🌜Hai You Pork Rib Soup 海友十全排骨. Probably the most popular stall among locals at Shilin Night Market but it is relatively unknown to tourists. Listed in the Taipei Michelin Bib Gourmand Guide 2018 and 2019, but for foreigners, herbal pork rib soup is an acquired taste.
Most folks from Malaysia and Singapore, however, will take to it easily as it is a form of our familiar herbal bak kut teh.
The brown colour soup is watery but rich with balanced savoury sweet herbal flavours. The meat is fall-off-the-bone tender, tastes savoury sweet with a bit of infused herbal taste. Most of the ribs are from nearer the backbone, so it needs some effort to pick out the meat from inside the crevices. It's fun, if you are not in a hurry.
Restaurant name: Hai You Pork Rib Soup 海友十全排骨
Address: No. 49, Dadong Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
Nearest MRT: Between Shilin and Jiantan stations (Red Line)
Tel: +886 2 2888 1959
Hours: 2:30pm – 1:00am (closes at midnight on Sunday)
🌜Zhong Original Shanghai Pan-Fried Bun 鍾家原上海生煎包 (Yellow T-shirt). There are 2 sheng jian bao stalls at Shilin night market - this is the one in the Taipei Michelin Bib Gourmand selection 2018 and 2019. It's a humble, nearly 40 year old shop that hand makes the Shanghainese buns from kneading the dough, packing them with minced meat and spring onion, and cooking them in a large shallow pan. The buns are submerged in water in the flat pan, and cooked until all the water evaporated and the bottom of the buns are browned in the dry pan.
The white top sesame seed crusted bun is soft and chewy above while the browned bottom half has a slight crisp - it is like having the best of both soft and crispy worlds all at once. The savoury sweet meat ball and diced spring onion inside are enveloped by soupy juice just like a larger xiao long bao, of sorts. Zhong Original also have a vegetarian sheng jian bao filled with chopped cabbage which their fans like for its crunch and savoury sweet flavours.
☝Remember this shop closes at 9pm, so you got to be here early and get this first, if you don't want to miss it.
Restaurant name: Zhong Original Shanghai Pan-Fried Bun 鍾家原上海生煎包
Address: No. 38, Xiaodong Street, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
Nearest MRT: Between Shilin and Jiantan stations (Red Line)
Tel: +886 2 8861 2713
Hours: 3:00pm – 9:00pm (Weds off)
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🌜Good Friend Cold Noodle 好朋友涼麵 is the third stall at Shilin night market in the Michelin Bib Gourmand selection 2018 and 2019. Simple noodles topped with julienned cucumber and preserved cabbage smothered in a blanket of blended sauce of sesame seed paste/ oil, white vinegar, garlic, mala hot spice and chili oil. It tastes sweet, savoury with spicy heat that lingers briefly in the mouth. You can choose the level of spiciness you like from "small", "medium" to "large" - they rate spiciness by sizes 😂
They are generous with the sauce, so there is plenty to envelope every slightly springy strand with rich spicy sweet savoury flavours and aromas. Watch out for the tongue and lip numbing spices but otherwise almost everyone has only good things to say about this simple yet tasty noodle dish.
Restaurant name: Good Friend Cold Noodles 好朋友涼麵
Address: No. 31, Danan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
Nearest MRT: Between Shilin and Jiantan stations (Red Line)
Tel: +886 2 2881 1197
Hours: 5:30pm – 11:30pm (Thurs off)
🌜Dourakuyatai Ramen 道樂屋台 is one of the locals' favourite stalls in Shilin night market even though it is not serving typical Taiwanese night market street food. Japanese owner chef's grandmother runs a Fukuoka ramen stall in his hometown in Japan.
The creamy broth made by boiling lots of pork bones for 15 hours is full bodied and robustly savoury. Charsiu is made by stewing pork belly for 2 hours in a blend of soy sauce and sake sweetened with onions and spring onion.
The al dente ramen noodles are served in the creamy tonkatsu broth, boosted with a big scoop of lard, and topped with two slices of melty charsiu. Garnished with spring onion, julienned wood ear fungus, the charsiu slices are torched before serving. Two slices of dried seaweed and two halves of ajitsuke tamago egg complete the dish. Customers can choose the level of saltiness in the broth.
They also serve a spicy ramen, a miso ramen (where the soup is a blend of charsiu broth with miso sauce), as well as a charsiu with mayonnaise over rice dish, etc.
Restaurant name: Dourakuyatai Ramen 道樂屋台
Address: No. 112, Jihe Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
Nearest MRT: Between Shilin and Jiantan stations (Red Line)
Tel: +886 2 2882 0852
Hours: 5:00pm – 11:00pm (Mon off)
There are lots of other stalls to go wild and spend your calories as there are over 3,000 shops and stalls to choose from. Fried chicken chop, stinky tofu, oyster mee suah, bubble tea, all the usual suspects and many more quirky food that you may not have seen before.
Date: 3 May 2020
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Hi Tony,
ReplyDeleteThank for the insight into Shilin night market. A very tasty article.
Could you do another review of what's good (food wise, of cause), on Raohe 饒河 Night Market?
I first come across this night market was when travelling back from Jiufen 九份 to Taipei on public bus. Stopped here for their freshly out of oven Pepper Buns胡椒餅. They are especially tasty after a long, sleepy, cold and wet bus ride.
I am sure there is more treasure to be found here. Thanking you in advance.
Yes yes Crawler, I just did a round up on Raohe night market. Hope you like it too. Take care and stay healthy :-D
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