Eating In Translation

Three Brothers

Assemble-it-yourself dessert ice (NT30).

Three Brothers
Shida Night Market, Taipei
(One of several locations)

Juice Stand

Shida, the shortened Chinese name of National Taiwan Normal University, also takes much of its character from a college-age crowd that might be just as happy at the mall; less interesting for the food. Starfruit juice (NT30).

Juice Stand
Shida Night Market, Taipei

Double Happiness

Squid soup (left; NT40) and cuttlefish soup (NT50). Less exotic than the snake soup, snake meat, and snake blood liquors that earned Huaxi St. the moniker "Snake Alley," but as Jerry noted and as we quickly confirmed with a walk-by, the Huaxi St. snake joints now do business almost exclusively with tourists, and very little at that. Double Happiness is a little on the fluorescent side, too, but its still a dining haven for regular folks.

Double Happiness
Huaxi St. Night Market, Taipei

Sharkment storefront

The entire bill of fare is right under your nose, or someone's nose.

Big Intestine

Great name, though Jerry had to translate for me. Container of sliced sausage with pickled vegetables and hot sauce (NT50).

Big Intestine
Huaxi St. Night Market, Taipei

7/11

Melon Creamy Soda (490 ml.; NT36), from Japan. Carbonated, and more creamy than melony; becomes cloying.

On later occasions:
Vitamin C.C. Lemon (600 ml.; NT25), from Suntory in Japan. Dry, not tart.
FIN: Fly in Nature (580 ml.; NT 25). Like watered-down Gatorade.
Calpis Sour (275 ml.; NT50). Milky color, milky orange-lime flavor.

7/11
Many locations in Taipei

Fruit Stand

Just out of season, wood apples (or rose apples, or wax apples; NT60 each) were relatively expensive, crisp like an unripe pear, and clean-tasting (read: relatively flavorless). Hope to give them a second chance someday, at their best.

Fruit Stand
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Wong Fresh Fruit

Botanically, they're a fruit, and in China and Taipei, tomatoes are treated like one. In the tourist night markets in Beijing you'll find them slathered in hardened syrup; if you'd rather show restraint, try them sliced and stuffed with plum and mango (bag, NT50).

Wong Fresh Fruit
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Ling's Dessert Stall

Glutinous rice balls with crushed peanuts (NT30) are a traditional Hakka treat, often served as an appetizer; best when served fresh and warm from the pot, as you'll find them here.

Ling's Dessert Stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Fried-Foods Stall

The basil (hiding at the bottom of the bag) makes the difference with these nearly boneless chicken nuggets (about NT30).

Fried-Foods Stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Fermented tofu stall

It stinks, hence the more common moniker "stinky tofu"; at the Donghuamen Night Market in Beijing, the odor drifting downwind can put you off your feed. Palatable here, served with pickled cabbage and lots of garlic competing for your olfactory attention; curiously paired with a bowl of too-sweet noodles with oysters and shrimp (about NT50 all in).

Fermented tofu stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Pork sandwich stall

With crushed peanuts, on a folded-over soft bun (NT20, or about 60 cents at the time); on the sweet side. I've since learned that this steamed-bun sandwich is properly called a gua bao, and that Taiwanese red sugar is an essential ingredient.

Pork sandwich stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Juice Stand

Kumquat juice (NT40), perhaps with a dash of calamansi, with several pieces of pickled plum tossed in for good measure.

Juice Stand
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Pork and Soup Stall

The brown ovoid is a hardboiled egg, cooked with that fatty pork and smacking of its juice. With a second bowl, of shrimp-dumpling-and-egg soup, about NT40 all told.

Pork and Soup Stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Soup Stall

Shrimp-and-pork rolls in soup (NT45).

Soup Stall
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Caltrop Cart

A few steps from Jiancheng Circle and its shuttered food court, Ningxia Rd. boasts an exceptional variety of eats (at least, after dark) without the distractions of T-shirt shops, jewelry stands, and carnival games. I'd crossed paths with lingjiao, or horned water caltrops (about NT40 for a bag), in Shanghai, too; Jerry observed that these "goat horns" taste much like chestnuts, though perhaps blander.

Caltrop Cart
Ningxia Rd. Night Market, Taipei

Iced-Dessert Storefront

Perhaps you can't identify all the fixings — I certainly couldn't, even after a taste — but it all goes great with a heap of shaved ice and a drizzle of syrup (NT45). Two ingredients I did recognize and would gladly pile on again: preserved starfruit and passion-fruit puree. Many shaved-ice joints keep the ingredients behind the counter, and the servers do the spooning at their discretion; I prefer the hands-on joints, as long as the ingredients seem well cared for.

Iced-Dessert Storefront
Near the Guanghua Electronic Components Market

Griddle-Pocket Cart

Across from a computer dealer, I found another guy assembling those pudding-filled biscuits (NT10); below ground, a strikingly quiet, well-mannered crowd fingered components for their own DIY projects.

Griddle-Pocket Cart
Near the Guanghua Electronic Components Market

Little Nan Door

Scooped tofu pudding with peanuts and some yellowish rubbery substance (NT45). Bland; very nearly didn't finish my dessert.

Little Nan Door
Taipei 101 food court, Taipei

Xu Cheng

After a pause, I took a shot at an uncommon combo: grilled squid with lamb (NT150). Both were tough.

Xu Cheng
Taipei 101 food court, Taipei