Rao He Night Market / 饒河 – A Lesser Known, But Great Night Market

Taipei is known for it’s large night markets.  Night markets are big outdoor marketplaces that have tons of street food, games, shopping and other small stores.  They are a lot of fun and happen to have some wonderful food.  The largest and most famous is called Shi Lin (士林夜市), however there are many other night markets.  One that is close to my friends’ condo is called Rao He (饒河) which as it turns out is the first night market in Taipei.   It’s much smaller than Shi Lin with basically one long street in front of a big temple.

Hu Jiao Bao (Pepper Bun):

We saw a huge line in front of this stand and basically anytime you see a long line in Taiwan for food it’s almost guaranteed to be awesome.  This was no exception, I think this might be one of the best street foods I’ve ever had.  This was cooked like a cylinder oven very similar to how Indian naan bread is cooked.  Not surprisingly the bun itself actually tastes fairly similar to Indian naan, but the inside has pork, minced mushrooms and scallions in it, which tastes very Chinese.  The bread is awesome and tastes so good.  The filling was amazing, really flavorful, think about the best dumpling you’ve ever had and this is better than that.  So good. 9.25/10

Fruits:

Fruits in Taiwan are really good, here’s a pic of a fruit stand.  The guavas were really good. 8.75/10

Squid:

This was interesting, this was some type of preserved squid.  It’s interesting as it’s much more firm than regular squid and they put a pretty good sauce that was a bit spicy and had a lot of garlic in it. 7.5/10

Corn:

I think I’m the only person who likes this, but its roasted corn that is basted with a spicy soy sauce mixture.  The version here was decent, but not the best I’ve ever had in Taiwan. 7.5/10

Grilled Squid:

This is grilled squid that is basted with a soy sauce mixture.  It’s pretty good, I like it with beer. 7.75/10

Squid Vermicelli Soup:

This isn’t actually in Rao He, but it’s in a small street stand that is close to Rao He.  They serve something that is similar to oh ah mi sua (a famous oyster vermicelli soup), but instead of oysters, they put squid in it.  The soup is fairly thick and has a mild taste, but they give you vinegar and chili oil, which go really well with the soup.  They also put cilantro, bean sprouts, pickled vegetables (suan cai) in it as well.  The squid is really good and tender.  Overall, it was excellent. 8.5/10

Overall, a fun and good night market, I highly recommend for the hu jiao bao place.

Here’s a map to find it: https://www.raohe.com.tw/e4-1.htm