Weekly Vocabulary --Taiwan's Food Culture. Section II

Taiwan Ngiht Market Food

Talking about the most amazing feature of Taiwan, the first thing which most of people come to their mind is night market culture. I'm no exception. When chatting with my two british email pals, I introduce this wonderful characristic to them, proudly. And their replys are interesting. They said that in England and most of the western countries they do not have night market, and it is hard to find a place to go after 9 p.m, except night clubs. Personally, I think night market is really great, because you can hardly find a place which has so many to eat, to shop, to play at one time, and with good bargen, too.

As a English major learner, it is easy to obtain the names of some exotic food from text book, foreign newpapers, or TV program. We know the dinning culture of other countries so well. However, when encountering the situation of introducting Taiwanese local dinning culture to foreign friends, it is hard for us to express ourselves. Why? Because we don't know how to say it. Therefore, in order to help myself and the other friends to introduce the significant foods in Taiwan night market, following are the 14 most popular snacks in Taiwan night market:

1. Stinky tofu(臭豆腐) - the aroma of stinky tofu is intimidating at first but can be an acquired taste.

2. Ba wan (肉圓) - a sticky gelatinous dough filled with pork, bamboo shoots, shiitake, and served with a savory sweet sauce

3. Grilled corn (烤玉米)

4. Taiwanese sausages - fatty pork sausages with a sweet taste. It is served on a stick with many different flavors and condiments of choice. Sometimes, it is wrapped in glutinous rice.

5. Scallion pancakes (蔥油餅) - flour pancake with many thin layers, made with scallions. A snack originating in the Chinese mainland.

6. Candied Crabapples - red candy coated bite-sized fruits served on a stick.Sometimes the crabapples are stuffed with preserved plums, and then candied.

7. Squid or fish on a stick - often marinated, then grilled.

8. Shaved ice - popular dessert consisting of shaved ice and a variety of toppings to choose from.

9. Tempura - made from starch and minced meats.

10. Taiwanese Crepes (潤餅) - crispy flour crepe filled with a variety of choices, such as seaflld crepe. Taiwanese Crepes is the same as spring roll in Taiwan.

11. Fruit or bean smoothies - milk or ice is blended on the spot with fresh papaya, mango, watermelon, read bean, or green bean.

12. Fried glutinous rice balls - slightly sweet in flavor

13. Fried chicken pieces 鹹穌雞 - small chunks of chicken sprinkled with peppers and basil flavor

14. Shawarma - A sandwich usually made from spiced, grilled chicken and is served on a leavened, white flour bun with julienned cabbage, a slice of tomato, sliced onions, ketchup, and mayonnaise. Brought over from Turkey decades ago and its seasoning was quite different from the Shawarma in Turkey.