Coffin bread — guancai ban in Mandarin — is one of Tainan's signature street foods, invented here in the 1940s at the old Shennong Street market area. The dish is exactly what the name suggests: a thick rectangular block of deep-fried toast, hollowed out, filled with a creamy chowder-like mixture of chicken, seafood, or mushroom, and served with the top placed back on like a lid on a coffin. It's richer and heavier than most Taiwanese street food, and one serving is usually enough.
The most reliable place to find it is around the old Chenghuang Temple market area and along the pedestrian lanes of the old city. Several stalls have been in operation for decades and take the dish seriously. It is sometimes served with a sweet dipping sauce alongside. Go hungry and eat it freshly made — coffin bread does not improve as it cools.