Best stuffed chicken wing evar!

The last few days with my California church friends here in Taipei has been exciting. However, tonight was the last night and the last chance to experience the night markets of Taipei. So we went to the Raohe night market. The last on the list. Once there, I discovered these chicken wings. They are not your normal chicken wings. First off, they're boneless for the win. I hate picking out bones, it's annoying. Second, they're stuffed with rice. The rice comes in two flavors, one is Taiwanese sticky rice (油飯) and the other is Thai flavored rice (泰式吵飯). I chose the Thai flavor as i'm a fan of strong flavors. Awesome idea! It ended up being deliciously awesome. The stuffing could of had a stronger flavor, but it's still a killer snack. The breading has the same texture as Shake-N-Bake which I kind of liked. It's no panko, but it'll do. So basically they're definitely on to something good. The combination of the Thai flavored rice stuffed in a deep fried breaded boneless chicken wing tastes great together. KFC should pick this up (if they haven't already, I don't eat KFC often)! I'd just improve the flavor of the stuffing and keep the Shake-N-Bake breading. Two thumbs up! I want to go back and get another two. Anyone want to go with me?

This second photo is of duck blood stinky tofu soup. Foreigner's be warned. It's a very strong Taiwanese flavor and odor. I think it's delicious, but probably way over the comfort bar of a western foreigner. It's common. Nothing special. You can probably order this at any night market restaurant. But I thought my parents would appreciate this photo. MMmmmm stinky, irony, tasty duck blood stinky tofu soup!

YongKang Jie antiques market

After class I had some business to take care of. First was to explore the YongKang Jie (永康街) antiques market. It's small and right behind the Shida MTC school campus. History has it that it was once a fish market. They carry/sell a lot of trinkets and sculptures, signs, posters, toys and jade. I have a friend who will be having a house warming in California that I cannot attend. So I'd like to find something unique and meaningful to Taiwan that can be used to adorn a wall or table. During my search, I also found a cache of old Eastman kodak folding cameras. Right next to it was a really cool Thomas Edison phonograph wax cylinder. It's the earliest form of recordable media dating to 1877. Basically it takes voice vibrations and echoes onto a rotating hard wax cylinder. After the antiques market, I had to drop off my first 35mm Agfa 400 color roll to the Shida Kodak developer. Lets hope they turn out well. I really want to find a good soft and saturated color film to use with the Leica. Thirdly, Yuki needed to buy a plane ticket back to the California. Yes, I'll be leaving end of May back to California. But only for a short bit, I'll be returning by April. Since this ticket business had to be done in Dingxi, afterwards we headed over to the Lehua night market (樂華夜市). This is the first time i've walked through here during business hours. So I got to see what they had to offer. Strolling through, nothing different than any other night market. Except for a few things. First off, they have a Hong Kong style stinky tofu (臭豆腐). It's much crispier than the Taiwanese style. And the tofu is has a hole in the middle kind of like a bowl, to hold the tofu juices. This makes this style much more crispy and moist. Maybe a little too crispy, as I prefer it a tad less crispy. Second, they have a specialty cart serving grilled lamb kabob's. They take their time cooking it, but it's sooo flavorful. Holy crap, I can eat a plateful of this! I love lamb, it's my favorite red meat. Last but not least, is Yuki's favorite ice cream dessert. It's three flavored ice cream scoops and shaved frozen peanut warped in a crepe. Maybe it's hard to imagine, but it's quite delightful. It's like a taiwanese peanut ice cream burrito. I wish I didn't have to travel all the way to YongLe for this, but maybe that a good thing. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera. So I'll have to snap pictures next time and update this entry.

Taiwanese sausage wrap

Today was another droopy day in Taipei. After the typhoon, there was alot of cleanup to do. On the way to class, there are alot of giant leaves (palm leaves, bamboo leaves leaves?) gathered up on the side of the road. So the rain persists making it a dark, droopy walk back home. On the train ride back, I remember that I haven't taken a picture of the Taiwanese small sausage wrapped by big sausage (大腸包小腸). I stopped by the Shilin market to buy some dinner to take home. I couldn't decide what else to get though. steak, oyster noodles, stinky tofu, stuffed chicken, okonomiyaki. So at the last stall, out of indecision, I took home a bowl of mala stinky tofu. It's different than the one I got from the Shipai market. It doesn't have the small black dots in the tofu. Speaking of tofu, as soon as I get home I turned on the TV so I can watch something while eating my dinner. Just my luck, they're having an Initial D marathon. Score!! Next time, for something new, I'll try some Ba-wan (肉圓) or coffin bread (棺材板) or okonomiyaki. You guys will love the coffin bread. Think curry chicken stuffed in a deep fried french bread coffin.

Escape from plumber island

Today I had to fix the plumbing in the condo again. Everytime I used the washing machine it would overflow the drains and flood out muddy/soapy water. It kinda left the floors a mess, so before taking on that daunting task, I decided to escape from this disaster for at least 1 hour and get some lunch.

My relative, Hong-Mei and her son, Bob, brought me out to an old food court in a small mall next to Takashimaya. It's called Shi Dong Market. The history according to Bob is, the market used to be outdoors, but now they built a roof over it and that's how it stayed. The first floor is the traditional market and the second floor has two food court "wings". This is where I had some stinky tofu wonton. I think it's the steamed kind, mixed with some mala sauce and peas. Soo good! This is a must try when looking for food around Takashimaya and you don't want to pay department store food prices.

To round out the evening, I headed back to the Shilin night market to try out the curry bbq chicken (咖哩雞) wrapped in roti. It's pretty good, but not amazing. Perhaps the curry chicken is the wrong flavor. However they do redeam themselves with the dough tossing show. The guy out front tosses the roti dough about 20 feet into the air and catches it, much like they do for shows in a pizzeria. I was feeling a bit warm, so I decided to finish with something ice cold. I leave you with a photo of my strawberry, Kiwi, Mango bao bing (刨冰) dessert.

ShiDa (師大路夜市) night market next to NTNU

I visited the ShiDa night market for the first time tonight. It's right across the street from the MTC campus and next to the NTNU campus, so I may be frequenting this night market once school starts. It's a small night market, but still has plenty great food to offer. I've noticed that each night market have additional unique offerings that can't be found at other night markets. So it's important to explore all the night markets. The night market you decide to go to on a specific night, just might depend on what your craving at that moment. A few of the foods I haven't seen at other night markets is a giant desert crepe place. The crepes were the size of my head. Definitly a sharing size! I also discovered a belgium style lounge/pub (serving beer of course), Hong Kong puff pastry stand, Taiwanese beef noodle soup and a burger joint called Evans Burger. Of course the finest catch of the evening is Stinky Tofu! I found a place there that is pretty darn good. I think the best i've had so far. I didn't bring my camera so I don't have any photos to share.

OMG! Chou Dou Fu!!! 臭豆腐!!!

So deciding i'll be going back to ShiPai night market, I memorized the chinese characters of 臭豆腐. Add three more words to my chinese vocabulary :). Once at the night market, I was able to spot three stalls that served it. I ordered one to go, plus some popcorn chicken and strawberry ice slush. $140 TWD or $4 USD [insert big grin]. In addition, tonight was the first night that wasn't hot. It almost felt alittle cold. Of course it's probably still 82 degrees + and i'm sure it's only temporary until the season really starts to change around October. But for now, it's a relief.

Bitan bridge over Xindian river

I took some time out today to meet up with a family friend. We took a long MRT train ride down the Xindian line. Xindian is the last stop. The location is famous for it's 75 year old wood suspension bridge. It used to swing way more years ago, but now it's been strengthened with cables and metal support beams. Maybe because of too many complaints from people with weak stomaches. There is a legend that several swimmers have been sucked under and disappeared into the whirlpools in the river. I didn't feel like hauling my big DSLR out...a mistake. So my point-n-shoot sufficed.


This is a wall made out of personalized bricks. One for each person that donated. At least that what i assume. Here's one of two little piggies :)

For a 3pm snack we ate some peanut crumble covered blood cakes (豬血糕) and sour cabbage stuffed stinky tofu (臭豆腐, Shou Dou Fu). The tofu is actually fried then grilled and basted. Yumm! And for desert some shaved ice with red bean and other deliceous toppings. I think that about rounds it off. I'm heading out to the ShinLin nightmarket again suckers!