night market/taiwanese: i still strongly recommend TONGHUA/LINJIANG NIGHT MARKET

TONGHUA/LINJIANG NIGHT MARKET
Linjiang Street between Tong Hua Street and Keelung Road

MRT: Liuzhangli (about 10-15 minute walk) or SYS Memorial Hall (about 20 minute walk)

hours: evening to 2AM

$

Visit reviewed: 5/24/2013

I've had an unusual number of visitors from the states this year. The good thing about it, besides catching up with friends, is that I've had a chance to revisit a bunch of night markets to compare and update my impressions. I get to take them around, point out the good eats and watch their faces as they happen upon the smell of stinkalicious stinky tofu.

While Tonghua Night Market may not be as famous or big as Shilin night market or have as fancy a sign as Raohe (which I think has gone downhill since I reviewed it last), I think it might be my new favorite. It's got great renditions of my favorite night market snacks- ice cream run bing wrap, Taiwanese sausage in sticky rice da chang bao xiao chang, and stinky tofu. Also not to be missed (though I didn't get a photo) are the candied yams that are bite sized pieces of yams with a crunchy, sugary coating and shaved ice. If you haven't eaten dinner, you can also grab a seat at the cheap teppanyaki shops that Tonghua is known for.

While most of my friends call it Tonghua night market, it's actually on Linjiang Street, so some people also refer it as Linjiang Night Market. The main night market area is marked by two entrance signs, so be sure to note which cross street (Keelung or Tong Hua) if you are meeting up with friends.

Remember to look for the block of peanut brittle sitting alone on the vendor's stand to spot the ice cream wrap. Otherwise it's really easy to miss if you can't read the signage. Once you place an order, the vendor springs into action to make fresh peanut brittle shavings to go with the ice cream and cilantro (yes! cilantro!)

The ice cream at this vendor was sorbet-like with pineapple, red bean and taro flavors and was not too sweet or watered down (I had a bad one at Sanxia last month) and the wrapper was paper thin. I recommend you try it with the cilantro, it really works with the flavor and texture of the peanut shavings. FAVORITE!

This was one of the first times I've seen so many savory options for the red bean cake. Not necessarily enticing to me, but unique.

This is what I'm talking about. Sweet grilled Taiwanese sausages shoved into a grilled sticky rice sausage, cut in half to be the bun. In Chinese, this Taiwanese "hot dog" is called Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang or Big Sausage wrapping the Little Sausage. Love it. LOVE IT! Not the most healthiest snack, but hey, I only night market it once in awhile.

You can get it with different toppings and sauces, but I prefer the original flavor with some pickled vegetables- not too much other craziness.

So if you're visiting Taipei this summer and making the night market rounds, be sure to include Tonghua on your list (I gotta go back and explore it some more too). Especially if you're staying near 101, as this is the closest night market to it. 

night market/not taipei: i still strongly recommend LUO DONG NIGHT MARKET

WEI JIE HEART TAPIOCA 魏姐包心粉圓 
at LUO DONG NIGHT MARKET 羅東夜市 
at Chongcheng Rd. and Xindong Rd.
Yilan, Taiwan

$

website: Weiheart.com

Kid friendliness: kids will love the shaved ice and other street snacks

Visit reviewed: 8/19/2014
Previous review: 10/2011

If you try one thing at the Luo Dong Night Market, try this dessert- tapioca pearls stuffed with red beans next to scoops of shaved ice coated in honey and condensed milk (NT$40). It's the one thing that I remembered eating in Yilan years ago and the one thing I wanted to get when I came back again. SO GOOD!

Each glistening tapioca pearl is slightly more oversized than you'd usually get in your boba milk tea, about the size of a marble, and wrapped around a red bean in the center. The name bao xing fen yuan for this type of tapioca pearl in Chinese is so fitting since the word 包 (bao) means package or bundle and 心 (xing) means heart and so each one has a red bean heart bundled inside. 

The funny thing is that I prefer the shop that I first had it from- the purple signed Wei Jie Heart Tapioca (or Wei Jie Bao Xin Fen Yuan)- but now there's a competing pink signed franchise, started by Wei Jie's founder's ex-husband. They even have shops right next to each other at the Luo Dong Night Market, as well as sit down shops throughout the streets around the night market. I must have passed by two or three on the way into the night market as well as when we walked out the other direction.

The boba/shaved ice combinations at Wei Jie are more simple, which is what I prefer, while Jing Yuan Ji (晶圆极) has different colored tofu pudding, flavors and combinations that seemed almost too much compared to the simpler combination of the creamy shaved ice, honey, condensed milk and chewy bao xin tapioca pearls.

If this looks delicious to you, the great thing is that you don't have to trek all the way to Luo Dong to try it. There are Wei Jie Bao Xin Fen Yuan dessert shops in Taipei, including at the Tonghua/LinJiang night market. There's no English on the menu, but there is a menu with photos of each of the different combinations and I just pick the one with two scoops of shaved ice and boba on the side.

Another great dessert pick at Luo Dong is the peanut ice cream wrap (burrito!)(NT$35) near the front of the night market. You could totally miss it, but my radar for it zoomed in on the block of peanut brittle.

Deliciousness for only NT$35!!! If you've missed my previous posts about this, they basically take fresh shavings of the mega block of peanut candy and layer that with three scoops of ice cream (taro and pineapple in this case) and the optional cilantro. I totally recommend getting it with the cilantro, but you can choose to leave it out if you are not adventurous. It's wrapped up like a burrito and it's ready to eat on the go.

The last thing I tried that day for was stinky tofu french fries (for the first time!) It's pretty brilliant since stinky tofu isn't the easiest thing to eat and walk at the same time, with the juices dripping out. This way it's finger food and easier to share. The weird thing about this stall though is that you have to choose a flavor, as if stinky tofu wasn't a strong enough flavor on its own. I think some of the flavors included cheese or plum powder or thai sweet and sour sauce, which is what I think I ended up getting if something didn't get lost in translation.

I haven't seen stinky tofu fries in Taipei yet, but I'm sure it's somewhere or will make its way here eventually. 

Luo Dong Night Market is about an hour away from Taipei, and really huge, sprawling over different streets.  And as you can see from the photos, it's also open during the day- we ate up a storm after lunch. It's a good alternative to those who've already tried the more famous Keelung Night Market which is only one long walkway. Luo Dong is an awesome night market for those wanting to explore outside of the city- you can make it a day trip by visiting the Lanyang Museum in Yilan or making a reservation for Cherry Valley duck at Silks Place.

night market: i strongly recommend SHIH LIN NIGHT MARKET

SHIH LIN NIGHT MARKET
Between end of Wenlin Rd., Jihe Rd. and Zhongshan N. Rd.
(near the movie theaters)

MRT: Jian Tan

$

afternoon to 2-3am

Wikipedia

date reviewed: 11/24/2006



Back in the 90s when I used to be a visitor rather than a part time resident of Taipei, I would always make sure to visit Shih Lin night market sometime during my trip. There is so much to see, eat, shop- you could spend all night fighting the crowds on a busy weekend night and not even cover half of it. One of the most popular destinations to buy souvenirs and bargain for goodies and eat everything and anything- it can also be a great people-watching spot as you'll find everyone there- students, families, couples, tourists.

A few years ago, they moved the main eating area to a enclosed space near the MRT Jian Tan exit, but disjointed from the main part of the night market. If you are looking for stinky tofu, oyster omelette, giant slabs of fried chicken or sausages wrapped in sticky rice sausages (YUM!!)- head over there (and I'll return to review another day!)



But you can also find lots of cheap good eats inside the main section of the night market- specifically the side near the movie theaters where there is a cluster of stands and shops, which is where we went on this night.

One of my favorite snacks is the pan fried dumplings (NT$10)- first steamed in this giant pot and then the bottom is fried to a delicious crispness. I think that the prices are the same as when I first ate them almost 10 years ago!

pork and green onion filling

There are about 3-4 bao places- they are all pretty good, but there is one located next to the shaved ice place that usually has a line which is my favorite. The bao is almost too hot to hold and thankfully it's too big to eat in one bite so you can enjoy all the bites after the first. The skin is thicker than xiao long bao, with a steamed doughy texture accompanied by the crispy bottom. The ground pork is tender and juicy, so watch out for the juices dripping down your chin or to your shirt!

Jien bao or pan fried dumplings. Buy 10 get 1 free!
NT$10 for one??!?!?! YUM!

I love shaved ice. I rarely find good shaved ice at the malls- instead you find it at the night market with the whirring machines and big blocks of ice and larger selection of toppings. They were out of some of my favorite toppings (rice mochi balls) so I opted for a red bean with evaporated milk (NT$40) and my cousin had green bean with evaporated milk (NT$40).

Hong doh/lyu doh bing or red bean/green bean ice

When it was brought to our table, I was pleasantly surprised at how huge it was!! It's definitely enough to share with a few people and yes, it's just ice, but you'd be surprised the varying sizes of shaved ice you'll get for the same price at different places.

There's something about the crunchy ice and the mushy beans and the overly sweet milk that combines into a irresistible treat. The ice here is shaved the way that I like- not too fine and not too coarse. Some places have shaved ice that seem like you are eating the ice from your soda, and some have powdery ice that melts too quickly- this one falls somewhere in between.

They also have aiyu bing or lemon jelly ice, with boba and extra lemon juice (NT$40). It's more soupy than like shaved ice and the extra lemon gives it an extra sour punch.

You just wander around and navigate the crowds to find what you like. Since there's not a lot of English signs, but everything is on display, you can usually get by with just pointing and finger signs if you don't speak fluent Chinese. There's also lots of food on sticks, fruits, sausages, noodles, roasted corn and even a stand offering wraps made with freshly made naan and Indian flavored chicken, beef and lamb kabobs.

sausages

As the biggest night market in Taipei, it is PACKED on weekends, sometimes you can barely squeeze through the aisles through the people. But it's also a great place to go if you want to hang out- it's open late sometimes until 1am - 2am (but remember to head out earlier if you need to catch the MRT). Some shops have a place to sit, but most of the stands in this area you eat and walk. If you need to sit down, head over towards the enclosed area. If you want to avoid the crowd, go during the day, on a weekday or earlier in the evening. Just exit the Jian Tan/Chien Tan MRT exit and look for the crowds- or ask the taxi driver to take you to "Shih Lin yeh sih." (yeh sih= night market!) If you only have a few days in Taipei, definitely try and save one night to check it out!

revisited/night market: i strongly recommend RAOHE NIGHT MARKET

Raohe night market is one of the most popular and oldest night markets in Taipei. A short subway or taxi ride from Xinyi or DaAn districts, Raohe has two bright signs marking the front and back main entrances of the night market.

I had what I thought was some mediocre food the last time I visited Raohe with some out of town friends, so it's been a few years since I've had the urge to revisit. Thanks to some new friends from Singapore who chose it as our meeting spot, I fell in love with the popular flaky pepper buns, the grilled oyster mushrooms, mango shaved ice and found a vendor serving one of my favorite night market snacks, the ice cream "burrito" with peanut candy shavings and cilantro. 

The pepper buns at the entrance of the Raohe night market and can be spotted by a winding queue of people waiting and a team of quick fingered people wrapping minced pork and green onions in doughy balls to be cooked in tandoor like ovens. The result is a pepper bun that is too hot to hold, a crunchy crust on the bottom and peppery and sweet meatball inside the bun. It's worth coming to Raohe just for this. 

Here's a glance at some of the other stands I spotted at Raohe. What's your favorite thing to eat at this night market? 

 

Rubber duck cotton candy 

Get your Taiwanese sausage from this vendor.. The first one we got from another vendor was so bad- pretty much just fat inside a sausage casing and the first time I had to throw something away that I bought at the night market. Taiwanese sausage should be firm and slightly chewy, on the sweet side and not all fat!!! 

Yeaaa. Favorite!