Shilin Night Market

You can see the fireworks in the background.


I need to start taking better pictures of the food, or at least some more detail shots. We went to the night market at Shilin last night, it was packed, full of things to buy, eat, drink, touch and smell. Speaking of smell, I wish there was some sort of smell-camera, because there are some pretty amazing smells to behold in the streets here: green onion and garlic sizzling in a hot pan. Steam buns sweet and soft. Boiling, rolling broth in a large pot. Skewered meat being seared on a grill. The exception is the stinky tofu. That's a real thing, and apparently it's akin to aged cheeses. It smells so, so gross.

Last night was lantern festival night, and they were letting off fireworks like crazy - except not in some designated area, just out on the street next to cars and people. A bit crazy. The night market was bright and busy and winding and packed - lots of goodies for sale. The only thing I bought, and the thing that I can now not live without, is mixed fruit with chili-salt. OMG you guys, it's like there was a party in my mouth and everyone was invited. Sweet! Spicy! Salty! Sweet! So good. So fresh and juicy. We also tried these yummy little dumplings filled with mysterious goodness. Even if I had remembered to take a picture of these, I wouldn't of had time because we gobbled them so fast.