Taipei City - 饒河夜市 RaoHe Nightmarket

Over 250 years old stands the CiYou Temple 慈祐宮 on the east side of the RaoHe Night market. It is what will great you if you arrive by MRT from SongShan Station 松山捷運站. It was built over 250 years ago, and dedicated to the Mazu Goddess 媽祖, protecting seafarers on their journeys.

Without a doubt one of my favourite night market snacks, especially here! $50 #Taipei #Taiwan #eatingintaipei #eat #eating #food #foodie #travel #nightmarket #tasty #delicious #photography #picoftheday #photooftheday #pork #stall #stand #love #ilovefood #instafood #instapic #tandoor #baked #taipeieats #exploretaiwan #taipeitasty #cheapeats #台北 #饒河夜市 #胡椒餅

A photo posted by Eating in Taipei (@eatingintaipei) on Sep 5, 2016 at 7:50am PDT

福州世祖胡椒餅

Immediately after coming in, you will arrive at this place in the center. Line up. No matter how long the line is, line up! 

This place has been here over 20 years, and there is most definitely a reason why...

This is the 胡椒餅 - Pepper Cake. You can see at the back, they are rolling the dough and preparing it to be filled. 

Next, they get a healthy portion of minced pork and pack plenty of scallions/spring onions on top, encasing it in the bun, later to be baked.

The top is patted with water, then sesame seeds, where it is then stuck on the inside of the tandoor (which is what it essentially is) below...

A short while later, it emerges as this majestically beautiful pepper cake!

Give them your $50 and prepare your mouth for 1. Incredibly hot pepper cake, 2. Well seasoned and put together peppery filling, 3. Get ready to line up again...

For the taste, you should expect: a crunchy outer-casing of fairly neutral bread. On the inside, expect a searingly hot pork and spring onion mixture which oozes with fresh pork juices. Be aware that the meat steams inside the bun and as you bite in, the juices could (will) come oozing out! 

This place doesn't really cater much for customer service when paying, but it's probably because it is always very busy and they cannot look to engage each customer in conversation when a line of 50+ people are behind. But, simply either show your fingers for how many you would like, or here is what to say 

 一個 yī gè (1) , 兩個 liǎng gè (2), 三個 sān gè (3),   四個 sì gè (4), 五個 wǔ gè (5).

福州世祖胡椒餅 unofficial FB page

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This place looks pretty good, check out that platter of meat inbetween bean noodles (left) and hot and sour soup (right).

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These are very popular, too, at nightmarkets. But, I am not that bothered about them, personally. The steak is heated slightly from the bottom but its main cooking comes from a blow torch from the top. Yeh, it's alright, but the quality often isn't that good.

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I was getting thirsty by this point

Grass jelly drink - $35. Minty, healthy and wet. It hits the spot!

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In the mood for abalone or snails? Nah, me neither...

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These look good, though.

家賀魷魚大王

Squid, squid, squid!

This place is really friendly, make sure you stop by here for a bowl of delicately cooked and fresh squid.

This family run business has been here over 20 years. They say that the reason they have maintained regular customers for so long is that they offer and authentic taste of Taiwanese squid, a traditional flavor which many others don't offer...

The squid is dropped into boiling hot water (only water). 

How to order: 一份 (1 portion) yī fèn 

Choose your level of spice - 微辣 wēi là 

，小辣 xiǎo là ，中辣zhōng là ，大辣 dà là 

I wasn't fancying going upstairs to their seating area an awful lot...

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金林三兄弟藥燉排骨

Possibly better in winter, but don't discount it in summer, either. Their soup is slightly sweeter (in my opinion a little more palatable) than other Chinese medicine soups I have tasted. This is another stand that has stood the test of time with 20+ years!

藥燉排骨 yào dùn pái gǔ 

Medicinal broth with pork ribs

$70

There's plenty of pork to get your fill, here. The soup is also plentiful. Chinese medicine can often be a little bitter, but this one is slightly sweeter and easier to take. For the seasoned Chinese medicine soup drinking pro, it could be too sweet. But, if it's your first time, check this one out to see if you like the flavour.

藥燉羊肉 yào dùn yáng ròu 

Medicinal broth with lamb

$80

Lots of ginger accompanies this dish, along with plenty of lamb! Expect the same broth, but with New Zealand lamb, instead of Taiwanese pork. 

金林三兄弟藥燉排骨 FB page

台北市松山區饒河街

RaoHe Street, SongShan District, Taipei City

Happy Eating!

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!

New Taipei City - LeHua Nightmarket 下港米糕排骨酥店 Restaurant

DingXi is a popular place in the YongHe/ZhongHe area for westerners. Walking left out of exit 1 for around 10-15minutes, you'll stumble across LeHua Nightmarket 樂華夜市. 樂華 is a popular nightmarket and, whatever night, is often bustling with a wealth of different street vendors. However, often what people miss in the nightmarkets, is the row of shops and restaurants situation behind such street vendors. I am, personally, not that much of a fan of nightmarkets. I tend to go there for my fix of fried chicken and stinky tofu, but not much more. So here, just around the back of  樂華, sits a rather large restaurant which always looks busy.  

This place is as any Taiwanese 小吃店 should be: packed with customers. I say that this is a 小吃店, but really, it only mimics some of the food that is found inside such restaurants. I feel that, for the Taiwanese, this is the food that reminds them of those Sunday lunches that mum used to make. With that in mind, more often than not, there is a somber atmosphere and little energy in such places. However, in here, there is a busy energy and an excited vibe. 

1. 焢肉飯 (kong4rou4fan4) Belly pork meal

2. 下水湯 (xia4shui3tang1) Offal soup

3. 排骨酥湯 (pai2gu3su1tang1) Soft pork soup

4. 油豆腐 (you2dou4fu3) Tofu

5. 魯筍絲 (lu3sun3si1) Braised bamboo

6. 魯蛋 (lu3dan4) Braised egg

7. 筒仔米糕 (tong3zi3mi3gao1) Bamboo sticky rice

1. 焢肉飯 (kong4rou4fan4) Belly pork meal

The sheer value for money here is incredible. All of this, for just $60! On the plate, we have a big mound of white rice, topped with a pickled Daikon (蘿蔔 luo2buo2) and some gravy. To the right we have the main attraction, that's the 焢肉 belly pork. To the top right we have a generous helping of braised bamboo, to the left of which we have a braised egg and also a piece of tofu. On the left we have pickled cucumbers and also pickled cabbage. Let me tell you: the 焢肉 is pretty darn good! I have always been a big fan of belly pork growing up (much to my mother's distaste), with the layer of silky fat, soft stewed meat, another layer of silky fat, soft stewed meat, another layer of silky fat and finally finishing with the final layer of soft stewed meat. There's no getting away from the fact that it is not the healthiest piece of meat out there, but it is certainly worth a punt every now and then. I'll go into more detail about the vegetables later, as we had already ordered each of them separately, without realising that they would appear on my meal...

2. 下水湯 (xia4shui3tang1) Offal soup

For those of you who read my first post on the wonderful beef restaurant 今春發牛肉店 then you'll know that I am a regular offal eater. Difference being that this soup is pork offal. Inside the soup we have pork, intestines, stomach and also kidney. The broth is light and the ginger gives it the fresh healthiness that you grow to love in Taiwanese soups, however, it the soup is a little oily. Whilst this doesn't bother me for one bowl of soup, I think I would only be wanting the one bowl, I wouldn't be going for seconds. The contents of the soup, on the other hand, were very nice indeed: The intestine was cooked nicely and wasn't in any way tough, the pork pulled off the bone with complete ease, the kidney wasn't too chewy and maintained a good strong flavour and the stomach added a good texture, too. 

3. 排骨酥湯 (pai2gu3su1tang1) Soft pork soup

Bearing in mind that the shop has 排骨酥 in the name, this soup should be a definite order. This soup is, in a word, fantastic. The pork has, in the traditional Taiwanese manner, been cooked for a very long time. It seems to have a deep-fried coating, but then been placed into the broth to stew. So, the pork inside has stayed wonderfully delicate, but also the coating on the outside has become almost soggy. It's a little strange, it's like a cross between breaded pork goujons and deep fried pork goujons. Don't get me wrong - the taste is great. But I just don't understand why... Anyway, there are nice big chunks of Daikon radish 蘿蔔 inside the soup and these balance the strong flavours of the pork really nicely. You can tell that they have been cooked for a long time as they just fall apart in your mouth. With a generous hand of coriander on the top of the soup, I would strongly recommend you give this a go! It may look heavy, but it really isn't!

4. 油豆腐 (you2dou4fu3) Tofu

5. 魯筍絲 (lu3sun3si1) Braised bamboo

6. 魯蛋 (lu3dan4) Braised egg

4,5 and 6 are together on a plate:

This is the same type of tofu that I have previously written about (oily tofu). It has a slightly resistant skin on it, allowing the center to be soft and the outside to hold most of the flavour. This particular one tasted like a standard 油豆腐 and didn't really excel in any way. Similar to the bamboo, actually. It was nice and fresh, clearly well seasoned and well braised, but it wasn't wowing me with a different flavour in any way. The braised egg 魯蛋 was delicious. Sometimes you get really lucky and it's a braised duck egg, but this was a chicken egg, probably braised for over 4 hours. The inside was a wonderful consistency and the taste was beautifully meaty. 

7. 筒仔米糕 (tong3zi3mi3gao1) Bamboo sticky rice

For my money, this is a strange thing to order, but hey. I have called it bamboo sticky rice, as it's what it both tastes and looks like. The rice is somewhat stickier than normal rice with generous helpings of 魯肉 and gravy dripping down the middle and inside are hidden some baby button mushrooms. On top lies some long, thin Enoki-like mushrooms. I am not sure if they were, indeed, Enoki. But it's what they looked like. The mushrooms had been stewed for a long time so they had taken on a rich flavour. Sprinkled on top you can see was a little bit of Pork floss. Some westerners I have spoken to are adamant that pork floss is on par with stinky tofu and century egg for levels of disgusting. Whereas others will gladly spoon it into their congee. The jury is out for pork floss, but I can say that whilst I like it, I won't go out of my way to order it. In this dish, it did soak up some of the oil and stickiness exuded by the rice and braised mushrooms. The taste was really interesting: sticky, rich, earthy and starchy. You certainly felt full after eating it! 

Overall I was really impressed with both the quality and the quantity of the dishes we ordered. For the money, it's a no-brainer. Nightmarket food is exciting, I agree, but sometimes we tend to miss the other restaurants worth going to, because we are hell bent on ordering deep fried chicken or oyster omelet at the nightmarket stalls. Next time you're at a nightmarket, check out the side alleys and check out the restaurants behind the stalls. Maybe you'll stumble across a beauty - like this one!

Best dish: 3. 排骨酥湯 (pai2gu3su1tang1) Soft pork soup: It was stunning in its simplicity but the flavours were fantastic! 

Dish I won't order again: 4, 5 and 6 combo: Simply because I would be happier buying the meal and having a slightly smaller portion of each. It's not because they were not tasty (because they were!), but it's simply because we had a lot of food and some of it was doubled-up.

新北市永和區保平路14號

No. 14, BaoPing Road, YongHe district, New Taipei City.

Happy Eating!