Night Markets

The night markets of Taiwan are famous for their street food.  The Chinese have night markets, similar to Persian bazaars and Singapore’s Hawker markets.  The night markets sell various goods such as clothing, purses, and counterfeit goods.  However the most attractive aspect of the night markets to the Chinese are the food stands.  I believe no culture is more food centric than the Chinese and this is not meant to disrespect the Italians and French, and their cuisines.  It seems that everything important to the Chinese somehow involves sharing food.  The Chinese night markets exist in Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, but the best markets exist in Taiwan.

Every major urban area of Taiwan has at least one night market.  Taipei has over 20 separate and distinct markets.  The night market is an organized series of stands that are permanently set-up on the sidewalks and streets of a neighborhood.  The food stands typically specialize in only one or several food items.  The food items are referred to as xiaochi, which is a small serving size snack, similar to tapas or small plate items served elsewhere in the world.  A xiaochi serving will usually cost about $1 USD, or slightly more.  The Chinese move from stand to stand eating as many small servings as they can and rarely spend more than $10 USD for the equivalent of an 8-10 course meal.  Stinky tofu is probably the most famous item and the benchmark food for a night market.  Yes, stinky tofu is very smelly.

The Taiwanese take visitors to their favorite night market; this is an important part of their urban life and something they are proud to share.   I’m surprised Anthony Bourdain has not filmed an episode for one of his shows in Taiwan.  The followers of Tony know that he has a love of street food.  The definition of street food should be Taiwan night market xiaochi.  My blog has a number of followers.  I don’t know who the individual followers are, but the blog statistics include readers, in the U.S., Taiwan, Canada, Germany, China, Latvia, Russia, the Czech Republic, etc.  Tony Bourdain has a blog that I read, but I am guessing he isn’t following mine.  So, I have sent an invitation to Tony via the Travel Channel website, encouraging him to visit Taipei.

Attached are some food market pictures.  The food items often served include congealed blood pudding on a stick, small sausage wrapped in a big sausage and further wrapped in garlic and basil, soup with cuttlefish covered in a fish paste, oyster vermicelli, eel noodles and much more.  I love Taiwan food and my Taiwanese friends have declared that I am officially Taiwanese, after watching me eat.