Dec 12th, 2024 Thursday Cloudy and Cold
To explore an island full of controversy and mystery, as well as to escape, albeit temporarily, the cold and bleak winter, my husband and I took a trip to Taiwan.
While there are many spots to visit in Taiwan depending on your interests, a unique must-see that everyone agrees on, is the night market. Therefore, on our first evening in Taipei, we checked out Ningxia Night Market.
It is said that the night market culture represents Taiwan, and I can easily see why. First of all, having so many food stalls packed into a street only one block long was amazing. The vendors were literally shoulder to shoulder with each other, yet they managed to operate their own businesses smoothly without interfering others. The “storefront” of most stalls were but a few feet wide. Only some stalls had a few tables behind the counter for dining in – the majority of customers wanted their food to go anyway.
Then, perhaps made possible with the number of vendors, the diversity was incredible. From appetizers like bite-sized sausages, deep-fried oyster fritters, to more filling entrees like diced steaks, grilled squids, and fried chicken; from staple foods like rice noodle soup, scallion pancakes, to desserts like sweet potato balls, fruits and jelly… One can build a full multi-course meal from start to finish by grabbing little eats from different hawkers, and sample the flavors from numerous cuisines without walking farther than a mile or stuffing one’s stomach, though the latter could still happen 😛
Also, one big attraction of night markets is its affordability and connection with the locals, and the two are certainly related. The cooks prepare the food from fresh ingredients daily, mostly in the morning. The final steps of cooking is only finished after an order has been placed, and delivered to the guest as soon as it is done to ensure optimal taste and texture. To facilitate selling off today’s stock before tomorrow comes, every item in the night market is priced in an inexpensive way, and one person can usually have a very satisfying dinner with no more than 100 to 200 TWD (3 to 7 USD), sometimes even less. This high quality-price ratio marks the night market one of the regular eating options for locals, and the most loyal customers of these markets are students, working professionals, and retired folks from the community. Their picky tongues and high standards guard the taste of the most popular stands against time.
Finally, I could not help noticing the fast pace of this place. Because the profit margin on each item was so low, these merchants must sell enough in order to make ends meet, so efficiency is the key, not only to allow fulfilling more orders, but also to minimize unnecessary waiting time. After all, being tantalized by all the exciting sights and smells, our appetites were soaring and our belly grumbling, and hungry people are rarely patient 😛 Fortunately, the seemingly endless lines all moved fairly quickly. I stood in one line for deep fried taro balls, which extended to the end of the block, and I was too far to even see the large characters on the menu when I first joined. However, within about five minutes, the “elder sister” (the shop is owned by three siblings) took my order, and two minutes later, I was holding the perfectly golden brown taro balls in my hand, still warm from the wok but no grease at all. I turned back for a glimpse, and the line was endless again.
Reuniting with my husband who was sent to a different stall for grilled noodles, I enjoyed the characteristic Taiwan flavor while watching the crowd. Hustling and bustling, the night of Taipei was full of energy!