Coffin bread (棺材板) is a thick slice of toast, deep-fried until crisp, hollowed out and filled with a creamy, Western-style soup of chicken or seafood. It was invented in Tainan in the 1940s, it is crisp outside and soft inside, and yes, the name comes from its shape. It is one of the city's most fun things to eat, and the original shop is still in the same market where the dish began.
What it is
Travel Tainan, the city government's tourism site, describes it as an East-meets-West dish: a thick slice of toast fried crisp, then hollowed out and filled with a cream soup. At Chihkan, the original shop, SuperTaste describes a filling of flour cooked until fragrant, then thickened with milk and stock, with chicken, squid, onion, peas and carrot.
The story, as the sources tell it
Coffin bread began in Kangle Market (康樂市場), a market that was lively during the Japanese era and is still widely known by its Japanese nickname, Sakariba (沙卡里巴), which means "a popular spot." According to the Taipei Times, the owner of a shop there, Hsu Liu-yi (許六一), came up with the idea in the 1940s by pairing Western bread with chicken liver, a popular ingredient at the time. The dish was first called chicken liver bread (雞肝板). The shop itself dates its start to 1942 and has been run by three generations.
The new name came from a visitor. Travel Tainan says a National Cheng Kung University professor noticed that its square shape looked like a coffin, and the name stuck. Later, chicken and squid replaced the liver in the filling.
A coffin is not the luckiest thing to name your lunch after, so the Taipei Times notes that some vendors now write it as 官財板. Guan (官) means an official post and cai (財) means wealth, which turns the same sound into a wish for success.
Sakariba was a busy food area in its day: SuperTaste also traces Tainan's stir-fried eel to a cook who worked there. → Tainan eel noodles
How to order and eat it
- Order 棺材板. Split one if you are eating your way through the day.
- Eat it hot, while the toast is still crisp and the filling is soft.
- Think of it as a snack between other dishes rather than a full meal.
Where to try it
Chihkan Coffin Bread (赤崁棺材板) is the original, inside the Sakariba section of Kangle Market. SuperTaste calls it the true originator of coffin bread; the Taipei Times names the shop Shenchang Old Chikan (盛場老赤嵌). Press listings give different opening hours and closing days, so check Google Maps before you go. No. 180, Kangle Market, Zhongzheng Rd., West Central District.
You will also find coffin bread at Tainan's night markets. → Tainan night markets
Good to know
- Order: 棺材板 (coffin bread).
- Allergies: contains seafood, poultry, dairy and gluten.
- Where: Kangle Market (Sakariba), Zhongzheng Road, West Central District. Hours vary, so check Google Maps.
Hungry for more? → What to eat in Tainan
Sources
What coffin bread is, the professor and the allergens from Travel Tainan, Tainan City Government. Hsu Liu-yi, chicken liver bread, Sakariba and the lucky 官財板 name from the Taipei Times. Chihkan's filling, three generations and address from SuperTaste, and its 1942 start and the change from liver to chicken and squid from SuperTaste. Checked October 2026.