Exploring the Local Market

Wherever you are in the world, the local market is always a great place to see local produce and get a feel for the local food culture. Shidong Market in Tianmu is no exception. As soon as you enter your senses are assailed with noises, smells, tastes and textures, while your eyes are treated to a feast of color from the tropical flowers at the first florist’s stand and the mountains of fruit and vegetables on neighboring stalls.

If you’re like me, and not from Asia, you might wonder exactly where to start your shopping. When I first arrived, I did recognize most of the fruit, as the UK supermarkets do

have a wide variety of tropical fruit. However, the size of the watermelons and yellow mangoes and the sweetness of the pineapples were a delightful surprise. I also like how you can note the seasons passing by what fruit is on sale: mangoes mean summer, persimmons show autumn is on its way, and so on. Choosing vegetables was trickier though. Some vegetables looked familiar but were by no means the same. For example, eggplant is incredibly elongated here and Taiwanese green beans are much longer than French beans. All the different leaves on offer are another matter and quite a few times I’ve bought what I thought was lettuce or spinach only

to discover it wasn’t, but I had no idea what it was! My stir fry repertoire has expanded here now, as I include water spinach, sweet potato leaves and my all-time-favorite: bird nest fern.

The meat and fish stalls are relatively straightforward, although I am still shocked by all the parts of the chicken that they eat here that don’t even make the shelves in the UK. However, the stalls selling bottled and packaged products are harder to navigate, as I can’t read Chinese, so I have no idea what the items are. This is when Google Translate and Pleco come in handy.

If you are a new arrival in Taiwan, or simply would like to know more about local products, then I recommend you join Ivy’s Shidong Market Tour. She will explain what the different fruits and vegetables are, as well as give you tips on where to buy the best meat and seafood and how to tell if it's fresh. She’ll also point out soy sauce, sesame paste and other condiments you might need. She can introduce you to the different dumplings, noodles and buns too. While you’re there, ask her to show you where the Taiwanese rice pancakes (spring roll wrappers) are – these make a good alternative to tortillas that are sometimes in short supply. Alternatively, join her Market to Table cooking class and enjoy shopping at the market and then cooking up some delicious dishes. Either way, you’ll be more confident about visiting the local markets and cooking with local ingredients, so sign up now!

Lucy Torres is the Programs Manager at The Center and enjoys organising different activities and events that cover topics from Taiwanese culture to environmental awareness.

The print version of the Fall & Winter catalog is available at The Center.

Find Activities here: communitycenter.org.tw/what-we-do/activities/