7 Must-Try Foods at Taiwan's Busiest Night Market for Under $25

Exploring Keelung's Night Market

• 📍 The chefs visit Chilongo night market in Jilong, Taiwan, aiming to eat like locals for under $25.
• 💡 The market is known for specialized stalls, each focusing on one or two signature dishes.

Savory Sticky Rice with Crab

• 🍚 A stall known for crab soup is visited, but the focus is on their sticky rice, enhanced with housemade chili oil and cilantro.
• 💰 This flavorful and distinctively grainy sticky rice costs only $4 NTD (approx. $1.30 USD).

Creative Shaved Ice Dessert

• 🍧 Chefs try "Pao Pao Bing," a dessert combining Italian ice and cold stone creamery techniques, made with finely shaved ice, egg yolks, condensed milk, and syrup.
• 🧊 The peanut-flavored version is highlighted for its creamy, fluffy texture, costing about $2 USD.

Nourishing Pork Trotter and Hawk

• 🍲 A dish featuring pork trotters and hawks, served with a rich, 24-hour bone broth and special noodles, is explored.
• 🍜 The noodles are described as having a unique texture from being salted and dried, absorbing the flavorful broth and seasonings like garlic soy sauce and rendered lard.
• 💰 This hearty meal costs around $8 USD.

Quintessential Oyster Omelet

• 🍳 The chefs savor an oyster omelet, a popular Taiwanese street food known for its crispy exterior, gooey interior, and briny oyster flavor.
• 🌶️ It's served with a choice of sauces, including a garlic soy paste and a sweet, slightly spicy ketchup-based sauce.
• 💰 This flavorful bite is priced at $2.50 USD.

Unique Fried Fishcake Snack

• 🍢 "Tian Bu La" (Taiwanese version of Japanese "tsukune") is a fried fishcake made with fish, starches, and seasonings, prized for its bouncy and elastic "Q" texture.
• 💰 This snack costs about $1.30 USD.

Pig's Blood Cake Delight

• 🩸 Pig's blood cake, steamed with sticky rice and served with soy paste, spicy bean paste, seasoned peanut powder, and cilantro, is a standout dish.
• 🌟 It's celebrated for embodying the classic Taiwanese flavor profile with its savory, nutty, and slightly spicy notes, costing around $1.30 USD.

Lamb Dish and Market Reflections

• 🍲 A flavorful lamb dish with a loose sauce, Chinese celery, and a bright, herbaceous punch is a personal favorite.
• 🌟 The chefs conclude by emphasizing the importance of craftsmanship, quality ingredients, and culinary history in experiencing the best of Taiwan's night markets.