Day 6

Today was a day of Taiwanese "comida cotidiana."
For lunch we went to this little Thai chicken place in the night market closest to Christine's house/school, a spot where she "goes with [her] friends after class all the time."  It came in a "bian dang," a "Taiwanese bento box" with the main course being chicken, with sauce, broccoli, noodles, a bittermelonesque thing (but it wasn't bitter, yay!) and all the white rice you can eat.  Of course we couldn't have a meal unaccompanied by a drink, so we got milk tea with that grass jelly stuff we had had for post lunch desert the day before.  Nothing too thrilling or special, but it was nice to go someplace cheap and typical, someplace where I'd probably eat at often if I was gonna be around for longer.
There were no food experiences to report on for most of the afternoon, although our ticket to the 91st floor of Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world, came with a complimentary beer float which after (not) much deliberation we decided to not take up, and I came across some interesting looking cookbooks at the bookstore that we rummaged through while waiting to go up the fastest elevator in the world.

For our (first) dinner we got beef noodle soup- one of Taiwan's most traditional dishes.  Before sitting down we got to pick up little appetizer plates- we got eggplant and tofu noodles.  Once again I was hella hungry so I scarfed that down and waited as patiently as possible for the majestic noodles to find their way to me.  And they did.  And (surprise surprise) they were amazing.  The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender, with lots of fat which makes everything so good.  The tomato broth was delicious, and the noodles were noodles, complimenting the rest of the soup perfectly.

Our next destination was the Shi Lin market, Taipei's biggest night market.  However, we had just eaten and were quite full, so to kill time we went to the public hot springs for some relaxation and digestion before our next conquest.
And conquer we did.

Rice Ball Lady

1) Strawberry covered in molasses.  Sold on the same stand as that tomato and plum molasses stuff I tried my first night here and didn't like.  This was much, much better.  I don't think I'd have it again, maybe I'm not a huge fan of molasses, but the strawberries were ripe and juicy and delicious.
2) Deep fried scallion pancake.  Super garlicy scallion pancake with an egg on top.  Good, a little oily, but I do love my garlic... :)
3) Quing Cao Cha- an herbal iced tea.  Super refreshing and very simple compared to all the boba/milk tea/grass jelly I've been drinking!
4) Pancake balls- Yes, Christine unintentionally tricked me into eating pancakes.  They t. weren't your traditional pancake shape which was deceiving, but probably from the exact same batter.  They were ok- tasted like pancakes- I didn't have more than a couple.
5) Rice balls- Christine and I decided to try something new when we saw this mysterious lady with a hat on using cool little contraptions to turn ingredients into food.  Christine tried to order from her in the traditional oral way when another patron came to our rescue, pointing out that the woman was deaf.  It was a nice ordering without words, especially in the middle of the hustle and bustle of this night market.  We got two different flavors of rice balls- peanut and sesame.  I liked the sesame one better but probably wouldn't get either of them again.
6) Fried squid- This was just a sample.  Since in Spain I was such a huge fan of octopus, I figured squid would probably be equally delicious!  This sample was ok, but I was full enough that I didn't feel compelled to eat an entire order of it.
7) Sausage and rice- The rice was encased the way sausages are and presented alongside a small sausage, with the idea being you take a bite of both of them at the same time.  I'm not sure how they seasoned the sausage, but it kinda tasted as if it had been soaked in that tea stuff that flavors so much of Taiwan's cuisine.  I didn't care for it too much, but the rice was delicious and I gobbled that right up.
8) Tomatoes and plum- One of Christine's favorite snacks here is tomatoes and plum.  What they do is they get little tomatoes and mix it in with little pieces of plum and put a little plum powder on top.  This is probably where people got the idea to put it all on a stick and cover it in molasses.  I was pretty excited for this unpleasant experience to be redeemed in a way, but I guess I just prefer my tomatoes salty over sweet.
9) Peanut ice: It's hard to explain this without showing the picture (will upload soon, promise!) My guess is they freeze a block of ice that's mixed with peanut sauce and a little cream and then they shave it off to make this really awesome looking & tasting desert.

Ok so I realize that the review of all this food coupled with the fact that it was hard to avoid the smell of stinky tofu makes it sound like the night market was not a great experience, but that's just not true! The night market was so cool, so exciting, so much more to try!  I didn't find much that I loved, but I barely made a dent in all this place had to offer, and it was just so cool to be in that environment that it was definitely a positive experience.
As we watched Glee, I broke out the seaweed popcorn I had been so eager to try, and I'm happy to report it surpassed expectations.  It was a lot like hurricane popcorn, with some sweetness added.  Very dangerous.  Do not plan on bringing any home, because I will eat it all in one sitting, and that is bad.

PS: When I get home, it's back to healthy eating.  I swear.