Night Market Street Food

One of the tourist attractions in Taiwan has got to be its awesome night markets. Night markets are very common in Taiwan and they are full of cheap goodies and yummy foods!

In this post I will be sharing some of my favorite night market snacks. Let's just let the pictures do the talking!

Here is 大腸包小腸. Literal translation being large sausage covered small sausage. haha I know… The big sausage is made with sticky rice and the small sausage is traditional Taiwanese sausage. The vendor slices the grilled rice sausage into a bun and stuffs pickled cucumbers, Chinese sauerkraut, as well as the Taiwanese sausage inside.

Here we have one of my favorites- 豬血糕 （pork blood rice cake). Oh whatever, I know you are "ewwing", but this is sooo good and it's been one of my favorite snacks since I was a little girl. The vendor covers the cooked pork blood rice cake with a peanut mixture and cilantro. It's chewy and flavorful, you would never know it's actually made with pork blood.

Red bean cake, another one of Taiwanese' favorites. They grill these cakes and fills them with red bean filling, cream custard, or even shredded radish if you don't like sweets. They maybe be small but they are very filling!

Ah, and here is my favorite- 蔥抓餅. They are pretty much scallion pancakes but they make it fluffier and chewier by "clutching" the pancakes with a tong. You can also add an egg, or top your pancake with kim chi, beef, Chinese sauerkraut, or anything you like.

 I like mine plain :)

This is the solution for Taiwan's hot summer nights- Chinese shaved ice. The bowl is covered in shaved ice and tops with your favorite toppings. Here we have tapioca balls, red beans, taro balls, yam balls, and grass jelly. It is so refreshing and can definitely cool you down instantly.

Crepes are pretty big here. Savory or sweet, you can choose anything you like in your crepe.

I got corn and ham. It is HUGE!

Obey your thirst by buying a cup of sugar cane juice. It's refreshing and absolutely 100% fresh. They make it from raw sugar canes right in front of you!

That's all for now. Can't wait to show you more goodies soon!

Miami Food Adventure

I escaped the cold weather and took a mini vacation to the sunny South Beach last month. There, I tried many different foods and seriously cannot think of an unsatisfying meal the three full days that I was there. Food was awesome in Miami. We had mostly Cuban food (of course), and somewhere along the 3-day long food adventure we discovered a perfect little Dutch-Indonesian restaurant that just blew me away.

The restaurant was called Indomania. This small but cozy restaurant is located underneath a weathered motel, if it wasn't for the internet, I could have never discover this hidden gem. The owners were super friendly and the two waiters were extremely helpful and gracious. I was a bit confused of the connection between Dutch and Indonesia. Our Indonesian waiter explained that the Dutch owned Indonesia for a long time, and in the Netherlands, Indonesian food is very common. History learned.

Okay, on to the food. We got Rijsttafel for two. It's almost like Tapas, but Asian. Small plates of food with a little bit of everything. Here is the list of deliciousness that was included-

Sateh Ayam- grill chicken skewer with peanut sauce
Ayam Opor- chicken in coconut curry (my fav)
Smoor Djawa- beef in kecap sauce
Babi Ketjap- pork in ginger, vinegar, and sweet soy sauce
Nasi Putih- white rice
Nasi Kuning- yellow rice, lemongrass, kunyit and galanga (YUM!)
Telor Besegnek- hard boiled egg in curry sauce
Sambal G Buncis- crispy spiced green beans
Sayur Lodeh- vegetables in coconut broth
Atjar Ketimoen- sweet and sour cucumber
Rudjak Manis- Indonesian fruit salad
Krupuk Udang- shrimp cracker
Serungdeng- fried coconuts and peanuts

I had to copy the menu on their website, there was no way I could remember the names of all the food!! Needless to say, the food was just wonderful, especially with a nice glass of red :)

The pictures are a bit dark and they might not be too clear, but it was just not the right time/mood to be taking pictures. However, looking at these pictures right now just made me extremely hungry.

Alright, other places in Miami Beach that I highly suggest are:

Puerto Sagua- Cuban restaurant. Very affordable and delicious, went there 3 times during my 3 day stay. Enough said.
David's Cafe- Cuban diner. Local joint, also very affordable. Make sure to order the Cuban breakfast toast, Cuban coffee, and their guava pastry... that sh*t is addictive.

Let's go to Miami, please?!?!