Shida Night Market
My friends were asking me what I was going to do when I got to Taiwan…knowing my family, I knew we were going to drop off our bags and head straight to the night markets. The last time I was in Taiwan, in 2006, we literally dropped off our bags at my aunt’s house and went straight to Shilin night market. This time, we are staying in a hotel within walking distance of Shida night market, but I’m sure we’ll be paying a visit to all of the markets.
Night markets are very popular in Taiwan for locals and tourists. They open after dark and serve food, fruit drinks, have games, and sell little knick-knacks. When we were kids, my brother and I always looked forward to going to the night markets with our friends. David was a huge fan of playing with the BB guns (you can shoot little balloons with a BB gun for fun). I was always a fan of browsing the shops and eating the fruit ice desserts.
This stand was very popular with locals; you pick what you want to eat, they cook it, add sauce, and place it in a plastic bag for you to eat. You can pick all types of vegetables, meats, and fish on a stick:
Another stand selling the same kind of stuff:
We didn’t eat any of the food in a plastic bag because it didn’t look that appetizing (they also douse it with soy sauce and another brown sauce) but the locals we spoke with all said it was REALLY good.
The night markets always sell all types of fresh fruit – here are wax apples that are in season right now:
And all types of pickled plums and peaches:
Crepes are really popular in the night market – they have sweet and savory crepes for about $2 USD:
Here’s the owner making a nutella/peanut butter/banana crepe and a crepe filled with salad:
We eventually settled on two soups (even though it’s kind of warm/muggy, we were in the mood for soup!) This stand serves a lot of hot soups, which is popular even in the summer months:
The first soup is called dong-gui soup (pig’s feet noodle soup):
Dong gui is the medicinal herb used to stimulate blood flow. It tastes and smells a little bit like Chinese herb stores, but was very comforting. We also ordered the duck leg dong-gui soup:
And a night market favorite, oyster omelets! Here’s the owner making our order:
The oyster omelet is topped with ketchup and some veggies:
The omelet is quickly cooked with added cornstarch for an extra gelatinous texture. It’s really popular in night markets and I still remember eating it when we landed in Taiwan back in 2006.
Like I said, we literally dropped off our bags and headed to the night markets because we were SO excited. Here’s me after the 18 hour flight:
Before heading back to our hotel, we wanted to get some freshly made fruit juice (so cheap and SOOO good):
We ordered a kiwi juice:
YUM! Today, we are heading to Ding Tai Fung, one of our favorite restaurants in Taiwan. They specialize in soup dumplings and they are SO delicious!
Reader Comments
Everything looks so good!! Especially the sweet crepe with the icecream. I have never heard of wax apples. Do they have the same taste as a regular apple?
@LA – wax apples don’t have the same taste as regular apples…they’re slightly sweet and have a different texture. I’ve never seen them in the states or anywhere outside of Asia!
All of your pictures look so nice and I’m so jealous that wax apples are in season in Taiwan.
I’ve loved them ever since I originally tried them in Hong Kong and think that they are so refreshing on hot days.
I was going to ask if you’ve been able to find them in New York city at all but I guess you haven’t from your comment above.
Though I’ve read on some Chowhound threads that they sometimes sell them in Chinatown off Canal St. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
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