Imagine recipes with roots in mainland provinces such as Sichuan. Add some fish and greens from subtropical Taiwan, and mix in a cuisine spread by Japanese colonialism. Combine all this with a growing local hunger for convenience and value for money. What you get are the top food trends in Taipei, served by eateries ranging from rusty market stalls to plush sit-down restaurants. Here's a selection of the most popular.
Night market: Smile Barbecue
The ultra-budget diner who likes things fried in sour-sweet barbecue sauce, or spiced with salt and chillies can choose from 42 raw ingredients, all on sticks, at Smile Barbecue. This is a classic slice of Taipei night market food culture, selling sticks for NT$10 (HK$2.50) to NT$50, depending on the ingredients. Veggies such as string beans and sliced green peppers are at the cheap end and seafood at the other end. Those wanting meat should look for chicken and bacon-wrapped scallions. Hand the chefs a basket of your pickings and they grill it for you in five minutes. Taipei's night markets are festive, cheap and crowded. Smile's stalls operate at night markets throughout the city; one is particularly prominent at Ningxia Road, where it's been for nine years. Stall manager Liang Kuan-song says that they keep the prices low so they can sell a lot. The strategy seems to be working, as there's already a queue three rows deep at 6pm.
Smile Barbecue, Ningxia Road Night Market, Ningxia Road at Minsheng West Road
