Near my grandfather's apartment is a 100-year-old market my mother has frequented since childhood. Nanmen (south gate) market, once a simple bamboo construction, was renovated in the late 70s and is stuffed full of local delicacies.

The most attractive snacks are on the ground floor. These include dried foods of all kinds, from exotic fruits to sea creatures—salty dried octopus is a Taiwanese favorite, and my dad was sure to snap some up. (Available in Chinese markets in the States as well, but we don't let any opportunities pass us by). The first floor also featured a variety of mouth-watering sausages, beautiful fresh fruits and display after display of man tou, a pillowy soft white Chinese roll—slightly sweet and great with Peking duck, or deep-fried and served with condensed milk. These lovely renditions came in different colors/flavors like taro root, a lovely purple shade.

My absolute bar-none favorite treat is one that I despair I'll ever see replicated in the States: pork jerky studded with black sesame and coated in honey. The flavor is incredible. The thick version (about 2 millimeters) is pleasantly chewy. But the amazing thin version was almost transparent, as light as potato chips, with just as much intense taste. I've never seen jerky like this in the Asian neighborhoods of New York—usually what I see is very dark and lumpy, sometimes partly shredded, sometimes a bit wet. This was dry and smooth, a light red, and so beautiful with the black seeds. I managed to sneak some of the thick style back into the States past customs but it didn't last me very long. The thin translucent style was polished off on the first day of our road trip.

Amazing sweet jerky

Elsewhere in the market, customers can buy prepared foods to take home as well as components like fish cakes (unbelievable variety) or freshly-killed chickens. In the basement, a small boy clutching a sack from Shing Shen Dou Jiang Dian watched his mother plucking the birds with wide eyes.

As much as I loved the market, it was still just a very good market...so I was incredibly surprised to see a Japanese tour group there the last time we went. Not sure what the tourism appeal is, but Asian tourists certainly set a premium on getting a good meal no matter what other attractions are available.

<   previous      •      next   >