Eat Your Way through Taiwanese Night Markets 在台灣夜市吃個痛快
圖片來源：一百隻熊
We all have times when we crave a bit of comfort food, be it ice cream, chocolate, a nice cocktail or simply a fattening slice of pizza. One of the things I enjoy about living in Taiwan are the night markets; they've got great renditions of my favourite comfort foods.
I normally go after a long draining day at work, and my trip always starts with a tall glass of iced bubble tea. Then I usually find my way to the nearest food stall for fried oyster omelet. I love its starchy texture mixed with small oysters and soft egg batter, but what gives the dish its spirit is the sauce. It is topped with a savoury and a sweet sauce which looks pinkish and provides an intense taste to the dish.
For some of my meat-lover friends, they always go for the Taiwanese sausage sandwiched in a sticky rice bun. This is a real treat for people who want a fast ticket to calorie-hell because the bun is made of glutinous rice and an oily sausage sits inside it. It is normally barbequed on the outside, and served with cilantro, salted cucumber and lots of garlic to give it a more zesty taste.
I prefer the less greasy option – hot stew. I think this is a rather fun experience because you get to choose what you want to put in the stew from an assorted selection. I also enjoy watching my selection of food being cooked in a big pot before being transferred to a big plate, and drizzled with a mouth-watering braising sauce.
There are a few 'fear factor' food items that I still don't dare trying like pig intestines and stinky tofu, but overall, Taiwanese night markets offer an absolutely amazing array of mouth-watering street food.
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我們都有想吃點食物療癒身心的時候，它可以是冰淇淋、巧克力、一杯雞尾酒，或僅僅是片使人發胖的披薩。夜市是我喜歡在台灣生活的原因之一，它們提供了很多我最愛的、能溫暖身心的食物。
我通常會在結束漫長一天的疲憊工作後去夜市，而這段旅程總是從先點一大杯冰珍珠奶茶開始，然後再找個最近的小吃攤，點一份蚵仔煎。我喜歡它融合小蚵仔和軟滑雞蛋的糊狀質地，但最能賦予這份美食靈魂的，是它的醬汁。覆蓋在蚵仔煎上面的，是粉紅色、甜而可口的醬汁，它使食物更美味。
對我有些愛吃肉的朋友們來說，他們通常會去買大腸包小腸，就是把香腸夾在黏糊糊的糯米腸中。這是想品嘗高熱量食物的絕佳選擇，因為米腸是用糯米做的，再加上一根油膩香腸夾在其中。一般來說，它是用炭火烘烤而成，再輔以香菜、醃黃瓜和大蒜，風味更佳。
不過我更喜愛清淡點的選項——滷味。這是很有趣的經驗，因為你可以從分類的食材中選出自己想吃的，再把它們放入滷鍋中煮。我很喜歡看著自己選好的食材放在大鍋中滷，然後熱騰騰地端到一個大盤子裡，再加點看了就讓人流口水的醬汁。
還是有些帶著「恐怖元素」的食物，我至今不敢品嘗，如豬大腸和臭豆腐，但總的來說，台灣夜市真的提供了很多神奇又令人垂涎三尺的美味小吃。
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Language Corner
1. crave（渴望得到）: to crave means to have a strong feeling of wanting something.
2. fattening（讓人發胖的）: fattening food contains a lot of fat and sugar, and would quickly make you fatter if you ate a lot of it.
3. draining（使人疲憊的）: if something is draining, it makes you tired.
4. starchy（澱粉的）: starchy food contains a lot of starch, which is found in foods like rice, bread and potatoes.
5. batter（糊狀物）: a mixture of flour, milk, and often eggs. It is used to make cakes and pancakes, or to cover food before it is fried.
6. savoury（鹹味的）: savoury food is salty and not sweet.
7. glutinous rice（糯米）: a type of rice that gets sticky when cooked.
8. zesty（可口的）: something that is full of flavour.
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Top ten night market food in Taiwan
台灣夜市10大美食
1.braised pork with rice（滷肉飯）
2.Taiwanese pork burger（刈包）
3.Deep-fried chicken cubes （鹹酥雞）
4.Scallion pancake（蔥油餅）
5.Oyster vermicelli / Oyster thin noodles（蚵仔麵線）
6.Shaved ice（剉冰）
7.Pig blood cake（豬血糕）
8.Deep-fried tofu pockets（阿給）
9.Deep-fried chicken fillet（雞排）
10.Grilled cuttlefish（烤魷魚）