When visiting Taiwan always remember to check out the markets. Taipei has day and night markets. The day markets are generally set up in alleyways that are shaded from the sun so they sort of feel like you are indoors. Day markets almost exclusively sell food for cooking. They open really early in the morning but they are pretty much closed down by 2pm. Night Markets are completely outdoors. Generally they start at about 4pm, when they know that school kids are just getting out of classes, and close down very, very, very late at night. Night markets are generally set up on roads that during the day cars drive through. They consist of a large number of carts set up in two rows going down the streets and alleyways.
Personally I prefer to go to Day markets. Day markets can be anywhere. We found one, one day when we were walking back from NTNU (National Taiwan University). We bought enough food to live on for 2 days and it cost $240 NTD. 240 NTD is about 7 Dollars. For 7 dollars we got 4 large chicken breasts, onions (free), ginger (free), lettuce, and bok choy. These prices are better than supermarket stores by leaps and bounds. Day markets are an experience. One minute you are walking down a main street in Taipei and then you are in an Alley. There is no sun coming through but the day markets are generally well lit with artificial lighting. There is very little space to walk around because the place is packed with vendors. Each vendor sets up there shop early in the morning, their areas generally consist of a large table that is packed with goods. The vast majority of vendors sell fish, meat, or vegetables. At the day market you will see many things that you wouldn’t see in the US. For example one day we were at our favorite vegetable vendor I looked to my right and saw what seemed to be pig genitals (I’m guessing since that vendor had nothing but pork on his table). I didn’t really believe what I saw so I had to ask my girlfriend and she concurred, they were pig penises with the balls and what not still attached. How wonderful. I wonder who eats those and if they think it is some kind of aphrodisiac, hmm I can only wonder. I definitely will not be trying pig penis, I am fortunately allergic to pork!
Night markets are completely different from Day Markets. The vast majority of the food sold at night markets is dirt cheap and ready to be consumed. But the main reason why I dislike night markets is the smell. In Taiwan, and probably mainland China, they have something called Stinky Tofu. The stuff is supposed to smell. They coat it in something that supposedly enhances the flavor of the Tofu while making it smell horrible. Sometimes I sit and wonder how people think up these kinds of foods I imagine it going something like this….
A guy is walking by a tofu vendor carrying a gallon or so of some weird chemical. Suddenly he trips on a rock and spills all of his chemicals on the Tofu. The smell is horrible, I mean horrible! And then at this point the Tofu vendor just says oh well I’ll try anything once…. And the rest is history.
But really, they are not exaggerating when they call it Stinky Tofu. In Jamaica they have a kind of fruit called Tinkin Toe (Stinking Toe). The thing actually smells like a friggin’ stinky toe but someone ate it and it tastes amazing. But I tell you what, stinking toe does not measure up to stinky tofu woowee! But anyways, back to night markets! Other than the smell of Stinky Tofu, night markets are actually quite amazing. They have vendors selling all different types of ethnic foods but they also sell things like clothing, keepsakes, food for cooking, teapots, utensils, and almost anything you can imagine. Just not electronics, if you want electronics you have to go to GuangHua. For example, today we went to the Ning Xia night market we bought something that I believe is called tsung yò bi. The English name for it is Onion Pancake. I think for the duration of this story I will use the English name. The Onion Pancake is basically flour, water, and onion mixed into a batter and pan fried. For about $1.25 we got two of them. These things are about six or seven inches in diameter and about half an inch thick, and they are VERY good and cheap.
If you get a chance to come out to Taipei make sure that you go to the night markets and the day markets. The day markets you will have to pay attention to the alleys as you walk down streets. They are not really made to attract Tourist and are not publicized that much. There is one right off of the Guting Subway stop though. Night markets are kind of touristy so finding information on them is easy. A few of them are the Ning Xia night market, Raohe Street Night Market, and the Shilin Night Market. The Shilin Night market is gargantuan so if you only have time for one go there. There are also night markets in Keelung (port city) so if you are there search for some!
As always, be safe and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Peace out ya’ll!