Keelung Nutrition Sandwich 基隆营养三明治

Keelung Nutrition Sandwich (基隆营养三明治) is a deep-fried bread roll split and filled with mayonnaise, ham, tomato, cucumber and braised egg, a snack of the Miaokou night market (庙口夜市) in Keelung (基隆), Taiwan. It is also called a "salad boat" (沙拉船), and its shape recalls a submarine.

How it is made

Chinese Wikipedia describes the method: dough is rolled into a long log, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried until golden and crisp, giving a roll like a hot-dog bun. The hot roll is slit down the middle, so it is crisp outside and soft inside. Mayonnaise goes in first, then ham, tomato, cucumber and a braised egg (卤蛋), plus any extras the customer wants, and more mayonnaise goes on top.

Unlike the usual Taiwanese sandwich made with sliced white bread, it uses a long oval roll, closer to an American submarine sandwich or a Vietnamese banh mi, except that the bread is fried.

Where it comes from

According to Chinese Wikipedia, the sandwich appeared at Keelung harbour in the 1950s or 1960s, when many US servicemen were there. It was made to suit American tastes at a time when the government and the flour trade association were promoting US-aid flour, bringing in deep fryers and advertising wheat foods as more "nutritious" (营养). Wikipedia credits its invention to a man surnamed Chi (迟). It has since spread to night markets across Taiwan.

The Keelung City tourism site names the nutrition sandwich among Miaokou's best-known snacks, alongside dingbiancuo (鼎边锉), butter crab and paopao ice (泡泡冰). The same site credits the market's rise to Dianji Temple (奠济宫) and to the steady stream of worshippers, local residents and fishermen that brought trade to the area.