Taiwan night market snacks 台湾夜市小吃

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I'm in Taiwan for a few days and tonight visited the Ningxia Night Market 宁夏夜市 to enjoy a moveable feast. (Please excuse me for not being able to type the 繁体字 characters in this browser.) It's not one of Taipei's bigger and more famous markets, and it doesn't draw a lot of foreign visitors. But it had the appeal of being only a short walk from where I was staying. The night was not too hot, with only a little intermittent rain.

 

Here's some of what I found during a couple hours of highly enjoyable grazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First stop was this stand, where the grill lady/proprietor filled half seashells with chopped scallops and oysters, mixed with cheese and shredded vegetables, all topped with an oven-roasted breadcrumb dressing. You could have a small one for 40 TWD or a large one for 50. She dusted it to order with a spice mix according to your preference. I had it hot. She put it in a paper basket and gave me a plastic spoon. Wow, what a great blend of flavors. I became an instant fan.

 

Since I live in Kunming, which is way inland, I'd been missing seafood and have made it a focus of my Taiwan eating experiences. I sampled several straight forward fresh seafood items tonight, as well as some exotics.

 

 

 

You could have fish and shellfish grilled, deep fried, sauteed on a griddle, or cooked into a soup. I passed on the small oyster pancakes that are so popular here, because I had them in Taizhong less than 24 hours before.

 

Next stop was for these interesting griddle-balls, which were made of a dough that was filled with mixed seafood and spices. They got browned on the  outside as they cooked. It was one of the stands that I would have tried blind, without any idea of what they were selling, simply because the line was several times longer than of the other nearby stands. They lived up to their reputation, moist on the inside and with a crispy exterior. Mine were dusted with chili powder, though you could have had curry instead.

 

 

 

Fresh fruit was everywhere, some sold as slices, some blended into juice according to your specs. I saw sugar cane and coconut and pineapple. Several vendors even had fresh durian for sale.

 

 

 

I paused a long time at a place selling large deep-fried buns stuffed with seafood. My hunger had been sated, but my eyes were still talking to my mouth and making it water. I managed to hold off, though I really wanted to try one. Maybe next time.

 

 

 

And then there was another place where I lingered and watched a long time, struggling valiantly, but finally succumbed to temptation. By now I was really wishing I had skipped the chicken wings. They were great tasting, but nothing truly unusual. What had me talking to myself here now was grilled baby squid that were mixed with a batter and fried in small molded balls. Not only had I never eaten any such item, I didn't even know they existed. I was intrigued by what they might have to offer. Could not ignore them.

 

   

 

 

Four came in an order for 100 TWD. I knew that would be impossible, and I only wanted a taste. After some intense negotiation, I managed to buy only two pieces for 60 TWD, content to be paying a premium to cover the cost of the paper carton, skewers and plastic bag. They turned out to be pretty chewy and tough. Glad I had not bought four. This was the only dish the whole evening that did not meet or exceed my expectations.

 

I now stumbled into a convenience store and bought a bottle of plain water. Sat down on a bench outside and washed my greasy hands, splashed water on my face in an effort to revive the nearly comatose gourmand. It worked well enough that after a while, I gathered a second wind and went back into battle.

 

The two sides of the food alley were close enough together that the heat from the fires was now becoming oppressive. People were gently bumping each other with their umbrellas, albeit more tentatively and politely than if they had been scrimmaging on the Mainland. So now I walked along the outside of the food stalls where they offered some seating. This also let me see the actual walk-in restaurants which lined the street (Ningxia Street) and take a look at their slightly more formal offerings.

 

   

 

 

Plenty of booths were completely out of the question for me at this stage in the game, but I still had to pause briefly for a look. This one had an assortment of delicious-looking sausage.

 

 

 

This one next door to it featured large grilled mushrooms, each one the size of an ear of corn on the cob, brushed repeatedly with a spicy sauce as they cooked, and then sliced thin after cooking. These aren't the superbly savory wild mountain mushrooms of Yunnan, but they still looked pretty good.

 

   

 

Time to go now. A bite of something sweet and that would surely do it. Just then I saw exactly what the doctor ordered, a stand selling two very small scoops of taro flavor ice cream, topped with some kind of shaved nut candy, freshly planed from the top of a large block, all wrapped in a crepe and folded into a bag like a cold desert burrito. I had never seen any such culinary invention in my threescore years and ten. Had to have one, even if I could only finish half of it.

 

   

 

 

Well, that was quite an evening. Turned around and headed for home. Passed a block that was mostly given over to carnival-boardwalk-type games for children. One booth offered a chance for young kids to fish for small shrimp and minnows.

 

 

 

The rain had stopped and I bought a plastic cup of freshly blended kiwi fruit, with a dash of local honey. Just tart enough to be interesting, but not so sour as to generate a pucker. Perfect for sipping on the road as I strolled back to the hotel and the vendor promised it would also aid digestion.

 

Wish I knew more about how these treats were made. It impressed me that lots of them were original and inventive, not simply old standards rehashed. Such things as these night market snacks 夜市小吃 are not to be missed if you have a chance to visit this interesting Chinese island.

 

 

 

[OneEye]

The ice cream thing (花生冰淇淋) is one of my favorite Taiwanese night market snacks. Basically shaved peanut brittle, ice cream (taro 芋頭 is my favorite), cilantro/coriander leaves, wrapped up in a 餅. Delicious.

 

Fantastic post. The food in Taiwan is incredible. Really makes me miss it.

[Shelley]

10 out of 10, Thank you. It must be so wonderful and liberating to be able to wander around and eat what ever you like, your only fear being that you don't like it.

 

The sign in the tenth picture made me laugh, just like me getting a stroke wrong. (Fned, instead of Fried) just shows if you are not familiar with the writing the mistakes you can make.

 

 

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12 hours ago, OneEye said:

Basically shaved peanut brittle, ice cream (taro 芋頭 is my favorite), cilantro/coriander leaves, wrapped up in a 餅. Delicious.

 

So good to know this was not just a once-off, @OneEye. At first I thought the freshly-chopped leaves had to be mint, but indeed they were cilantro 香草。Another very interesting combination of flavors!

 

Just curious, does Tokyo have something similar?

 

8 hours ago, Shelley said:

It must be so wonderful and liberating to be able to wander around and eat what ever you like, your only fear being that you don't like it.

 

@Shelley -- I thought about your severe allergy at the ice cream booth that @OneEye mentioned.  And it's true that several places offered food with a sauce that tasted as though it probably contained finely-ground nuts. Would have been extremely tough for you to navigate these waters safely.

[lrumin94]

@abcdefg I hope you eventually got to try their sausages (I loooove them!) and their oyster cakes 蚵仔煎! It's great that you finished off with the peanut ice cream roll, not to be missed in Taiwan!

 

I actually think that Taiwan is the land of bubble tea, chicken or pork chops, and oyster cakes/omelettes. Going on a food trip in Taiwan was absolutely divine!!!

 

Oh, and if you go to Jiufen, there's a nice pineapple cake store beside the candy crush store that sells really nice and buttery (albeit pricey) pineapple cakes. Suuuuper worth it for ts buttery pineapple goodness. My mouth is watering just typing this. I seriously wished I bought more!!!

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20 hours ago, lrumin94 said:

I hope you eventually got to try their sausages (I loooove them!) and their oyster cakes 蚵仔煎! It's great that you finished off with the peanut ice cream roll, not to be missed in Taiwan!

 

I had 蛾子煎 in 台中 only a day or two before。That's definitely a great dish! Last night I wanted to focus on things I had not sampled before. Been to Taiwan three or four times now. Thanks for the tip about the pineapple cake store.

 

 

[skylee]

I think 微熱山丘's pineapple cakes are pretty good. Very happy every time friends brought some to me from Taiwan. Perhaps I should go to one of its Hong Kong stores to have some this weekend.

 

Friends say 海邊走走 egg rolls are also very good.

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8 hours ago, skylee said:

Friends say 海邊走走 egg rolls are also very good.

 

I'll put those on my list for next time!

[DrWatson]

Great post, oh to be back in Taiwan again, how I miss it! Or....well...my stomach misses it!!!  Taiwan night markets are such a treasure, I really enjoyed the mix of Chinese and Japanese style foods available in Taipei night markets.

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7 hours ago, DrWatson said:

Taiwan night markets are such a treasure, I really enjoyed the mix of Chinese and Japanese style foods available in Taipei night markets.

 

I could not agree more! So many imaginative selections. Dangerous place! (Easy to overdo it. Hard to hold back.)