How to Order Luwei: Pick Your Staple, Vegetables, and Toppings in Order, Then Give Your Spice and Sauce Requests All at Once
When you pick luwei, start with one staple, then two vegetables, and keep toppings to three or fewer. Before you walk in, decide whether you're eating in or taking it out. Before you pay, check your basket, then tell the shop your spice level, green onion and garlic, whether you want things cut, how much broth, and whether you need utensils, all in one go. At a shop you haven't been to before, ask how they charge first.
Translated from the Traditional Chinese original.
Pick your luwei in this order: one staple, two vegetables, and three toppings or fewer, and your basket won't keep filling up as you go. Before you walk in, decide whether you're eating in or taking it out. Before you pay, look down and check your basket once, then tell the shop your spice level, green onion and garlic, whether you want things cut, how much broth, and whether you need utensils, all in one go. At a shop you haven't been to before, ask how they charge first, and start with mild for the spice level.
The story in this article is adapted from common everyday situations, and the names are made up. It's just one way to organize a daily routine, so adjust it to fit your own situation.
Xiao Qing's dinner: she often found out she'd picked too much only at the register
Xiao Qing works as a sales assistant at a trading company. She lives alone, and her MRT ride home after work takes forty minutes. Right outside the station there's a self-serve luwei shop with fridges packed full and stacks of plastic baskets and tongs beside them. On weekdays, she gets dinner there almost every night.
The trouble always came at the register. Her basket would have three kinds of balls, two kinds of dried tofu, and a pack of noodles, with only a small handful of cabbage for vegetables, and the total was more than she had in mind. When she opened it at home, the noodles had soaked up all the broth and there were more balls than vegetables. She'd get tired of it halfway through and put the rest in the fridge.
One night the person behind her in line told her to hurry up. Xiao Qing panicked and grabbed two more items. That night she wrote one short line in the notes app on her phone: one staple, two vegetables, three toppings, then go pay.
What Xiao Qing wanted was simple. She didn't want to stress over buying dinner from scratch every single day.
Where things tend to go wrong in front of the fridge
The fridge is laid out shelf by shelf, and every item looks small. Grabbing one more doesn't seem to matter, but keep going and the basket fills up. Balls and dumplings are often near the front, while vegetables and staples tend to be further back. If you start from the shelf closest to the door, there isn't much room left in your basket by the time you reach the back.
Eating in and taking out need to be thought about separately. If you eat in, you eat as soon as it's cooked. If you take it out, there's still a walk ahead, and noodles and glass noodles sitting in broth go soft easily, so the texture is a lot worse.
Sauces and spice level are also easy to put off until you're at the counter. When the shop asks "spicy or not, green onion and garlic?" you blurt out an answer on the spot, then find out at home it's too spicy or too salty and just have to eat it anyway.
How the shop charges can also trip you up. Some shops charge per item, some weigh it, and some charge one price per basket. If you don't know the rules, it's hard to guess roughly what your basket will cost.
None of this has to do with willpower. There's just too much information in front of you and too little time. If you make half your decisions before you walk in, all that's left at the fridge is "which one," not "how many."
Staple, vegetables, toppings: five steps in order
Split a bowl of luwei into three slots: staple, vegetables, and toppings. You can adjust the amounts to how hungry you are and your budget, but the order stays the same every time.
Step 1: Before you walk in, decide whether you're eating in or taking out
If you're eating in, you can go with noodles for your staple since you'll eat it right away and don't have to worry about it going soft. If you're taking it out and it's a while before you get home, pick a staple you've had before and know you're still okay with after it sits for a bit, or ask at the register if they can pack the broth separately. Decide this outside the door, and you won't stand there hesitating at the staples section.
Step 2: Get your staple first, just one
Pick up a basket and head to the staples section first. Glass noodles, yi mein, flat rice noodles, ji si noodles, guo shao noodles, just pick one. Once the staple is in your basket, you have a base for how big this bowl is, and you're less likely to overdo it with what you add after.
Step 3: Two vegetables, one leafy and one something else
At the vegetable section, pick one leafy green first, like cabbage, bok choy, or water spinach. For the second one, go with a different texture, like baby corn, enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, or kelp. Put the two together and you get some variety in color and texture, so it doesn't taste the same from the first bite to the last.
Step 4: Three toppings or fewer, two regulars and one rotating
Toppings are where it's easiest to go overboard, so set the limit at three first. Xiao Qing always gets two things she eats often. One is a tofu product (dried tofu, bai ye tofu, or tofu skin), and the other is duck blood tofu or rice blood cake. The third spot is saved for whatever she feels like trying that day, rotating between tianbula, fish cake slices, oden, or one kind of ball. There's a little something new every time, and the basket doesn't end up being all balls.
Step 5: Check your basket at the counter, then give all your requests
When you get to the counter, look down at your basket first and check it against "staple one, vegetables two, toppings three." Put back anything extra. Then give all your requests in one go. Here are the things shops usually ask about, so you can have your answers ready:
| What the shop usually asks | What you can have ready to say |
|---|---|
| Spice level | Not spicy, mild, or medium. The first time at a shop, say mild |
| Green onion, garlic, pickled mustard greens | Which ones you want, and whether to pack them separately |
| Cut or not | They usually ask about dried tofu, bai ye tofu, and tianbula |
| Broth | For takeout, more or less broth, and whether it can be packed separately |
| Utensils | If you have utensils at home, say you don't need them |
Save these lines in your phone's notes app, glance at them while you're in line, and when it's your turn just read them off. It's easier for the shop, and you won't get flustered by the questions.
Situations you'll still run into, even following the steps
Someone's waiting behind you and you get nervous and grab things at random. In that case, get your staple first. Once the staple is set, the other slots have something to go on. If you really don't have time to think, just get the same combo as last time. "The basket I got last time" makes a really handy default.
You want to switch everything up every time. Only rotate the third topping, and keep the other two the same. Jot down in your notes which ones you've tried, and next time just try the next one on the list, so you don't have to compare everything all over again in front of the fridge.
You wrote the list but forget to look at it. Take a screenshot of the list and keep it somewhere easy to find in your photos, or just remember one short phrase, "one, two, three," meaning one staple, two vegetables, three toppings.
Buying with a friend. The easiest way is for each of you to get your own basket. If you want to share one basket, agree on each person's staple first, and at the register ask the shop if they can pack it in separate bags.
Walking into a stall you've never been to. The first time, just ask, "Do you charge per item, by weight, or one price per basket?" Once you know the rules, it's easier to figure out how much to put in each of the three slots, and you won't need to ask next time. Fill the three slots with common items for now, and say mild or not spicy for the spice level. After you've eaten there once and know how this shop tastes, switch the rotating slot to the shop's specialty next time.
The same idea works for other meals out too
After following that one line a few times, Xiao Qing spent less time standing in front of the fridge and stopped freezing up at the register. Later she brought the same idea to bento shops and noodle shops. She decides how many slots there are and how many items go in each one first, so once she's there she only has to pick what goes in.
At a noodle shop, you can put together a meal with the "one main, one soup, one side" way of ordering. At a buffet, take a lap before you get in line and start picking, and you can check out the five steps for filling your buffet plate. Eating hot pot on your own, you can also order by broth, main platter, then add-ons.
If you'd like more practical life tips like this, like how to order when eating out, how to plan your time after work, or how to plan your weekend, feel free to subscribe to our life tips. Each one is a set of steps, so just pick the one that suits you and start trying it.
FAQ
Q: Do I have to stick to one staple, two vegetables, and three toppings for luwei?
These numbers are just a starting point, so you have something to go on in front of the fridge. If you don't eat much, two toppings is fine too. If you're sharing with a friend, get one more vegetable. Set your numbers before you start picking, then just follow the order.
Q: Can I use the same steps for cold luwei?
Yes. Cold luwei also has staples, vegetables, and toppings to choose from. The difference is it isn't cooked and usually just gets mixed with sauce. For step 5, still have your sauce, spice level, and green onion and garlic decided ahead of time, and tell the counter all at once.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Products mentioned are foods or cosmetics, not medicines, and have no medical effect. If you have a specific health condition, please consult a doctor or dietitian. Orders ship within Taiwan only.