October 2019 - I can show you the world

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

What a Flexitarian Ate at Raohe Night Market (饒河夜市)
October 23, 20190 Comments
Raohe night market is the place to be to eat on the cheap!! Fill your belly with light snacks, grilled food, fried food, baked goods, THEN a large bowl of shaved ice to end your sweet trip. In between eating, you can enjoy the cheap thrill of winning a prize of two from the game booths (You'll see more children than adults at the game stations, but hey, that shouldn't stop you from reliving your childhood moment.)

How to go: Take MRT or TRA to Songshan (松山) Station, then take MRT exit 5. The night market entrance is to the right across the street next to a temple.
Opening hours: 4pm - 12am daily
Address: Raohe Night Market, Raohe Street, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
Google Map

First, say hello to the crowd that greets you.
Intense crowd at 8pm on a Saturday night
The first time I went to Raohe Night Market was on a Saturday night with my host family; the second time on a tranquil late afternoon, at around 4pm. This is usually the time when vendors start wheeling in their carts and prepare the food, so not all items are available at this hour. My usual advice when it comes visiting a tourist hot spot stands: go early to avoid crowd, go later to bask in the typical noisy and jolly night market atmosphere.

And because there are no rules when it comes to eating, my first stop? Dessert.

1. Shaved Ice (小明冰果室) 🍨
Taiwan is big on the shaved ice trend, just like Korea. Good shaved ice can be found in Raohe Night Market for half the price cheaper. I absolutely love the retro deco in this shop. The posters on the wall reminded me of hand-drawn illustrations of movie posters from the 1960s. Instead of iconic movie stars with their big pouffy hair looking all cool and nonchalant, the posters on the wall feature the real cool deal - shaved ice! This is not one of those shops in which the good interior design compensate for your poor food choices. The flavoured shaved ice tasted just fine for my fine taste buds. The flavourings were not diluted and did not taste artificial (though of course it must contain artificial flvourings because this is no atas restaurant). There's also a wide variety of options, from crowd-pleasing ones like matcha and oreo chocolate pudding to Taiwanese favourite - mango. (Have I mentioned how much Taiwanese love their mangoes? If Durian is the King of Fruits in Singapore, Mango is the Queen in Taiwan.)



Matcha shaved ice topped generously with red beans
Spotted another shaved ice shop on my second trip. The menu and price of shaved ice in night markets are generally the same.


Menu

2. Danfan Herbal Tea (丹范仙草)
Grass jelly is known as a natural medicine to relieve heartburn, constipation, abdominal bloating, fever and diarrhoea. Established since 1992, this not-so-noticeable thirst-quencher drink stall is a major hit among the locals. You can choose the sugar level and toppings (sorry no photos).

3. Assorted pastries

Looking like the perfect dessert table with tarts of all flavours imaginable. There'd surely be one that tickles your fancy. I got a custard with chocolate crust.


Jiggly, creammmmy custard with a chocolate-y tart crust. It was delightful (!), though the crust had gone a lil' soft from being left out in the open for some time.

How I wish I can take a bite from the screen.

3. Black Pepper Pork Bun (黑胡椒饼)
You've probably heard of the legendary Black Pepper Pork Bun (黑胡椒饼) that everyone - but me - has been raving about. That's right. I'm not here to further promote something that's been widely (and excessively) talked about. In fact, I'm... ashamed to admit that I'd let food FOMO gotten the better of me and bought this to try when a) I've pledged to myself to go meatless whenever possible and b) I don't even like peppery food. 😳😳
Regardless, here's a gif of the bun-making process, from kneading the dough to filling it. As you can see, all buns are freshly-made and sold on the spot.
GIF MADE BY ME :)




Filled with large chunks of peppered pork and scallion
Here is a less famous stall selling pepper pork bun. 
Bold claim: FOC if not satisfied.
Pastry-making process

I'm actually curious as to how the less famous version compares to the famous one.

4. Bolo bun (菠萝面包)
1 for 35 NTD
3 for 100 NTD
With Cheese 40 NTD
With vanilla, mango or taro ice cream 55 NTD
With Strawberry ice cream 60 NTD
With Chocolate or Champagne Grapes 60 NTD
I stood there contemplating whether I should order ice cream with bread. Eventually, I decided against it because I had an inkling that the ice cream would taste cheap and diluted and melt too quickly in the sweltering summer heat and it'd get messy and sticky (😤 *phew* that was a long sentence). So bolo bun with a slice of cheese it was. I asked for no butter because I can't stand grease.


Great for afternoon snack
Look at the golden crusty bun! The inside is so fluffy Agnes from Despicable Me could die.

Source

5. Pastry shop
for all u pastry lovers (aka me). I didn't buy anything here, but I thought I'd pop in a picture (or two) here in memory of my tedious hunt for the best pineapple tart in Taiwan.


I can't remember its exact location, but it's near one of the entrances to the night market. None of the items, unfortunately, are for sample, so you can't assess the taste before buying.


Travel tip: Combine food and clothes shopping in a single trip! 10 minutes' walk away from Raohe Night Market is Wufenpu (五分埔), a multi-lane street-shopping heaven for the fashionistas. Expect to find clothes of different styles there, ranging from sweet girly look, to Korean fashion and street wear. 

Wufenpu is commonly known for its cheap and discounted clothing, but unfortunately, that had not been my impression when I was there. Instead, I felt that the prices has been marked up quite steeply due to the booming tourist industry. For cheap clothing, Taobao (淘宝) is still my recommended site. (though I limit my purchase there since low prices almost always mean cheap labour and I'm not about to support that, but that's a conversation for another day).

Opening hours: 2pm - 11pm daily
Address: Alley 9, Lane 443, Yongji Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
110台北市信義區永吉路443巷9弄
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Saturday, October 12, 2019

Neiwan Old Street (內灣老街): Hakka Food Treasure Hunt
October 12, 20190 Comments
Explore the world of Hakka delicacies in Neiwan Old Street! Most old streets feature rebuilt red brick buildings (such as this) that imitate the architecture from the olden days, but Neiwan Old Street is mostly packed with street vendors, minus the shophouses. Upon arrival, you will be charmed by the  ageless, anachronistic quality, with history as a mining and lumbering town.

Neiwan Old Street sees a constant flow of tourists every weekend. On a particular summery weekend, I, too, became one in the crowd. Neiwan Old Street is relatively far from metropolitan Taipei, but distance becomes a small matter when you can expect good food that are uncommon in other old streets.

How to go?
Take TRA To Neiwan (內灣). TRA from Taipei takes 3-4 hours, depending on time of travel. Check out the TRA website for daily train schedule. Neiwan TRA is located directly in the middle of the bustling old street.

Neiwan Old Street, with mountainous backdrop
Fresh air, fresh sights, fresh food!

Glutinous Rice Sausage(糯米大肠)

This is the Taiwanese street food, 大肠包小肠 (small sausage wrapped in big sausage - see image below), minus the small sausage.

Source

Meat patty

Steamed brown sugar sponge cake
Rectangle - 100 NTD
Circle - 70 NTD

Yam cake
1 pound - 70 NTD
1 portion - 50 NTD

Glutinous rice cakes / Cao Zai Guo(草仔粿)
Soon kueh

The outer skin is made with glutinous rice flour, sugar, and mugwort (a type of Chinese herb), which gives the dough a greenish-brown colour. Vegetarian filling inside. Recommended to try only if you love starchy and glutinous food.

Mochi
Assorted mochi priced affordably

Kimchi
GUYS. If you have not tried, Taiwanese kimchi, you're seriously missing out. This is distinctly different from Korean's, with a slight creaminess and is scaled down in the sour department. (I prefer the Taiwanese version 😜) Wish I could bring a bottle back with me, but alas, kimchi can't survive a plane flight.

Lunch
Some typical Hakka dishes include: bamboo shoots (which was in abundance mid-year), pork belly with preserved mustard greens (梅菜扣肉), stir-fry tofu, stir-fry vegetables with minced meat 

Rice Dumpling 野薑花粽
Rice dumplings stores littered the streets, but this was the one I bought from, mainly because it had the longest queue.

Steaming hot dumplings wrapped in banana leaf.
Menu - vegetarian options available!
1. Signature dumpling: ginger lily-flavoured rice, sakura shrimp, pork, radish // 20 NTD
(野姜花招牌宗:樱花虾,野姜花,猪肉,萝卜干)
2. Emperor dumpling: Chinese sausage, mushroom, peanut, pork // 35 NTD
(帝王宗:香肠,香菇,花生,猪肉)
3. Hakka dumpling: sakura shrimp, squid, tofu, pork // 35 NTD
(客家小炒宗:樱花虾,鱿鱼,豆干,猪肉)
4. Ginger lily purple rice dumpling (Vegan): 10-grain rice, lotus seed, tofu skin // 20 NTD
(野姜花紫米宗:十谷米,莲子,豆皮)
5. Health-nourishing dumpling (Vegan): 10-grain rice, purple rice, lotus seed, red dates (jujube), vegan mock meat, vegan mock ham // 35 NTD
(养生宗:十谷米,紫米,莲子,红枣,素肉,素火腿)

I got number 5, because number 4 was sold out for the day. So dang yummy! But definitely too small (for me) to call it a meal.

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