Hello foodie friends! Old bean wanted to visit one of his friends that lived in Keelung during his visit here so we decided to take the 1.5 hour bus ride there. Keelung is a fishing wharf that’s known as “old Taipei” because most of the population used to live here. However, over the years it has become abandoned as people moved to the city.
The famous night market here is the Keelung night market. I’m not really sure if you can even call it a night market because it’s open pretty much all day. Keelung night market is one of the busiest ones I’ve been to out of the lot that I went to during my visit including the one in Shilin, and Tong Hua
Shaved ice
The first thing we got when we were there was shaved ice because it was 38C out. The shaved ice there is different than the other shaved iced I’ve had and here’s why.
They put the ice into a bowl and mix it up quickly so that the ice gets cut up into smaller pieces. This is also when they add the flavoring to the ice.
Old bean wanted to go with the pineapple one so that’s what we got. It reminded me of dole whip from Disneyland but not as smooth in texture. It’s definitely artificial pineapple but it was a nice cool treat.
Fried fish cakes
I’ve had these when I went to the Tonghua night market but they were grilled. These however, were deep fried. I found that these lacked some of the fish cake flavor because you tasted a lot of the fryer oil instead. Something I did find interesting was how the exterior was crispy while the middle remained soft and chewy. The sweet sauce that they put on top was a nice addition.
Tapioca noodles
These noodles are unlike any I’ve had before. They’re made out of potato and tapioca starch so that they are soooo chewy in texture. Am I the only one who can’t get enough of chewy textures? If you’re in the same boat, go for this!
There are a few stalls with this but apparently this one is the best there is. It also comes with some cabbage and fried meat/fish balls of sorts…
Nutritious sandwiches
So being a total health nut, I saw this stand thinking “wow they have something healthy here?” Boy was I wrong about that.
As It turns out, this “nutritious” sandwich is made up of a hot dog bun cut in half and deepfried before being filled with lots of Japanese mayo, tomatoes, eggplant, ham and cucumber.
Old bean said that it was too interesting to pass up sooo here we are with this donut sandwich of sorts…
Fresh seafood
The thing that I notice the about night markets is that they have lots of fresh seafood. This one was on different. If anything I think that this one had more than the usual ones.
These are little cups of steamed glutinous rice. I’m used to seeing them in lotus leaf but definitely not a cup!
Bubble tea
By now we were getting a little thirsty and you can’t go to the night market without getting bubble tea. Well in Vancouver we call it bubble tea but in the States it’s called boba? I always found that odd. Anyways, the bubble tea in Taiwan is less than $2 CAD each. It’s always a must buy for me!
To be honest I’m not a huge fan of milk tea but when in Taiwan you have to get it because that’s where it came from right?
As if we didn’t already eat enough at the night market, Old bean’s friend took us out to dinner!
Mantou
We started off with a fried bread. It reminded me of fried mantou steamed buns but longer. It also didn’t come with condensed milk to dip it in ):
Green beans and frog legs
Next up was a sauteed dish of green beans and frog legs. Old bean said it was super crispy and it was all topped off with fried garlic chips. Looks are deceiving because this was hot!
Fish
Old bean wanted to make sure I had something to eat so we ordered a fish. It was deep fried and covered in a sweet and spicy sauce. Then to clear our palates we got a plate of napa cabbage on the side.
Fermented cabbage and wintermelon soup
Since it was such a hot day out, we ordered a fermented cabbage and wintermelon soup. I’m obsessed with fermented cabbage so I had a very generous portion of this!
Pork with sweet sauce
Last but not least came the pork with sweet sauce on top. The pork looked almost steamed and they were sliced very thin as well.
Have you been to Keelung night market before? What’s your favorite part about it? I love that it’s by the water and it’s a nice break from the busy city. We don’t have much of this in Vancouver. Talking about it now makes me miss it so much!
