night market/taiwanese: i strongly recommend HUA GUANG JIE STREET EATS

HUA GUANG JIE STREET EATS
Hua Guang Road and Jhong Jheng Road intersection
Shih Lin District

Sausage Vendor
(02) 2833-1616

$

Kid friendliness: not a lot of seating areas, most offered are cramped and along the sidewalk.

Visit reviewed: 11/23/2008



If you are a stinky tofu lover, you'll have to try this 20-ish year old stinky tofu vendor in Shih Lin that my friend declares has the best stinky tofu in town. Sit down on the side of the sidewalk, order large or small, with or without "la jiou" or chili sauce, and take-in the fried pungent aromas. This location is not as crazy a scene as the Shih Lin night market and it's a quicker stop since all the basic offerings are clustered together in a convenient vendor hopping maze.

While I can't say that not all stinky tofu isn't stinky, I have to say that fried stinky tofu is a smell that has grown on me in the past few years. It makes my mouth water because I think of the crispy hot tofu and the strong flavors and I actually like it, especially with the pickled cabbage. I can't stand the non-fried crazily stinky variety though.



The vendor right next to the stinky tofu also has some good "ba wan" and tempura, but you'll find out that you have to change seats if you want to eat it. You can't sit at the stinky tofu seats and eat the neighboring vendor's food.

There are street vendor rules, you know. LOL

If stinky tofu isn't your thing, there's plenty other of street eats to find on this busy intersection of Hua Guang Road and Jhong Jheng Road in Shih Lin. You can't leave without trying the grilled sausage- you get a half of a large sausage, sliced up for NT$60. Chinese sausage is slightly sweet and fatty, but so good.



This stand is 10 plus years old and watching the sausages slowly rotate on the sausage ferris wheel is slightly mesmerizing, if only the glass weren't so greasy.



Also good are the "tsui jian bao" or the steamed buns with crispy bottoms for NT$10 each. They only have one filling though and that's a slightly mushy pork and cabbage filling. Personally, I prefer the "tsui jian bao" at the Shih Lin Night Market.




A bit further away, there's "do-hwa" or soy tofu desserts, "ai yu" lemon jelly and drinks, freshly roasted peanuts, fried items on a stick, pig's blood on a stick and squid vermicelli. The vendors on the far end of the corner seem a bit deserted, so I'd stick where everyone else is crowding around.





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taiwanese/night market: i strongly recommend LONGSHAN TEMPLE street eats

LONGSHAN TEMPLE STREET EATS
Guangzhou and Xichang Streets

$

Kid friendliness: Not as crowded as some of the other night markets. Lots to eat.

Visit reviewed: 12/27/2008



I rarely get out to this part of Taipei, so it was an adventure eating around Longshan Temple with my aunt and cousins. She led the way and we followed, so forgive me if the descriptions of where and what are a little bit meandering.

We ate a lot of classic Taiwanese street eats that you can find at most night markets- sausages, ba-wan, squid vermicelli, stinky tofu- but had to go to different streets and stores to get it- which might be more confusing if you aren't familiar with the area. It's not a localized one stop all under one roof like Shih Lin Night Market or one way long street like Rao He Night Market, but if you have time to explore, you can find some delicious and unique snacks like the peanut brittle ice cream wrap with cilantro.

If you are especially adventurous, you can go to Snake Alley, where you can drink snake's blood or see caged up snakes and other weird things. See what this Taipei Times writer had to say about the area.

First stop: Sausages or "hsiang chang"- strongly recommended



If you are standing with 85 Degrees C Cafe behind you outside the MRT Station stop, you'll spot a little vendor across the street to the left grilling sausages. Taiwanese sausages are slightly sweet, sometimes served in a sticky rice bun, often served on a stick.



If you can spot this vendor, pick up a stick for NT$25.



Second stop: Ba-wan - recommended



After we picked up our sausages to go, we headed down the alley adjacent to 85 Degrees C and ended up a small shop that sold ba-wan and got it to-go. "Ba-wan" (NT$35) is a hockey puck sized snack with a thick glutunous rice skin and diced meat and bamboo inside. It's often topped with a sweet red or brown sauce that completes the taste, although the whole thing is kind of mysterious.



It's fried in a vat of oil, but it isn't crispy. It's also steamed, but most times you'll it fried and then the oil squeezed out.



Third stop: HSIANG JIA CHI YU MI FUN



Originally I thought this was squid rice noodle soup, but after asking a friend to translate, it turns out it was swordfish rice noodle soup (NT$30)! Or pronounced "chi yu mi fun tang." I thought it was decent, but not something that I'd seek out. They wanted to order some other stuff, but they were sold out.



There's an assortment of other things available, but it's hard to tell what if you don't read Chinese. The restaurant was also not very happy to see that we brought ba-wan from another store (although they don't sell it themselves), but still let us eat it there and asked us not to bring over other stuff again. I liked the ba-wan better than the rice noodle, and the ba-wan just above average.



Fourth stop: Stinky tofu or "cho do fu"



After we ate, we ended up walking around the empty night market area where they sold clothes, dvds/cds, jewelry and other things. I picked up some stinky tofu (NT$40) to go and it was hot crispy and came with a side of pickled cabbage. I think there was a time when I was a kid that I didn't like stinky tofu, but I've come to be quite fond of it. I can only eat it fried though- I still can't eat the regular stinky tofu.




After we had walked through this section, we crossed the street and I took a picture of the signs so I would remember what intersection it was!





Fifth stop: SHAVED ICE or "chua bing"



The shaved ice shop was pretty busy- with the right side serving shaved ice and the left side serving hot desserts, such as red bean soup.




Somehow I wasn't crazy about the shaved ice. Part of the reason I love shaved ice to eat the condensed sweetened milk on top of the ice and I guess it landed on top of the toppings instead of the ice and quickly became mush.

Speaking of mush, I had never seen this before, but apparently Oatmeal Shaved Ice (or "Mai Jiao Chua Bing" is another variety of popular shaved ice. I tried a bite, but I just couldn't get into it.






The sign says they've been around since 1920 and this area is one of the older areas of Taipei. I didn't know this until doing some reading online, but you can sort of feel the difference, as the other night markets just have different energy. Even outside the MRT station, you can spot various older locals hanging around and random city signs prohibiting a laundry list of things.



Some are kind of amusing, like "No private desks or chairs," but others like "No urinating" are just kind of gross. The nearby Snake Alley is a famous tourist spot, but has reportedly been "cleaned up"- although from my memory of going over 9 years ago, it's a bit scuzzy and creepy. I think I remember seeing a roasted bat on a stick among things like the poor snakes in cages, as well as hearing that the nearby seedy area was considered the Red Light District.



Sixth stop: Peanut and ice cream wrap or "hua shen bing"- strongly recommend

And last but definitely not least, we ate the peanut brittle shavings and ice cream wrap. I almost didn't get it since I was so full, but I'm glad I did. It was a million times better than the shaved ice and more unique as well.



Read the full review here.

So that's Longshan Temple street eats. Exploring the area is an adventure in itself. Anyone have any other recs for the area?

taiwanese/dessert: i strongly recommend PEANUT WRAP WITH ICE CREAM

PEANUT BRITTLE SHAVINGS WRAP WITH ICE CREAM
near Longshan Temple
Guangzhou Street and Xichang Street

nearest MRT: Longshan Temple

$

Kid friendliness: might be messier than a cone, but there is a plastic bag to hold it all in

Visit reviewed: 11/27/2008



Peanut brittle shavings + ice cream + cilantro + spring roll wrapper = deliciousness

This is one of the weirdest things I've found as a Taiwanese street eat- maybe because I grew up familiar with smells, sights and tastes of oyster omelettes, stinky tofu, shaved ice or oyster vermicelli with pig intestines, pig's blood on a stick so that those things are all part of my encyclopedia of Taiwanese food and therefore no longer weird to me.

But who would have ever thought to come up with shaving a huge block of peanut brittle, sticking it inside a thin crepe-like wrap with pineapple, taro and peanut ice cream, and then sprinkling it with cilantro? But guess what, it actually works and after eating it I kept thinking about it for days.

I had heard about it before after someone asked me about it through the blog, but it was my first time seeing it in person. If you run across it in other places (I've heard Danshui), let us know where. In Chinese, it's called "Hua shen bing" as a sweet counterpart to the "run bing" which you might have seen.

First, I don't know if this is the permanent spot for the vendor, but I found it in front of this restaurant called "Xi Jiou Ah Jiou Lu Riou Fan" or roughly translated "Four Corner Mr. Nine Braised Meat Rice" on Guangzhou Street.




One wrap is only NT$35 or you could get it without the ice cream for NT$25, but I definitely recommend it with the ice cream.



They shave this huge block of peanut brittle with a wooden thing and then put the shavings on top of the wrap.



They offer pineapple, taro and peanut and you get three scoops and get to choose. We got one of each, but next time, I would just get pineapple with more cilantro. The tartness went well with the sweetness and flakiness of the carmelized peanuts and fragrant cilantro. The peanut and taro flavors were not as strong. You can get it without the cilantro too, but it wouldn't be the same- I guess the most similar flavors I could liken it to is when you have cilantro in mango or pineapple salsa. Same thing, right?



You get it all wrapped up and it looks like a run bing or spring roll. Eat it fast though the ice cream didn't really melt as fast as I thought it might.



Mmmm. You can spy the tiny bit of cilantro on the side as we asked for less cilantro in case we didn't like it all together. The peanut brittle shavings are definitely much better than just ground peanuts with sugar which is found in quite a few Taiwanese street eats like run bing and gua bao because it has a crystal like texture that is a great contrast to the softness of the ice cream. I guess you could call it a dessert crepe or burrito or spring roll.



Look for part 2 of this night in a separate blog- more of street eats near Longshan Temple!


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night market: i recommend RAOHE STREET NIGHT MARKET

RAOHE STREET NIGHT MARKET
near Song Shan train station

hours: afternoon to early AM

$


It's so great having relatives in town because it gives me an excuse to go out to my favorite touristy spots, and sometimes even go somewhere new. I had never been to the Raohe Street Night Market, but my mom says it is a favorite of my dad and grandparents. Heading into the entrance, we almost got lost in a group of Japanese tourists.



We went after dinner around 830pm or so on a Saturday night and it was crowded, but not like Shih Lin night market where you barely have room to move.

There are the typical Taiwanese small eats- oyster omelettes, herbal soups, stinky tofu, roasted corn, food on sticks, fruits, candies, noodles, as well as some unusual treats.

I didn't get the chance to try it- but they had something I'd never seen before- a super long curly chip, basically a spiral carved out of a potato and deep fried. They place it on a stick for you to eat and season it with your choice of seasoned salt.




I did get to try a lamb wrap (NT$80) from the Allah Din, after spotting their grilled kabobs, which was fairly close to the entrance. The guy making the kabobs called out to the crowds in Chinese to try it and spoke a little English as well.


the paratha bakes quickly

They "baked" the fresh paratha (Indian flatbread) and you could choose lamb, beef or pork for your filling. The signs were only in Chinese and I ordered lamb, thinking I'd get the kabob. To my surprise, I got minced lamb to which I tried to tell them that I wanted the kabob meat. They said that what they were giving me was better and that I didn't order the kabob, I ordered the wrap, even though I saw them wrapping a chicken kabob meat in the wrap for someone else. I ended up just deciding to try it.

Look for this Allah Din sign

It was not bad- it was warm and spicy. The paratha (Indian flatbread) was chewier than naan which is usually crispy and chewy. They added pickled carrots and cucumbers which gave it a nice crunch and added the green sauce which gave it some heat. I would love to try the tikka chicken next time. There's also seating in the back, if you want to sit down and order a plate. I've never seen this in the states, but I've seen it at the Shih Lin night market as well (with English signs). The guy at Shih Lin also has more room to toss up his paratha bread (kind of like pizza throwing) which usually draws a crowd.

Indian burrito

I also shared some shaved ice (NT$50). If you've never had shaved ice, you can usually choose up to four toppings from an assortment of toppings or just choose one. My sister liked the powdery texture of the ice, sort of like eating fresh fallen snow.

choose from toppings like lemon jelly, grass jelly, rice mochi balls, boba balls, fruit, peanuts, red bean, green bean, pudding, taro, passion fruit sauce and more!

Although the ice wasn't enough for us, the owners gave us more shaved ice when we asked for it without any trouble. One of the women who worked there was very pregnant and it turned out she was five days away from her due date.

We chose boba, rice mochi balls, aiyu lemon jelly and red bean with evaporated milk on top.They also served sweet tofu dessert and a crispy flaky looking dish.

does anyone know what this is? salty or sweet?

If you don't eat your shaved ice fast enough, especially in hot weather, it will melt into a puddle like this.

Once you walk into Raohe night market, you basically walk down a LONG row of eateries and shops until you exit the other side. There's also quite a few NT$10 shops so you could end up with a bag full of things before you leave. Come with an empty stomach and you can hop around the different stands to find your spot to sit among the crowds.