Lychee 荔枝

Late spring and early summer (May/June) is lychee season in Taiwan. Lychee (荔枝 Lìzhī), pictured on the right, are a reddish fruit on the outside, attached to sticks. To eat them, peel the outside off and eat the sweet, white fruit inside. Spit out the black seed.

A larger, sweeter type of lychee comes first in the season, followed by the regular variety.

Dashu has a pineapple/lychee festival each year, too, which sells pineapples, lychee, and other fruit-related products.

Nightmarket Treats – Part 1 of many

The following snacks are available in the Ruei Feng (瑞豐) Nightmarket.

Famous Duck Wrap – soft outside shell (sort of like a bread-y tortilla) filled with succulent duck meat, cucumber strips, pickled vegetables, onions, and a sweet savoury sauce.

 

This is the sign for the Duck Wrap, including the choices of flavours. Most of them are self-explanatory. “Numb” apparently, is another word for VERY SPICY :)!

 

 

Parking: Easy. There are two parking lots. The one that is usually open is on Nanping Rd. (南屏路), which is off of Yucheng Rd. (裕誠路). The other lot is open when the first one is full, and it’s just past the nightmarket on Yucheng Rd.

Price: Cheap! 40 NT per wrap

Directions: From MAK, take Hwy 10, exit Zihyou/BoAi Rd. Go south on Bo Ai until you reach Yucheng Rd. Turn right onto Yucheng, go one block, and you’ll see the nightmarket on the right. For parking, take another right at your first light after you turn onto Yucheng. That road is Nanping Rd. There is one parking lot that is very visible on your left. THAT IS NOT THE LOT! Go about half a block until you see a “P” on your left – it’s basically a little alley that goes into the lot. Look for a little restaurant that looks really elegant, and starts with the letter “M”. It’s just past that restaurant. If that lot is full, then you’ll need to circle around, and go back onto Yucheng. Go past the nightmarket, and right where it ends (before the next lights), turn right. They’re both difficult to spot, so look out!

Hours of Operation: Tuesday, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, starting at about 6pm. (Food vendors tend to open earlier than clothing/games vendors)

The BEST Zhuàngyuɑn Gao (狀元糕)

Zhuangyuan Gao is sweet glutinous rice, steamed into cakes. They’re usually filled with fillings like sesame or red bean. The texture is somewhat like chewy coconut, obviously without the coconut flavour!

The rice powder is first put into wooden cups, filled with another powder of your choice, then topped with more rice. Then they’re stuck into tubes piping extremely hot steam. The vapours help the rice powder congeal, creating yummy bite-sized snacks.
You can purchase 6 cakes for 50 NT, 10 for 80NT and 13 for 100NT. The flavours available are (from left to right): Sesame, pork, red bean, peanut, coconut and almond. I especially like the coconut and almond flavours.




Parking: easy (on a major road)
Price: moderate
Directions: From MAK, take Hwy 10 and exit at Zihyou Rd. (自由路) Go straight under the highway until you hit Bo Ai Rd. (博愛路). Turn left. Go south on this road until you reach DaShun Rd. (大順路). Turn left. Drive until you reach the next MAJOR intersection, which is at Zhonghua First Rd. (中華一路), then turn left again. Keep going south until you get to the overpass and go over it, continuing on Zhonghua Third Rd. After you pass JianGuo Rd. (建國三路), you’ll see a smaller street, called SanMin Street (三民街). It should be the second street after JianGuo. On the southwest corner, you’ll see the stand.
Hours of operation: unknown (but probably in the morning since there’s a market there.)

Bite-sized Rice Dumplings (or Zongzi, 粽子)

“Zongzi” (粽子) are pyramid-shaped glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. Some are just rice. Others have savoury fillings such as pork, salted egg, mushrooms and boiled peanuts. Some have sweet dips. These zongzi are special because they’re called 一口粽子, or literally, One Bite Dumpling.



By the time we got to the store, which was just before noon, there was little selection left. The family makes a certain amount each day, and if they’re gone, they’re gone! They’re not cheap though – they range from 5 – 7 NT per dumpling, depending on the filling.

Parking: Moderate (depends on time of day – it is a small alley, but because it is, you can do whatever you want!)

Price: Moderate

Directions: From MAK, Take Hwy 1 south and exit at Zhong Zheng Rd. (中正路). As you come off the ramp, go straight past the big intersection of Zhong Zheng Rd. Follow the signs leading you to the next big street south of there, called San Duo Rd. (三多路). Take a left, and drive about 5-10 minutes until Fude Rd. (福德路). You should see a special school on your right called 三信家商. Right across from the front entrance of the school is a small alley. Turn left into this alley and you’ll see the store on your left-hand side, almost at the end of the alley.

Hours of operation: Unknown, but probably early morning (by 11am) is best.

Custard apples (a.k.a. Budda-head fruit) 釋迦

This is a custard apple, also known as the Budda-head fruit (釋迦 shì jiā). It's a soft fruit (much like custard) that is grown a lot on the east coast (near Taitung in the southeast). They typically cost 50NT per fruit or less and there's a couple of varieties, including "original" and the pineapple custard apple, which is a sturdier version of the fruit. Look for them in the wintertime at the markets (and perhaps other times of the year, too, if you're closer to the east coast). To eat it, I cut it in half and dig out the white fruit with a spoon, spitting out the seeds. Try it!