Exploring Taiwanese Street Food in Contemporary Indonesian Society: Between Nostalgia and Gastrodiplomacy

: Food is an excellent means of creating an image and spreading influence. This study aims to explore Taiwanese street food as nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy in contemporary Indonesian society. This study uses a qualitative method with data collection through in-depth interviews and a literature study. The results showed that: first, food nostalgia tries to connect the past and the present. The feeling expressed by the Taiwanese diaspora on food will greatly depend on their previous lived experiences and homeland memories in the past, both personally and historically, with their present living circumstances in Indonesia. Second, gastrodiplomacy connects the relationship between the present and the future. The popularity of Taiwanese food in Indonesia is increasing, especially through boba and chicken Shilin consumption. This has a positive impact on building Taiwan's image. From food nostalgia and gastro diplomacy, we can learn about the past, present, and future relationships between people and nations.


Introduction
In the global context, many foreigners often cannot distinguish Taiwanese and Chinese food due to their similar appearances. It is commonly believed that Taiwanese food is part of Chinese food since it is derived from the same cultural roots. Even today, in general, many people cannot clearly distinguish between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). In addition, the globalization of Chinese food also strengthens the food's national identity within the contemporary overseas Chinese trading network and migration (Wu & Cheung, 2002). The rapid development of Chinese food is also supported by the massive migration of the Chinese diaspora worldwide (Faridi et al., 2021).
There is a similar situation in Indonesia, where Chinese food is more widely known than Taiwanese food. This is inseparable from a large number of Chinese diasporas in Indonesia. According to Poston and Wong (2016), more than 8 million people of Chinese descent live in Indonesia. Even the descendants of the Chinese diaspora also spread throughout Indonesia, from western to eastern Indonesia. Therefore, it is not surprising that Chinese descent and food restaurants can be found in almost all parts of Indonesia (from urban to rural areas).
Taiwanese food restaurants can only be found in shopping malls in Indonesia's major cities, including Jakarta and Surabaya, due to the large number of Taiwanese diasporas and their descendants living there. Additionally, descendants of the Taiwanese diaspora attend the Jakarta Taipei School and Surabaya Taipei School. Indonesia's Taiwanese diaspora had its second homes in Jakarta and Surabaya at that time. It is also strengthened by establishing the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO) and Taiwanese enterprises in these cities. As a result, many Indonesians are not familiar with Taiwanese food since Taiwanese food was developed in these cities as well.
Interestingly, Indonesian people know and are familiar with Taiwanese food since the various Taiwanese drama series aired on Indonesian television stations. As early as 2001, Meteor Garden (流星花園, liú xīng huā yuán) was popular and had many fans in Indonesia. After getting the attention of Indonesian people, almost every year, Taiwanese drama series also aired on one Indonesian television station, such as MPV Valentine (MVP情人, qíng rén)  Taiwanese Government, through the Ministry of Culture (MOC), plans to promote more Taiwanese drama series as part of the MOC's Southeast Asian Strategies (Wei, 2017). Additionally, Indonesians are becoming more familiar with Taiwan, starting with actors and actresses, beautiful places, music, culture, and Taiwanese food. This situation surely became a golden opportunity to strengthen the nation's branding with Taiwan's soft power in Indonesia.
Shortly after, Taiwanese food received a warm welcome from the Indonesian people. So, some of the Taiwanese restaurants and Taiwanese street food expanded their outlets in various cities in Medan, Bandung, Yogyakarta, and others. Then the variety of Taiwanese food on the menu is also very interesting such as beef noodles, Taiwanese hamburger, tofu pudding, crispy chicken cutlet, bubble tea, and others. The spread of Taiwanese food in Indonesia attracts the authors' attention to exploring it further. Moreover, in Indonesia, Taiwanese diasporas have feelings about nostalgic food and how food is used for gastro diplomacy.
Before discussing more deeply about Taiwanese street food as nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy in Indonesia, the authors map relevant previous research to find novelty and emphasize the significance of the research. Several previous studies that can be compiled and mapped by the authors include: First, research by Aini and Safira (2021) I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I  I I I Octastefani & Kusuma, Exploring Taiwanese Street Food in Contemporary Indonesian Society: Between Nostalgia and Gastrodiplomacy 799 commitment (halal logo and animal slaughter mechanism), food quality, and price standards have a positive effect on the willingness of consumers in Indonesia to buy Taiwanese street food, especially Shihlin Taiwan street snacks products. Second, a study conducted by Lin, Pang, and Liao (2020) titled 'Home food making, belonging, and identity negotiation in Belgian Taiwanese immigrant women's everyday food practices' states that Taiwanese food has diverse meanings throughout the diaspora, as do the associated emotional and ethnic meanings associated with it. In order to create a distinctly Taiwanese flavor, they need spices and Asian-brand cooking utensils. For the Taiwanese diaspora in Belgium, food is essential in discussions of childhood memories, negotiations of ethnonational identity, and cultural markers accompanied by critical reflection on the social construction nature of food in the context of migration.
Third, research from Rockower (2012) entitled 'Recipes for gastrodiplomacy' reveals that many middle powers have invested resources in culinary diplomacy to increase global awareness of their culture as a means to project soft power, including Taiwan. Rockower (2011) in another research entitled 'Taiwan's public diplomacy outreach' also explained that the Taiwanese government invested tens of millions of dollars to promote Taiwanese cuisine through programs such as international gourmet festivals, sending local chefs to international contests, and establishing Taiwanese restaurants. abroad, set up sampling stations at international airports, set up culinary think tanks, and peddled Taiwanese street food.
There are several more researches that the authors have analyzed. But at least the research above is the latest and most relevant to this research. From some of the research above, it can be seen that: First, research on Taiwanese street food, which makes Indonesia the locus of research, is still minimal. The research that makes Indonesia the locus of research is mostly related to Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai street food. Second, no research combines nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy as a double perspective in studying food, especially Taiwanese street food in Indonesia. Based on this analysis, the two points mentioned above become the novelty and significance of this research.
To analyze Taiwanese street food in Indonesia, the authors use nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy as double perspectives. Nostalgia, for some people, maybe a common term. But nostalgia has a deep meaning for others, especially the diaspora who live far from their origin. One of them is food nostalgia. Food nostalgia will always be associated with childhood, homesickness, longing, special occasions and rediscovery. In some cases, nostalgia is viewed as a negative or ambivalent emotion, however the consumption of nostalgic foods is associated with positive emotions (Vignolles & Pichon, 2014). The effects of nostalgia on consumers' preferences for indulgent foods are amplified at mealtime (Wang et al., 2018).
On the other hand, food can be something with such great power that it is used as a tool of diplomacy. The term gastrodiplomacy was first used in an article about Thailand's diplomatic campaign to promote its food and culinary arts. The Thai Government uses the term food as a Thai ambassador. After that, gastrodiplomacy spread rapidly (Chapple-Sokol, 2013). Referring to gastrodiplomacy, countries use food and culinary arts as part of their efforts to build an image, globalize their food industry, and build relationships with foreigners. Because eating is an important part of the mass public culture (Cho, 2006), those involved in diplomacy are no longer monopolized by the state but also by food companies, celebrities, chefs, etc.
Having explained the two perspectives above, research on Taiwanese street food in Indonesia will become more interesting. Food will be a source of two powers. The first power is from the past to the present through nostalgia. The existence of Taiwanese street food in Indonesia will have deep meaning for the Taiwanese diaspora. Food can make Indonesia's value as a home stronger. While the second power is for the present and the future through gastrodiplomacy. Food can be a big capital to strengthen relations between Indonesia and Taiwan which is not manifested in diplomatic relations. This followed a UN resolution that shifted recognition of China from the ROC to the PRC in 1971. Therefore, the potential of the food approach is expected to create better relations not only government-togovernment but also people-to-people relationships. Departing from this background, this study aims to explore Taiwanese street food as nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy in contemporary Indonesian society.

Method
This study uses a qualitative method with data collection through literature studies and in-depth interviews. The authors use literature studies from secondary data sources such as journals, books, book chapters, theses, and official government websites that the public can access.
Additionally, the authors conducted an online search of several keywords in English and Indonesian, including Taiwanese food and Taiwanese street food, Taiwanese food and Taiwanese street food in Indonesia, nostalgia, food nostalgia, and gastrodiplomacy.
The authors also conducted indepth interviews with the key informants to strengthen the literature studies. The authors realize that in-depth interviews are essential. The interview is a method of producing knowledge of human situations. It provides unique access to the lived world of the subjects, who, in their own words, describe their activities, experiences, and opinions (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2018). The authors use semistructured interviews with related key informants. Four key informants were interviewed online via WhatsApp Call, as follows. Figure 1 Furthermore, all data collected is then analysed using interactive data analysis methods consisting of four stages: data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion (Miles et al., 2019).

Result and Discussion
Before discussing Taiwanese street food from the perspective of nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy, the authors will describe the difference between Taiwanese food and Chinese food. Referring to the popular website 'Difference Between' (2022), apart from country of origin, the differences between Taiwanese food and Chinese food are as follows: first, influences.
Unlike Chinese food, Taiwanese cuisine is influenced by Fujian cuisine and Japanese cuisine. Second, defining features. In Taiwanese cuisine, broth, seafood, noodles, bold flavours, stinky tofu, and various textures are common ingredients. As beverages, usually in the form of bubble tea. Meanwhile, Chinese food is usually in the form of staple foods, including rice, noodles, vegetables, sauces and seasonings.
Third, the level of sweetness. It is common for Taiwanese cuisine to use much sweeter seasonings and sauces. By contrast, the seasonings and sauces used in Chinese food tend to be sour, salty, and tart. Fourth, level of spiciness. Taiwanese cuisine is not overly spicy. In contrast, not all Chinese food is spicy, but food from Sichuan province is particularly spicy. It is important to note that Taiwanese and Chinese food are popular in their respective countries and have been influenced by the food history of their respective nations. After understanding the difference between Taiwanese food and Chinese food, we will analyze Taiwanese street food from nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy.

Food Nostalgia for Taiwanese Diaspora in Indonesia
Nostalgia and food are intertwined universals in human experience (Gotlib, 2018). A sense of nostalgia may suddenly appear in a person's memory, especially if that person has tasted that food from the smell, shape, and atmosphere associated with eating that food in the past. Similarly, Taiwanese diaspora members in Indonesia will feel nostalgic when they eat Taiwanese food. For example, one of the key informants from the Taiwanese diaspora (female, 52 years old) explained: "When I was still in Taiwan, my favourite food was braised pork rice. The taste and smells are so good for me. Then, when I am living in Indonesia and can eat braised pork rice again, I will feel good. I still remember 20 years ago, when I decided to stay in Surabaya, my Taiwanese mom reminded me to cook this food if I miss my mom and missed Taiwanese food. So, I, as Taiwanese diaspora, am personally nostalgic for braised pork rice, but the other Taiwanese diaspora will not have the same feeling as me when they taste the same food." From the statement above, we can conclude that the expression of feelings will differ depending on the lived experiences and memories of each individual. Therefore, eating food for them is not just serving the tongue's desire or filling an empty stomach but as nostalgia that brings their imagination closer to their hometown, childhood memories, family stories, and other wonderful things. For Taiwanese diaspora who live in Indonesia (either to work, study, or have a family) and never return to Taiwan (Lin, 2016), food is essential to socializing with friends, community, family, and relatives. They were connected with the Taiwanese diaspora in their daily life.
Their daily meals in Indonesia consist of the same home-cooked food menu that they prepare when they lived in Taiwan. The area of food consumption is likely to take people back to their past and invoke different senses in a nostalgic mode (Vignolles & Pichon, 2014). One of the key informants from the Taiwanese diaspora (male, 57 years old) stated, "For daily meals, my wife usually cooks Taiwanese food for my family. I also prefer Taiwanese food. Actually, I also like Indonesian food, but I can't eat it every day. Sometimes when I want to eat or if I have a gathering with Indonesian friends, I can eat it. It's okay for me, I can enjoy it." Based upon the informant's statement above, it is clear that this is not only about what he likes to eat, but also represents where he came from and connects his past with his present. As a result, what people choose to eat, how it is prepared, served, and even how they eat are all deeply affected by our cultural heritage (Stein, 1999). It is through food that memories are evoked, and it is through food that you define who you are.
Until 2022, the number of Taiwanese diasporas living in Indonesia has also increased along with the closer relations between Indonesia and Taiwan in various fields, ranging from investment and trade, education and culture, tourism, labour, agricultural technology, and fisheries. The increasing number can be seen from Indonesia's various Taiwanese diaspora communities that can be categorized based on clan, education, culture, occupation, and so on. When their community gathers together, they usually serve a variety of homemade Taiwanese food menus for their activities. So, Taiwanese food can usually be found at the events of the Taiwanese diaspora community and their socio-cultural celebrations.
Besides their personally nostalgic food stories, food can also describe a certain historical period. Although the definition of Taiwanese food is still debated, Taiwanese food has kept its history. Referring to Chen (2010), the history of Taiwanese food can be seen from the evidence of the transformations of Taiwanese cuisine under three different political regimes: first, during the Japanese colonization, Taiwanese cuisine emerged as food for the elite and the food of the colony.
Second, the arrival of the nationalist government and migrants from mainland China transplanted a condensed Chinese culinary map to Taiwan. Taiwanese cuisine became a marginalized Chinese regional cuisine at a much lower I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I  I I I Octastefani & Kusuma, Exploring Taiwanese Street Food in Contemporary Indonesian Society: Between Nostalgia and Gastrodiplomacy 803 level in the culinary hierarchy. As lowerclass food, Taiwanese food was only served in public eating places specializing in night bazaars or sidewalk restaurants (Wu, 2002). Third, after the establishment of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwanese cuisine was imbued with symbolic meanings and began to be viewed as a distinctive national cuisine. This historical story is also reinforced by Chuang (2009), who explained that from 2000 to 2008, President Chen Shui-Bian devoted significant efforts to improving the image of Taiwanese food. For example, the government replaced one traditional Chinese food as a representative of mainland dish: yang-chow fried noodles ( 揚州炒飯, yáng zhōu chǎo fàn), the traditional Taiwanese dish: wǎn gāo (碗糕 ) on the state banquet menu.
By doing so, the President hopes to improve the status of Taiwanese food and enhance the pride of the Taiwanese people. Foods from Taiwan that were previously considered street food and lowlevel foods have now been elevated to official status. In addition, Taiwanese cuisine has become an integral part of national identity in practice as a result of its transformation into a national cuisine. Food as a universal language can effectively reunite people disregarding their differences (Pan, 2020). As a result of their turbulent history in the past, 2010 can be considered the beginning of Taiwanese food getting full support and recognition from the Taiwanese government.

Gastrodiplomacy for Present and Future Relationships
It is common knowledge that Indonesia and Taiwan do not have diplomatic relations. Relationships between the two countries are primarily based on economic and trade matters, which continue to grow each year. As an adherent of the One China policy, Indonesia acknowledged the existence of the ROC when the country still controlled the mainland. However, since 1950 when the ROC withdrew to the island of Taiwan, Indonesia switched to recognizing the PRC as a representation of One China (Anwar, 2019). In this research, the authors do not only review the history, but also it is important to pay attention to how this relationship has the potential to strengthen Taiwan's identity and national branding with its soft power in Indonesia.
As we know that there are many ways a country can visualize its identity, and one of the most tangible is food. Taiwan's Government designed food as their national brand to expand cultural diplomacy. The goal is to export cultural artifacts to the wider world as national dishes. Food is a universal and effective medium for building relationships in various circles, from ordinary people to leaders of nations. Therefore, food is one of the means that can strengthen relations between countries. In banquets, negotiations often occur subtly. In its development, a new term emerged. Culinary diplomacy is more intergovernmental (government to government), while gastrodiplomacy is from the government to the public. Because Taiwan's position as a country is often disputed internationally, Taiwan tends to strengthen its gastrodiplomacy to strengthen its influence on the world community.
Several studies have shown that Taiwan's efforts to promote its image in recent decades have not been able to fully demonstrate the cultural vitality and energy of the democratic process (Pelaggi, 2019). Therefore, Taiwan feels that its diplomacy strategy in international affairs needs to be modified. In the field of diplomacy, a new model has emerged through the medium of food and drink known as gastrodiplomacy. In 2010, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) launched 'Gourmet Taiwan' and made its first strides in gastrodiplomacy through the 'All in Good Taste: Savor the Flavors of Taiwan' program which cost 34.2 million dollars in total (Juanda, 2019;Dewi, 2019). Taiwanese food was the subject of the program, which had a very large budget in order to demonstrate that Taiwanese food differs from Chinese food.
Gourmet Taiwan -a four-year action plan -was also expected to benefit the tourism and service industry, as well as to generate revenue from both global and local markets (Wei, 2017). The introduction of the Taiwanese food program became known as dim sum diplomacy (Suntikul, 2017). By the President of Taiwan at that time, Ma Ying-Jeou, this dim sum diplomacy was made a priority. The President also involves nonstate actors and private industries in promoting Taiwanese cuisine (Rakhmawati, 2018).
In addition, the Taiwanese Government also invested in food dramas themed as a part of gastrodiplomacy strategy to boost Taiwanese food globally. There is no doubt that the government is aware and understands the importance of film as an effective promotion medium and its ability to spread rapidly. There are several food-themed Taiwanese drama series produced, and the following are aired on Indonesian television stations as Love Recipe (料理情人梦, liàolǐ qíngrén mèng) in 2011; Happy Michelin Kitchen ( 幸福三顆星, xìngfú sān kē xīng) in 2012; Pleasantly Surprised (喜歡·一個人, xǐhuān·yīgèrén) in 2014; Love Cuisine (料 理高校生, ryōri kōkōsei) in 2015; and so on. A drama series such as this can be an effective means of promoting Taiwanese food abroad and inspiring foreigners to travel to Taiwan to taste its cuisine directly (Lipsomb, 2019). Following the screening of the film in Indonesia, some Indonesians have expressed an interest in trying Taiwanese cuisine. One Indonesian customer who likes Taiwanese food (female, 22 years old) said: "When I was in elementary school, I remember watching Taiwanese drama series that aired on television. I watched it together with my sister and mom. The story is about food and romance-comedy. At that time, I wanted to try what Taiwanese food looks like. When I first tried Taiwanese food, I immediately liked it, it was delicious. Moreover, nowadays many Taiwanese street foods are selling Taiwanese food and drink." The statement shows that Taiwan's gastrodiplomacy has been successful in Indonesia. In this case, the success of gastrodiplomacy in Indonesia will produce multiple effects such as: first, politically, Indonesia, which is currently trusted to hold the G20 presidency, is a big country with calculated power. Therefore, proximity to Indonesia will be seen as a gateway for closer cooperation with countries in the Southeast Asian region.
Second, economically Indonesia clearly has a promising market share for the Taiwanese food business. With a large population, every country is interested in getting a lot of income from selling its products to Indonesia (Breuer & Kinda, 2018).
Currently, one of the most explosive Taiwanese beverages in the world market, including in Indonesia, is Bubble Milk Tea or more popularly called 'Boba', (Galante & Chen, 2006). Bubble milk tea (珍珠奶茶, zhen zhū nǎi chá), i.e. tea that includes tapioca balls. Boba is Taiwan's soft power tool to enhance national branding (Dewi, 2019). Boba outlets in Indonesia are not only owned by global franchisees such as Chatime, which primarily operate in urban areas. Boba became popular in 2011, and recently, Boba has risen to the top of the foodie trend in Indonesia since mid of 2019 (Albahder, 2019).
Boba's marketing penetration has entered rural areas, usually carried out by local people. Indonesian people are now accustomed to drinking Boba as a daily snack. There are a number of Boba outlets scattered throughout rural areas, some of which were opened by former migrant workers who had returned to Indonesia after their contracts had expired in Taiwan. In an online interview, one of the key informants, who is an ex-migrant woman (50 years old), explained that at the present time, many former migrant women are involved in the manufacturing of Boba. They sell boba because it is popular among Indonesians. The exwomen migrant workers also get profit from selling these drinks. Additionally, their idea to sell boba was influenced by their experience while working in Taiwan, where they saw many Indonesian diasporas in Taiwan who enjoyed boba. As a result of Indonesia's hot climate, they believe that boba will be a best-selling thirst quencher. This statement is evidence of the premise of Rockower (2011), which emphasizes that the best way to win hearts and minds is through the stomach.
Another product from Taiwanese street food that is currently booming in Indonesia is the crispy chicken cutlet, known to Indonesians as chicken 'Shilin'. The name chicken Shilin was originally used by the Shihlin Taiwan Street Food outlet. The name of this snack is inspired by chicken products sold at the Taipei Shihlin Night Market. In the research of Aini and Safira (2021), it is stated that Shihlin Taiwan Street Food is one of the main preferences of Indonesian consumers who always pay attention to the halal label in buying Taiwanese street food products. Since the product has a delicious taste and is packaged in a simple manner, several Indonesian tourists who traveled to Taiwan and ex-women migrant workers have replicated the product for sale in Indonesia. Despite the replication of this product and the establishment of a new brand of this crispy chicken cutlet, the Indonesian market still refers to it as 'chicken shilin'.
So, boba and chicken Shilin are real examples of effective Taiwan's gastrodiplomacy through Taiwanese food and drink. Both are now considered contemporary and modern foods and beverages in Indonesia (Veronica & Ilmi, 2020;Defrancq, 2018). Taiwanese street food has gained a positive reputation in Indonesia in recent years. In general, Taiwanese food can be well accepted by Indonesians as long as it contains "no pork, no lard, and no alcohol" and complies with Halal standards. This is especially true for Muslim customers since the majority of Indonesians (86.9%) are Muslims.
The Taiwanese Government can also capitalize on these opportunities for developing halal tourism and the halal industry in Taiwan (Hsu et al., 2020;Lin, 2020). This soft power effort also creates a reciprocal relationship. Due to the New Southbound Policy (NSP), the Taiwanese government has paid attention to Muslim culture and has attempted to create a more hospitable environment for Muslim needs (Wang et al., 2019). President Tsai Ing-Wen made a breakthrough with the NSP by developing relations abroad and strengthening non-political ties with Indonesia. By utilizing its NSP, Taiwan has the interest to strengthen the people-topeople connection in the region (Yustiningrum et al., 2022); and food is a potential way to connect people-to-people links between Taiwan and Indonesia. This phenomenon proves that gastrodiplomacy is a very effective model of diplomacy for the present and the future.

Conclusion
Based on the analysis above, it can be concluded that: first, Taiwanese street food is a link between the past and the present from a nostalgia perspective. Taiwanese diasporas will also be influenced by their experiences and homeland memories in the past, both personally and historically, with their present living conditions in Indonesia. Personally, food will trigger memory, and it defines who you are. However, Taiwanese food has historically been transformed from what was considered street food to what is considered a national food now. Enhancing Taiwanese identity through the transformation of the image of Taiwanese food is an essential component of strengthening Taiwanese identity.
Second, from gastrodiplomacy perspective. Since 2010 Taiwan has started the gastrodiplomacy breakthrough through its soft power. As one of the potential targets of Taiwan's gastrodiplomacy, Indonesia is considered to have both a political and economic advantage. The best-selling Taiwanese street food in the Indonesian market is Boba and chicken Shilin. Their penetration is not only in urban areas but also reaches rural areas. Boba and chicken Shilin are examples of effective diplomacy through food because they are both seen as contemporary food and beverages.
Using its NSP, food is a potential way to connect people-to-people links between Taiwan and Indonesia. Taiwanese street food proves that gastrodiplomacy is an effective model for connecting present and future relationships. From food nostalgia and gastrodiplomacy, we can learn about the connection of people and nations in the past, the present, and the future.