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  • You can eat really well in Taiwan without ever darkening a doorway.

  • In fact, some of the best food is out in the streets.

  • Street food is everywhere in Taiwan and it's delicious and affordable so you can try lots of it.

  • There's nothing better than strolling along, like a moveable menu,

  • and letting your eyes and nose do the choosing for you.

  • It's more than likely you'll spot a food or two you don't recognize,

  • which is great because it's a chance to try something new.

  • Marc and I have eaten very well in Taiwan and made lots of other videos about foods,

  • drinks,

  • and desserts.

  • Holy Kapowgabonza.

  • So check out the rest of our Taiwan series for more.

  • Let's start with a very traditional and typical Taiwanese dish:

  • braised pork on rice.

  • It's filling and flavourful and we ate a large, which came with fried shallots,

  • for only 40 Taiwan Dollars, which is around $1.70 CAD.

  • Ooh it kind of reminds me of something my parents used to make when I was a kid.

  • Really?

  • It has just like a really nice almost… I don't want to say gravy-like sauce but kinda.

  • We ate this meal on the sidewalk and shared a table with another man.

  • If you're eating on a plastic stool, chances are you're going to eat well.

  • Like these noodles we got for 60 Taiwan dollars or $2.50 CAD.

  • Super, super peanut-y.

  • We got 10 very satisfying dumplings for 50 Taiwan dollars or $2 CAD

  • and this dinner was the day we did a rainy road trip to Taroko Gorge

  • right before we had peanut butter ice mochi for dessert.

  • I'll link those videos below as well.

  • We also visited the night market in Hualien,

  • which included trying a 'Taiwan hamburger' for the first time.

  • You choose what sort of meat, filling, and sauce you want and they make it to order.

  • We got braised pork, black pepper sauce, honey mustard, cucumbers, onions, and noodles

  • and it all comes in a steamed bun for 65 Taiwan dollars or about $2.75 CAD.

  • When we walked by a stand selling banana pancakes at the Hualien night market, we could not resist.

  • Obviously this isn't necessarily Taiwanese,

  • however, it is one of my favourite street foods in the entire world

  • and eating them outside a train station in Thailand is one of my top food travel memories.

  • It's a thin pancake fried on a grill with sweet bananas

  • and this one was just 50 Taiwan dollars or $2 CAD.

  • You can get different toppings on it like honey, chocolate, and peanut butter,

  • but the best is condensed milk.

  • If you ever get the chance to try this, do it and please have some for me too.

  • And speaking of top food travel memories, I think I made a new one in Taiwan.

  • As usual, it was very unexpected.

  • It was on the beautiful little island of Xiao Liuqiu

  • where we had an amazing time driving our scooter around

  • and swimming with sea turtles.

  • I'll think that video too.

  • One night we had rushed to a lookout point to watch the sunset

  • and had some food I will never forget.

  • I just started eating this and I was like

  • we need to put this in a video because it's insanely good.

  • I don't really know how to describe it except it's like a deep fried burrito full of cheese and meat

  • and this one has corn.

  • This one is chicken there's also a bacon one.

  • Look at the packaging, how cute this is.

  • It's so salty.

  • Picture a deep fried burrito with cheese and your pick of chicken, bacon, tuna, or beef.

  • I need a franchise of this where I live.

  • You missed the first bite but I was like

  • 'cause it's so, so good.

  • I'm going to find out the name of this place and link it because if you come here

  • you need to have this in your hand like this.

  • I did find out the name of the place: it's called Little Tadpole

  • and you have to order by 10am

  • or they will literally be sold out for the rest of the day.

  • They're 60 to 70 Taiwan dollars, less than $3 CAD.

  • However, the best value we found for street food in Taiwan

  • starts at less than half that price.

  • It's roti.

  • It all starts by spraying the grill with oil and then adding whatever filling you want in the roti.

  • I got egg with cheese and Marc got Taiwanese basil and egg.

  • When it's cooked, it gets folded up and served super, super hot in a takeaway bag.

  • Xie Xie.

  • Bye bye.

  • Bye bye. -Bye bye.

  • Ooh it's hot!

  • It's very hot.

  • Oh my god, I can barely hold it it's so hot.

  • Let's try this.

  • Mmm oh that is really good.

  • The roti is just perfect.

  • So squidgy, the texture.

  • Mmm love squidgy.

  • Smacking my lips.

  • He's like muhaha.

  • When the sun goes down in Taiwan the night market is just waking up,

  • and this is where you want to be.

  • The smells, smoke, and steam in the air

  • coupled with the sights and sounds of food being prepared

  • is a full on sensory experience that culminates of course with you TASTING some of that food.

  • Our favourite night market in Taipei is Raohe

  • and the best thing we tasted there were pork, leek, and cabbage dumplings

  • with your choice of spicy or sweet sauce.

  • Even the container they came in was cute.

  • They were so good we went back to get more.

  • And when it only costs 50 Taiwan dollars or $2 CAD for 10 dumplings,

  • how could you not get seconds?

  • Whoa!

  • All those flavours together and this sauce, it's almost like a Teriyaki sauce,

  • are blowing my mind.

  • That might be one of the best dumplings I've ever had.

  • Strong words.

  • We also got to try something at Raohe that we had been on the look out for:

  • a unique fruit called a bell apple.

  • One look at its shape tells you where that name comes from.

  • We were surprised at the high cost, relatively speaking of course, of a bell apple

  • just one was 100 Taiwan dollars or just over $4 CAD.

  • The taste wasn't at all what we expect from apples at home in Canada.

  • The bell apple was less crunchy, more spongey in texture and not very sweet.

  • We both enjoyed it, though, and if you spot one, I definitely recommend giving it a try.

  • It's like if a pumpkin and an apple had a baby.

  • That's how it tastes.

  • There were other highlights walking through Raohe night market too.

  • Like coffin sandwiches.

  • Not the cheeriest of names for what is more or less a bread bowl.

  • These bitter gourds are a very common vegetable in Taiwan.

  • They're used in stir fries, salads, soups, or even juice.

  • These are a traditional snack of skewered strawberries and cherry tomatoes coated in sugar.

  • You can also find grilled snails,

  • King oyster mushrooms,

  • and different meats and organs.

  • One of my other favourites is a traditional Taiwanese dessert

  • which is normally stuffed with red bean and other fillings.

  • The skin is made of sweet potato powder and I just love the chewy texture.

  • There's lots more to see at the night market and many, many more street foods to try in Taiwan.

  • This video is just a taste - pun very much intended, by the way.

  • I'll link our other Taiwan videos below so check the description box for more

  • on what to eat,

  • where to go,

  • and what to do in Taiwan.

  • No matter what you get up to while visiting, though,

  • you can fill your stomach with unique flavours and textures you'll dream of long after.

  • I hope you enjoyed this video.

  • Remember to give it a like if you did

  • and subscribe for more travel and food adventures.

  • Thanks for watching!

You can eat really well in Taiwan without ever darkening a doorway.

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