Street Food Delights

 

Raohe Street Night Market

[ entrance to some really good food! ]

Norah and I ambitiously started today with the goal of getting ourselves to the north coast of Taipei, about 2 hours away, to see one of the last remaining market streets from the Qing dynasty. We left for Jinshan Old Street by train early this morning and then waited an hour to catch a local bus from the last subway stop in Tamsui. The local bus arrived, a small bus with 20 single seats and about 35 of us piled on. Norah and I did not get seats and we took a standing position toward the back. 

The bus took off at a flying pace, and the driver drove hurky-jerky while shifting gears (it was a manual transmission) through the narrow streets along the coast. After 45 minutes of this, we had only reached the 4th of 14 stops and I looked back at Norah, who was turning a little green. I myself was ignoring signs of nausea as I tried to keep a firm grip on the floor with the exaggeratedly wide stance that I was employing to prevent face-planting with each two-wheeled curve we took. At the next stop Norah whispered “I can’t take this!” and we jumped off. We spent the next two hours getting ourselves back to the hotel where we felt pretty tired and a little defeated. 

So we decided to double down and head back out at dusk to the Raohe Street night market for some street food on our final night and we had a fabulous time.

[first stop - pork and pepper buns ]

[ these guys know what they are doing ]

[ so good! ]

As we strolled through the market, we tried sweet potato puffs, a watermelon smoothie, and spicy scallion pancakes. 

[ frying the pancakes ]

[ someone here knows how to take a selfie ]

A few foods we did not try included…

[ organ meats ]

[ squid ]

[ and durian smoothies ]

A woman was selling peanut roll ice cream, however, and I had to try it. She shaved frozen peanut brittle onto a rice paper wrap, then scooped three ice cream flavors - sour plum, pineapple, and taro - sprinkled fresh cilantro over the top and wrapped the ice cream up like a burrito. She served it up in a paper wrapper.

[ making peanut roll ice cream ]

I have never tasted anything like it. It was not too sweet and sort of savory. It was like an ice cream meal!!

We didn’t stay too long at the market but we left very satisfied and pleased to have such a great ending to our time in Taipei. 

[ a crowded commute back to our hotel ]

The ride back to the hotel on the red line was a little packed but everyone was very friendly and calm. This city has shown us many delights - the art, the food, the people - and I am leaving the city with gratitude for sharing all of this beauty with Norah and me. 

🥬