The Night Market with the Most Michelin

On this recent trip back to Taipei (after the Covid), I went to Ningxia Night Market. This was once the night market with the most Michelin food stalls. They have since lost their crown, but it is still a good market to visit with lots of good eats.

Taiwan is famous for its numerous night markets called 夜市. Many of these were scattered around Taipei and have recently gained worldwide fame for their Michelin good eats. One of the earliest to gain such fame was Ningxia Night Market 寧夏夜市 located near the Taipei train station.

Unlike her famous cousins, Shilin Night Market 士林夜市 and Raohe Night Market 饶河夜市, Ningxia is busy but not too overcrowded.

Ningxia Night Market serves up many types of Taiwanese street food, and the notable fact is that many shops around have a history of at least 40 – 50 years.

蠔仔煎 Oyster Omelette

There are 4 shops selling Oyster Omelette at Ning Xia, and this is probably one of the most popular, with some seating space within the store for comfort.

Yuen Huan Pien Oyster Egg Omelette was established in 1965 and is a famous oyster omelette shop with nearly 60 years of history on Ningxia Road. They also won the Michelin Plate recommendation from 2018 to 2021 

They offer a variety of oyster dishes including oyster omelette, oyster soup, and garlic-dried oysters. In particular, their famous must-try oyster omelette uses oysters shipped daily from Tainan, which are fresh, plump and juicy, and topped with a yummy Taiwanese-style red sauce, and fresh vegetables! 

Yuen Huan Pien Oyster Egg Omelette 圓環邊蚵仔煎
No. 46, Ningxia Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103

Michelin Guide Taiwan Bib Gourmand 2018-2021 Street Food 2022-2023

鹽水雞 Boiled Chicken

鹽水雞 or “chicken boiled in saltwater” was said to be made from hens that have gone past their economic peril do laying eggs. These chicken were not tender and offer used for essence of chicken or for making chicken stock. The boiled chicken meat was then used as the ingredients for this street snack. These days, due to the popularity, these were fresh chickens that were specially boiled to make this snack.

Different parts of the chicken are sold separately and nothing is left to waste. My favourite parts are the cock’s crown, drumstick and gizzards. These are cut using a scissors and then condiments like sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper, MSG and other spices can be added. Some would blanch the chicken in boiling stock before adding condiments, but it doesn’t matter. The chicken is usually chewy and it’s a great snack for watching TV with.

臭豆腐 Stinky Tofu

No night market worth its salt can do without a stinky tofu store or two. Stinky tofu, contrary to common belief, is not tofu that went funky. In fact it will be referred to as lacto-fermented tofu given a more modern way of describing it. A brine that is actually full of healthy bacteria is added to fresh tofu to facto-ferment it. The result seems to be funky tofu with a distinct ammonia smell because of the by-product of the fermentation.

Lin Ji Hot and Spicy Stinky Tofu is quite famous among the stinky tofu stores in Taipei because the owners of this store are two lovely twin sisters.

With a history of more than 60 years, Lin Ji is one of the most popular shops in Ningxia Night Market. Try the signature spicy stinky tofu 麻辣臭豆腐, and don’t forget to add tofu skin 腐皮 and duck blood pudding 鸭血 that makes your tofu so appetising.

If the spicy version was not something that you would try (because it is spicy as well as stinky, and it reminded some people of sewage), then an entry level try would be the deep fried version. It is less menacing in terms of the stink, and the deep fried tofu was like fried chicken.

Also available in the store in another quintessential snack from the night market – the oyster rice vermicelli 蠔仔面線. The stock used is made from bonito flakes. The rice vermicelli is usually from Hsinchu and boiled in the rich bonito dashi with garlic and other condiments. And then oysters and pig intestines are added before service. The noodles are gooey and very tasty.

Ningxia Night Market 寧夏夜市
Ningxia Road, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103
103台北市大同區寧夏路

Visited Sep 2023