24 July 2014

Hua Yuan Night Market Tainan ~ Taiwan

The night markets in Tainan are the biggest in Taiwan, allegedly. Here's a hundred or so random snaps, and few explanations.

We feel like we went to just about every night market in Taiwan. Each one was a little bit different, either in size, location, or snack offerings. This market claims to be the biggest outdoor market in Taiwan, and yep, it was big and outdoors.




Gee wiz, it's crowded here in the boondocks of Tainan. Just where do all these people come from?

For those too lazy to read through the whole post, here's a little Street Food fillum:



And on to the photos:





Piles of freshly cooked soy beans ready to be snacked on.




Sammiches!




Momofuku eat your heart out...




Grilled squid specialist.








Popcorn chicken.




Loads of outdoor seating, there's some serious eating here not just snacking.




One of our favourite sweet snacks, toffee'd fruit on sticks.




The infamous goop soup. We can't think of a different way to describe it.

















There were multiple stalls selling small balls in assorted colours. Sweet or sour? We really regret not trying these. It's amazing that in three weeks of travel we still had many things to try.








At this stall you make a selection of ingredients, they are chopped and mixed together with garlic and chilli in a shake-a-shake bag. Dig out and enjoy. We tried this dish later in the trip in Taipei and loved it.






Century eggs, halved, battered and deep fried.






Century eggs served with sauce, bonito flakes and spring onions takoyaki style. The deep frying takes a little of the pungency of the preserved eggs away.




Looks like a Devo filmclip.




Mmmm, Korean chicken cakes.









Pretty cold making dumplings.




Takoyaki stall. Love the gender specific octopi.










Mix up your pick for a quick dip in the oden bath.




Can't resist a sausage. The white ones are made by stuffing the casings with rice.




Mini personal hot pots.




Deep fried plain rice and blood rice cakes. The blood rice ones we got quite addicted to, especially with a sprinkle of white pepper and spice.




Stuffed chicken wings. Or just fat, lazy chickens.




Steak on noodles with pepper sauce on a hotplate!












Deep fried pizza (or maybe green onion pancake). Select your shakin' season, Steven.




















We bumped into an Aussie-Taiwanese lady here who told us that these were stinky tofu chips. Gotta get us some...




A bucket of stinky tofu chips. The Aussie Taiwanese lady's mum complained that the tofu wasn't stinky enough, but we loved it, just stinky enough to give it a flavour bass note, crispy on the outside and soft and moist in the middle. A holiday food high.




Smiley coconut joe.







Bowls of brown.










Extruded crispy snack things, like Taiwanese twisties.




Crispy hot dogs.







Pick a meat, pick some noodles, make a soup. So much of the selections are about personal pick'n'mix.







Never saw what the hair dryers were for.




These looked like a Taiwanese version of turducken.







Fruit schmoot.










Splayed squids.




Toffee fruit sticks.










Scarious kebabous Asiaus.




Close your eyes, more fruit.




Meat fest!




Sausage chopped and fried up with garlic and veg. Yay. The whole raw cloves of garlic where chomped into, then a bite of sausage, then a bite of pickled ginger. We found raw garlic as a condiment to a sausage in a few places.




Popcorn chicken man.




You know popcorn tastes good.




Assorted pieces of feet and bits. Possibly every bit of the chicken is represented here, except the bits known in the west.




Another holiday food high. Cubes of pork blood and rice in a kind of sesame gravy. Looks bad. Sounds bad. Tastes amazing.




Fishing for live prawns. You catch em and fry them on tiny little hibachis.










More steak! Most of it seemed to be imported from Australia.







Waiting for the man.







Dessert bar. Mochi making with your choice of fillings.




Takoyaki making.




Making waffles, one spoonful of batter at a time. Many of the stalls here are simple, with just one small speciality they pump out and make a little money from.




Tiny little sea snails, eaten with a toothpick to gouge out the tender innards.




The usual fun fair section of the market.




The games are often homespun and gorgeous. Must be some folks around collecting vintage ones.





Legs Eleven.



Ah, Australian beef. There's no shortage of beef or steaks at markets in Taiwan, so if you need a big red protein hit there's no problem.




Futurama steak.







Time to go and play in the milky night. We love Taiwan.

Next stop, Taichung.

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