逛臺北夜市

Ningxia, Raohe, Shida, Shilin, Taida, Ximending, etc. All the night markets (夜市) we gingerly checked out melted into a blur as one giant genre. I was completely uninterested in the food or wares, focusing only on the energy and the organic origins and growth of the markets, and people-watching. Each night market is a cacophony of colors, sights and smells. The girls are less picky about food than I am. But neither of us had any interest in queueing for any sort of food at the supposedly famous stalls selling cutely-named skewers and bowls of something-tasty. However, looking at the hygiene of the stalls, my stomach churned and the night markets became a place to stroll through for the vibes than think of it as a serious dining venue.

I do like fermented tofu (臭豆腐). A snack I learnt to appreciate years ago strolling through China. However, there're plenty of horror stories about why it can be that stinky. *shudder* Never mind. The level of stink-i-ness seemed to have decreased. I picked the stall that seemed to have the stinkiest deep fried cubes! Woot. Didn't want it spicy. Taipei's night markets' idea of spicy is the dreaded Sichuan hot pepper mala (麻辣) sauce. No thanks. I was quite happy to make a large serving as one dinner. The girls aren't fans. Muahahahah. The biggest problem the girls had with my tofu, was that the smells remained in the hair even after washing it in the night. Hahahahaha.

That same night, we tried the oyster noodles (mee sua, 蚵仔麵線). We've never had it. I had romantic notions of it till I learnt about the ingredients in a traditional bowl. Ordered one large bowl to share among the three of us. There're many variations, including those with shredded chicken and chicken stock, and vegetarian options. However, the ones offered at the night markets are mostly the ones made from a mix of chicken and pork stock, and topped with pig intestines.

I took one mouthful and shook my head violently at the rest. NO LIKE. H took one bite, and decided that she would eat only the mee sua. A, who didn't mind it at all, had to finish the generous portions of oysters and intestines. She was all like, "Too much!" Yeah, so much till she refused to have another bowl of oyster mee sua thus far. Hurhurhur.