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Hu Jiao Bin: My First Trip to RaoHe Night Market

I love stumbling on something good.  It’s like a revelation when you accidentally come across something that you should have been looking for all along.  Well, this is that something.  Once I took a bite of this peppered bun (hu jiao bin), I realized that this is the best thing I’ve eaten in Taipei (well, so far anyway).

I got laughed at for taking a bus cross-town all the way to NingXia Street when there’s a much bigger, famous RaoHe Street Night Market within walking distance from my Grandma’s place.  So, early on a Friday evening I headed out there for some dinner, night market style.

Browsing the aisles, I saw all sorts of delicacies: Indian kabobs, Japanese okonomiyaki, grilled whole squid, beef noodle soup, oyster omelets, and the list goes on.  So much food, only one stomach… what do I eat tonight?

Well, when in doubt in a new place, ALWAYS go with the longest line.  Trust everyone else to know something that you don’t.  So I wandered from the Western gate all the way through the entire market before I ended up at this cart just inside the Eastern gate of RaoHe Street.  It easily had the longest line of the entire market, queued up at least 30 deep.  I even arrived early at the opening of the night market too, around 5 PM.  This MUST be good.

Really?  How good could it be?  I had to wonder.  By the looks of things, it was another juicy meat bun.  Just like the kind that’s available all over Taiwan.  They called it the peppered bun too, but I don’t really see any more pepper than usual.  So what makes this so special that people wait around for it?  Well, the secret is in what the guy is reaching into.

They use a tandoor oven to cook these buns!  There’s a guy that slaps them onto the side of the oven to let cook and harden, then comes back to scrape them off when done baking.  The whole assembly line itself is a show actually.  Very efficient and mouth-watering to watch.

The result is the bottom of the bun has a baked crust that’s also been seasoned by the sides of the oven.  The insides are juicy and meaty.  The top of the sesame bun also has a crispy flakiness to it.  All in all, it’s the perfect bun.

It costs 45 NT per, which amounts to a buck fifty in American dollars.  Geez, why would I ever go back to California now?

Hu Jiao Bin (peppered buns)
Eastern gate of RaoHe Street

January 8th, 2010 | Category: Dining, Nightlife, Taiwan | 72 comments

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