Taipien

Locally knownKnown to people who live here. Not in the international guidebooks.

Researched and written by Hinato

taipienglass noodlesKumamoto CityFujianschool lunch

Photo: Nissy-KITAQ / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) · original

Taipien isn't trying to be a destination restaurant, which is exactly why it's worth the detour.

Taipien is a bowl of clear chicken and pork broth with mung bean vermicelli in it, topped with stir-fried pork, cabbage, carrot, wood ear, prawn and squid, and a deep-fried boiled egg. The noodles are glass noodles, so it eats light, and Kumamoto people treat it as the healthy option — it is served in school lunches here and nowhere else in Japan.

It came from Fujian with Chinese cooks who settled in Kumamoto in the Meiji period, where the original used duck egg and a different noodle. The local version replaced both, and the dish rooted here so completely that it is now a Kumamoto speciality that barely exists elsewhere in the country. Chinese restaurants across the city serve it, and so do coffee shops and canteens.

What to know before you go

When to go

Year-round

Serving hours

Varies by establishment

Closed: Varies by establishment

Time to allow

30–45 minutes

Cost

¥700–1,200 per bowl

Finding the spot

Access notes

Served across Kumamoto City in Chinese restaurants, cafés, canteens and hotel dining rooms, and included in school lunches in the city. The dish is clear chicken and pork broth with mung bean vermicelli, stir-fried vegetables and seafood and a deep-fried boiled egg. Individual establishments' hours, rest days and prices vary — confirm before travelling.

Insider tips

**The noodles are mung bean glass noodles.** Not wheat. That is why it eats light and why locals order it as the sensible lunch. **The fried egg is not optional.** A boiled egg, deep-fried, sitting on top. Some shops add a second for a small charge and most locals do. **It came from Fujian.** Brought by Chinese cooks in the Meiji period and altered here. That it is now barely eaten anywhere else in Japan is the odd part. **School lunches serve it.** Which is why every adult in this city has an opinion about it, and why it is on menus that are otherwise nothing to do with Chinese food. **Try it before basashi.** Horse sashimi is what visitors come for. Taipien is what Kumamoto actually eats on a Tuesday.

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