Taipei City - 阿婆飯糰,寧夏夜市 NingXia Nightmarket Rice roll

So, Grandma's rice rolls is at the top of NingXia nightmarket on 民生東路 MinSheng East Road. Up until now, they have always had such a long line of people queuing up, that I have avoided joining the line. However, this time I was lucky! We lined up for maybe 10mins - winner. 

飯糰 fàn tuán is more traditionally eaten for breakfast than it is for nightmarket eats. This particular 飯糰 is quite big, and uses a lot of rice, so get ready for this huge ball of goodness! 

This grandma is so relaxed, she just decided to take a phonecall and chat to her friend during peak hour eating time - class! What's more? It was a flip phone - hero! 

The 飯糰 starts with a layer of warm rice patted down into a rectangular shape, then it is layered with toppings before being molded into a ball/sausage shape. The toppings for this one are as follows:

1. Fried dough stick

2. Pickled vegetables

3. Pork floss

4. House special salted vegetable and chili mixture

 You get a fairly good idea for the size of these 飯糰 here, and also the amount of filling put into them (sorry for the lack of focus on the pictures). The rice is a long grain rice and sticks together well to encase all of the ingredients in the center. Make sure you're hungry, because this one is biiiiig! 

As for the taste: it was good. Honestly, I felt a little disappointed because I had waited for so long (over a year) to hit this stall on a night where not many people were lining up. Finally, when I did, the expectation was so great that I feel it would always be difficult to live up to. Really, it is a solid 飯糰 in my opinion. It has a good level of saltiness, the rice is well cooked, the pickled vegetables add the acidity you need and the slight hint of chili gives it a nice bite, too. I wouldn't go crazy for it and want it every time I visit 寧夏夜市, but maybe that is also because I associate this food with breakfast, not nightmarket. 

The stall opens around 5/5:30, and usually there is a long line from around 6 onwards. My suggestion: if you really crave 飯糰 then get there around 4:45 and line up ready for her to arrive.

台北市大同區寧夏路45巷2號

No.2 Lane 45, NingXia Road, DaTong District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!