Taiwan: Rao He Night Market
Rao He was the second step in my mission to visit new night markets. It is one of the oldest night markets in Taiwan and around a 10 minute trek from Wufengpu:
The minute we stepped beyond the gates, we saw this massive snaking line. Without even checking to see what the wait was for we got in line. Any place with a line that impressive must be worth the wait. And it was. It turns out that the line was for 胡椒餅 (hu jiao bing) or...black pepper bun? If I can I'll post the video of how quickly these people were making these things:
First they flatten out the ball of dough, then they scoop in a large mound of meat filling. The fun part comes when they use the meat to pick up the chopped green onion. The buns are slathered with what I think is egg whites, dusted with sesame, and then stuck onto the sides of a deep oven. The end result is this:
Flaky outside, peppery marinated meat filling, and a buttload of green onion. Be careful when you bite into one...it's hot!
Our next stop was this stand:
We ordered a mixed box of fried tempura and fried shrimp rolls:
A couple steps away was this stand:
Where we ordered stinky tofu:
It's been years since I last had stinky tofu. I don't mind the smell so much as I dislike fried tofu. I love firm tofu that is dipped in batter and fried (agedashi), but there's something about the sponginess of fried tofu that just rubs me the wrong way. However, I swore to myself that I would try stinky tofu again this summer. I kept my word. I still don't like fried tofu, but it's not as bad as say, liver. I wish they could've added more soy sauce to this particular stinky tofu. It wasn't salty enough for me.
The one thing about nights markets that drives me crazy is the heat. Taiwan is hot enough without having to deal with the heat from all the food vendors cooking away, not to mention the body heat of all the people squished up against you.
This is why I drink a lot at night markets. We found a xi mi lu or tapioca stand:
You can choose from various flavors. I picked coconut:
I wish it'd been colder.
Since the tapioca wasn't as refreshing as I'd hoped it to be, I picked up another drink here:
Watermelon juice in Taiwan is fantastic:
Too bad it also wasn't as cold as I wanted.
I was pretty much stuffed by this time, but these pan fried buns were calling my name:
I split a cabbage one with my friend:
No night market run is complete without shaved ice:
That's peanut flavored ice with red beans and condensed milk:
Creamy like peanut butter...mmm...
You always end up eating more than you expect to at night markets. You snack from stand to stand, but things quickly add up. Even when you're full you try to convince yourself that it's okay to eat just one more thing because you're walking and sweating so much...and it works because the food looks and smells so good that you can't resist. But it's worth it, oh it's worth it.
The minute we stepped beyond the gates, we saw this massive snaking line. Without even checking to see what the wait was for we got in line. Any place with a line that impressive must be worth the wait. And it was. It turns out that the line was for 胡椒餅 (hu jiao bing) or...black pepper bun? If I can I'll post the video of how quickly these people were making these things:
First they flatten out the ball of dough, then they scoop in a large mound of meat filling. The fun part comes when they use the meat to pick up the chopped green onion. The buns are slathered with what I think is egg whites, dusted with sesame, and then stuck onto the sides of a deep oven. The end result is this:
Flaky outside, peppery marinated meat filling, and a buttload of green onion. Be careful when you bite into one...it's hot!
Our next stop was this stand:
We ordered a mixed box of fried tempura and fried shrimp rolls:
A couple steps away was this stand:
Where we ordered stinky tofu:
It's been years since I last had stinky tofu. I don't mind the smell so much as I dislike fried tofu. I love firm tofu that is dipped in batter and fried (agedashi), but there's something about the sponginess of fried tofu that just rubs me the wrong way. However, I swore to myself that I would try stinky tofu again this summer. I kept my word. I still don't like fried tofu, but it's not as bad as say, liver. I wish they could've added more soy sauce to this particular stinky tofu. It wasn't salty enough for me.
The one thing about nights markets that drives me crazy is the heat. Taiwan is hot enough without having to deal with the heat from all the food vendors cooking away, not to mention the body heat of all the people squished up against you.
This is why I drink a lot at night markets. We found a xi mi lu or tapioca stand:
You can choose from various flavors. I picked coconut:
I wish it'd been colder.
Since the tapioca wasn't as refreshing as I'd hoped it to be, I picked up another drink here:
Watermelon juice in Taiwan is fantastic:
Too bad it also wasn't as cold as I wanted.
I was pretty much stuffed by this time, but these pan fried buns were calling my name:
I split a cabbage one with my friend:
No night market run is complete without shaved ice:
That's peanut flavored ice with red beans and condensed milk:
Creamy like peanut butter...mmm...
You always end up eating more than you expect to at night markets. You snack from stand to stand, but things quickly add up. Even when you're full you try to convince yourself that it's okay to eat just one more thing because you're walking and sweating so much...and it works because the food looks and smells so good that you can't resist. But it's worth it, oh it's worth it.
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