Closing it Out in Style
Mom, I apologize in advance for the double negative because in Taipei you
cannot not go to a night market. We opted for the less touristy Tong Hua Jie rather than Shihlin. Special thanks to Nicholas of
My Inner Fatty for giving me a heads up on this - a pork sausage sitting in a small rice canoe. How they fashioned a bun from rice, I can't figure out, I just know the combo works.
As you might expect, they grill em up fresh for you, the rice buns at the ready. The girlfriend was doubtful and ordered one for me only to wolf half of it once she got a taste. The first bite was a bit strange, the bun dense but better at handling the sausage juice. As I progressed I became a believer - at least in the half of the dog I managed to get. The toppings made a lot of difference - onions and some kind of greens perhaps with a bit of garlic, but I'm not sure.
Better yet was the "deep-fried dough", the official name of which escapes. The flat circle of dough was fried for about 2-3 minutes and doused with chili oil. The hot oily mess was delivered in two plastic bags, the smaller tightly wrapped for a clean finger-grasp and the larger to catch the inevitable droppings. I tried very greedily to not share this and was almost successful.
On cue, a healthy fruit stall appeared and guilted us. It was a hive of activity, whole fruits were quickly rended into clean, bite-sized parts.
Why anyone would pour condensed milk onto strawberries is a mystery - aren't strawberries sweet enough on their own? I'm a strawberry snob - this was a fail. Dodomode sauntered off from here to look for some steamed bao and I sooned followed. Just then someone punched me in the nose and poked me in the eyes and it was all I could do not to fall over. After a few seconds I regained my balance and looked around to try to figure out what happened.
I realized that I'd wandered into a stinky tofu steam cloud from a nearby stall. I began to run, fast. Anything to get away from the smell. I had to run clear out of the market and once I did, I wasn't eager to go back in. I stood there, talking to myself. "You only live once kid, get back in there and eat some stinky tofu." Then I heard myself answer. "Fuck that."
Tong Hua St at Lin Jiang
Taipei
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I'm with you on the tofu, bud. But the rest sounds delish. How can you go back to regular plain old cooking now?
ReplyDeleteSal, Nothing beats homecooked food! Was just talking to FN abt your meatball spag :)
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy this night market.. Lots of uncommon yummy snacks. Of course I meant uncommon in SG. Strawberries were sweet and juicy but I have a sweet tooth so can always do with more sweet.. Hehe
@Sal, Dodo - exactly, home cooking is the best! She keeps talking about your spaghetti and meatloaf and on and on and on....
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, guess I'll have to try another golden oldie dish for your next visit, Puff. I'll put on my thinking cap. :-)
ReplyDelete@Sal - nah, just give her the same old four things, she's boring.
ReplyDeleteam i invited? ><
ReplyDeleteWhen did peskylilsis morph into annoyinglilsis?
ReplyDeleteaw, you didn't eat the stinky tofu!
ReplyDelete@Danny - sorry boss. Your peeps have a lot of good stuff but I ummmmm, how do I put this delicately? They went off the rails with the stinky tofu....
ReplyDelete