solve first. The Taipei city council started to promote using reusable bags or having the customers bring their own containers.

Before the plastic shortage crisis, some Taiwanese people were considering how to make bubble tea less carbon-intensive. They bring their own cups, reusable straws, and replace the plastic carrier bag with a cloth bag.

Some conservation groups even see this moment as an opportunity to change the night market into a more eco-friendly and sustainable place.

A-Chan, the owner of the stinky tofu shop A-Chan Mee Sua, and his delicious stinky tofu covered with plastic bags. Photo by Elaine Lin.

The lack of diverse energy sources during the Iran war has brought back the discussion about using nuclear energy after the referendum to restart the nuclear power plant in Taiwan failed last August.

Just two weeks ago, President William Lai made a speech revealing his nuclear energy strategy. “We don’t know how long the war will last, but Taiwan needs to be prepared for the worst.”

The Iran war has affected Taiwan slowly, but surely. This squeeze means that a cultural staple — the nightmarket — is dying slowly, too.

NEWS OF THE DAY:

By Oleksandra Khelemendyk and Anastasiia Lutsenko

Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

UKRAINE TO PRODUCE DRONES IN NORWAY: Norway and Ukraine agreed to strengthen defense cooperation and produce Ukrainian drones in Norway, according to Reuters. Norway will support drone production in Ukraine, while Ukraine will share its experience, data, and knowledge. Some drones will also be made on Norwegian territory.

Norway strongly supports Ukraine and is on track to provide about $28 billion in aid from 2023 to 2030. On Tuesday, Ukraine’s president also agreed on a major drone production deal with Germany during a meeting in Berlin.

ISRAEL RECEIVED STOLEN UKRAINIAN GRAIN: A Russian bulker, ABINSK, carried more than 43 thousand tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine and was docked in the Israeli port of Haifa on April 12, reported Hromadske. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the act in a call with his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar, calling it “illegal.” According to the Foreign Intelligence Service, Russia exported more than 2 million tons of stolen Ukrainian grain in 2025.

PRO-RUSSIAN HACKERS BREACH UKRAINIAN PROSECUTORS’ EMAILS: In the past several months, Russia-backed hackers broke into more than 284 emails of European officials in Ukraine, Serbia, Romania and Greece, Reuters reports.

170 accounts belong to Ukrainian investigators and prosecutors who deal with corruption and collaborators. The list of victims includes employees of Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), which oversees assets seized from criminals and Russian collaborators, the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office in the Field of Defense, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

According to Keir Giles, an analyst from London’s Chatham House think tank, Ukrainian law enforcement was targeted to prevent Moscow’s spies from being exposed and to gather potentially embarrassing information about top officials.

DOG OF PEACE:

Today’s Dog of Peace is Mei-Nung. She was abused by men before she was rescued. She’s still a little scared of men. But she’s very friendly to ladies!

Stay safe out there.

Best,
Elaine