With hundreds of Taiwan night markets across the country, there are dozens of different Taiwan Night Market snacks to try from national food favourites to local signature dishes.
The Taiwanese night market food scene is incredibly tasty and on every trip, we try to eat at as many as possible (and prices are pretty good).
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Whilst they often serve international foods too, weโve tried to focus on authentic Taiwan food in our culinary compilation of which weโve eaten over our last ten years of regular trips.
From famous street food dishes such as stinky tofu, pancakes and pork pepper buns, we also share sublime sit down dishes like oyster omelet and the signature sizzling steak dishes you see at many night markets.
And for our final course, we also recommend the top Taiwanese desserts. Featuring the best local dishes and snacks, here is our guide to the best Taiwan night market foods to try.
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1. Taiwan stinky tofu (chou doufu)
Love it or hate it, you will 100% encounter this Taiwanese food at EVERY night market on your travels and you will know because the stench is hard to miss.
This iconic Taiwan snack is made from cubes of firm tofu marinated in a brine (that usually includes dried fish, meat and fermented milk) and left for months, then deep fried or steamed to serve.
The flavour is a bit of an acquired taste โ slightly sour, and apparently the worse it smells, the better it tastes (there are 13 different grades of stinky tofu). We have also spotted stinky tofu flavored potato chips in Taiwan convenience stores.
The tofu is best served deep fried, so crispy on the outside and soft inside, and presented with a sweet and spicy sauce or kimchi on the side. There are regional variations too like this black tea stinky tofu we tried at Fengchia Night Market in Taichung.
You can also find stinky tofu fries stalls at some Taiwan night markets, which come with a sauce of your choice.
Weโve tried stinky tofu many times including during a TourMeAway dinner food tour at a popular stall near Huaxi night market. Use our discount code TAIWANDERERS to get up to 15% off when booking this tour directly on TourMeAway’s website.
This is our video from we did the food tour:
2. Taiwan night market sizzling steak (ye shi niu pai)
A classic night market dish which weโve eaten everywhere from Shilin Night Market to Hualienโs Dongdamen Night Market.
Typically it consists of budget-friendly cuts of beef, noodles / spaghetti covered in a black pepper or mushroom sauce then with a raw egg cracked on top, which fries on a hot iron plate as the steak continues to sizzle.
The dish began in the late 1970s, created by Taipei chef Mr. Sun Dong Bao who cooked sizzling steaks on his small alleyway stall, when beef prices dropped.
3. Taiwanese hamburger (gua bao)
Often referred to as a โTaiwanese hamburgerโ, the gua bao is a popular snack that has become famous around the world.
The dish consists of a soft fluffy steamed bun with hearty fillings such as braised pork belly, pickled mustard greens, peanut powder and coriander / cilantro.
You can find these at many night markets including Gongguan Night Market in Taipei – enjoy the โlittle chubby belly baosโ at stall 60. It sells braised pork belly buns and salted pork belly buns for $70 NTD.
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4. Pork pepper bun (hujiao bing)
One of the most popular Taiwanese street foods in the night markets are these small crispy pastry pockets filled with juicy minced pork that has been marinated with sugar, soy sauce, white pepper or black pepper, and scallions.
Head to Raohe Night Market in Taipei and youโll find a famous stall called Fuzhou Pepper Buns (cost NT$65 per bun) at the entrance near Songshan Temple with very long queues serving the best version of this snack (the average wait is usually around 30 minutes).
They also have a branch at Shilin Night market and one in the Zhongzheng neighborhood within walking distance of Taipei Main Station.
Whilst you are waiting you can watch the stall holders make them from scratch and bake them to crispy perfection in a high heat cylindrical clay oven.
Taiwanderers tip โ you might want to wait a few moments before biting into the pork pepper buns as they are hotter than the sun inside and the filling / oil inside can be very VERY hot, especially if served straight from the oven.
5. Scallion pancakes (cong you bing)
This flaky and chewy scallion pancake is one of our most favourite things to eat in Taiwan and a popular Taiwanese street food.
They are round savoury flatbreads cooked on a griddle, and sometimes can be ordered with ingredients such as Taiwanese basil (our favourite), egg, ham or cheese, and dusted with a seasoning of your choice.
Note these are usually eaten as a Taiwanese breakfast item, but they are also popular as an all-day street food and very common at night markets.
Despite eating at dozens of night markets, the best version weโve found was from Taipei Tian Jin Scallion Pancakes halfway up Yongkang Street in Taipei (youโll spot the long queue of hungry locals!).
6. Sweet potato balls (digua qiu)
Taiwan is famous for its sweet potato balls, sold at EVERY night market. As a random aside, one of our tour guides once said they were popular because the island itself looks like a sweet potato!
We arenโt sure about that fact but what we do know is that sweet potato balls are so tasty โ they also taste a little different than expected, slightly more chewy on the inside due to the inclusion of starchy tapioca but crisp and delicious on the outside.
7. Soup dumplings (xiao long bao)
The Xiao Long Bao is actually originally from Shanghai, but it is one of the most popular dishes sold at Taiwan night markets – just remember to let them cool a little first!
They are thin flour dumplings filled with a pork meatball and also a gelatinized meat stock โ which melts into a rich soup broth when the dumplings are steamed in a small bamboo basket.
Weโve tried these at night markets like Liuhe in Kaohsiung and Luodong in Yilan plus there are hundreds of dedicated xialongbao restaurants in Taiwan including the famous Din Tai Fung restaurant chain.
You might like our guide to Din Tai Fung: Taiwanโs delicious dumpling restaurant >
8. Oyster omelette (o-a-chian)
Oyster omelettes are one of the best Taiwanese night market street foods – given they can be quite messy to eat, oyster omelette stalls often have a seating area.
The omelette is prepared slightly differently from western omelettes because they use sweet potato starch as an ingredient, as well as using eggs, fat moist oysters, flour, bean sprouts and lettuce.
The dish is usually topped with sweet hot sauce or served with some spicy chilli sauce on the side – Ningxia night market in Taipei is famous for its oyster omelette stalls and restaurants.
9. Taiwanese fried chicken (yan su ji)
Fried chicken is one of Taiwanese peopleโs favourite late night snacks and can be found at all night markets, as either popcorn chicken bites or a large cutlet.
Hot Star Chicken in Shilin Night Market is one of the most iconic chicken shops in Taiwan and has become a cult legend, with branches across the globe.
You have to try their juicy โlarge fried chickenโ โ a pounded thin piece of chicken breast which is seasoned with salt, star anise and spicy chilli powder then deep fried twice.
Itโs so big it is almost the size of your head! Hot-Star chicken at Shilin Night Market costs NT$95 per portion as of summer 2026 โ and it is MASSIVE!
We also like the MONGA chicken brand stalls at night markets like Linjiang Street Night Market.
10. Taiwanese sausage (xiangchang)
The beloved Taiwanese pork sausage is very popular with locals as a quick snack and is a lot sweeter than western sausages.
At the night markets, the plump and juicy sausages are usually served grilled on a stick and brushed with a sweetened garlic soy sauce.
Another popular snack is small sausage in large sausage or Taiwanese sausage with sticky rice (dร chรกng bฤo xiวo chรกng).
This consists of a grilled pork sausage (small sausage) served inside a rice bun (large sausage). The rice bun is grilled, compressed glutinous sticky rice and shaped a bit like a hotdog bun. Toppings such as scallions or pickled mustard greens are added too.
11. Braised pork rice bowl (lu rou fan)
Braised Pork Rice is a simple but popular Taiwanese dish that can be found everywhere from street vendors to posh restaurants.
A bowl of this dish will usually consist of finely chopped small cubes of pork belly which has been slow cooked with soy sauce, Szechuan peppercorns, star anise and cinnamon, served over rice with toppings of coriander, pickled vegetables and a hard boiled egg. The dish bursts with aroma and the tastes are sweet and salty.
12. Pan-fried buns
These super popular soft buns are cooked in a tightly packed flat pan and have wonderfully crispy pan-fried bottoms. You’ll find a few different versions of them being served in Taiwan’s night markets.
The traditional Sheng Jian Bao (็็ ๅ ) are the smaller version and filled with pork and a savory broth that bursts when you bite into them.
Fuzhou Bao (็ฆๅทๅ ) are similar to Sheng Jian Bao but have a more dense, savory pork and-cabbage filling with less broth inside, and are traditionally served covered in a savory brown sauce, often made with soy sauce.
The Shui Jian Bao (ๆฐด็ ๅ ) are larger and doughier, and filled with pork, plus shredded cabbage or garlic chives combined with glass noodles.
13. Coffin bread (guan cai ban)
Popular since the 1940s, the coffin bread is the Taiwanese version of a western bread soup bowl – it isnโt available at every night market (rare in Taipei) but weโve eaten it at Tainan night markets plus Hualien’s Dongdamen Night Market.
It is made from a very thick piece of white bread thatโs been hollowed out and deep fried to make a crunchy box shaped โcoffinโ. This is then filled with a seafood chowder or a sweet creamy stew using chicken or vegetables.
14. Sesame oil chicken noodles (ma you ji mian xian)
A popular Taiwan food nationwide, this comfort dish is traditionally eaten during the colder winter months and is a fragrant noodle soup made with black sesame oil, fried ginger, tender bone-in chicken, rice cooking wine and thin wheat noodles.
One of the most popular stalls we saw selling it was called Huangji Sesame Oil Chicken ้ป่จ้บปๆฒน้ at Taichungโs Feng Chia night market โ where they cook up massive vats of vermicelli and chicken bubbling away every evening.
15. Grilled or deep-fried mushrooms
We might just have eaten our own body weight in grilled or deep-fried oyster mushrooms over the years when visiting Taiwan night markets.
If you opt for the deep-fried version can often choose your mushroom type – usually king oyster, enoki or pearl oyster (or opt to have a mixture).
The grilled version is usually just king oyster mushroom. For both deep-fried and grilled you can select what seasoning you would like (such as wasabi, pepper, curry etc).
A popular night market snack, just find the best stalls by looking for the big queues โ a special shout out to the grilled mushroom stall at Raohe Night Market in Taipei and the deep-fried mushroom stall at Feng Chia Night Market in Taichung.
You might like – Our guide to Taipeiโs best vegetarian / vegan restaurants, as voted by our Facebook group >
16. Meat and fish ball soup
Meat and fish balls are found everywhere in Taiwan, are inexpensive to purchase and can be found in soup or on skewers in street markets.
The meat and fish ball soup is a popular Taiwanese snack and is a rich bone broth filled with pork, codfish and squid balls and topped with fresh coriander.
17. Chive pockets (jiucai hezi)
Simple but sublime, these jiucai hezi ้ญ่็ๅญ are sold at many Taiwan night markets. We tried them at Taipeiโs Gongguan night market.
These large veggie crescent shaped pockets are filled with chopped garlic chives (jiucai), glass noodles, ground shrimp and other herbs and fillings. Just remember to let them cool down first as they are hotter than the sun on the first bite, especially if straight from the hot griddle.
18. Steamed clams
Some clam-tastic street food at most night markets like Feng Chia in Taichung and Keelung night market.
Cleaned clams are thrown into a pan along with a generous splash of Taiwanese rice wine and flavors of your choice (like garlic or basil) and served stir fried or in a soup.
At some stalls you can pay to add extras like enoki mushrooms, noodles, fried soy milk skin or scrambled egg.
19. Grilled scallop skewer
Another tasty seafood treat are the plump and juicy night market scallop skewers.
Vendors use a hybrid flame-torching and grilling method to cook the scallops and then season them with a dry shake powder seasoning flavour of your choice.
You might like our Feng Chia night market in Taichung guide >
20. Grilled or deep-fried whole squid
This popular Taiwanese street food can be purchased either charcoal grilled or deep-fried. They can be served as a whole squid on a skewer (including the body and tentacles), or cut into smaller bite-sized pieces.
The fried squid (้ ฅ็ธ้ญท้ญ) version is covered in a thick sweet potato starch batter before being deep-fried, then coated in dry shake powder seasoning made from white pepper, salt, five-spice and chilli powder.
The grilled squid (็ค้ญท้ญ) version is tender and juicy, and grilled over hot charcoal. The squid is coated in a thick and sticky savory-sweet barbecue glaze, then once removed from the grill is dusted with a layer of white pepper and toasted sesame seeds.
21. Grilled sweet corn (kao yu mi)
Love corn? Try grilled corn cooked on skewers over charcoal racks from local sweet corn sellers.
Vendors brush and roast the corn over charcoal multiple times, and also scrape the surface of the corn with a wire brush to allow the glaze to caramelise deep into the kernels.
22. Scallion pork rolls (cong rou juan)
You’ll see many Taiwan night markets have barbecue stalls grilling rows of tightly packed sizzling scallion pork skewers.
Slices of pork belly or pork shoulder are wrapped tightly around a bundle of fresh scallions and cooked over over hot charcoal. The stall vendor will continuously brush the rolls with a signature Taiwanese barbecue glaze and top it off with a dusting of white pepper, sesame seeds or spicy chilli powder.
Other popular Taiwan night market foods include:
- Yakitori and grilled skewers
- Braised spare ribs
- Vegetable pancakes
- Blowtorch cubed steak
- Local takes on tacos, sushi, spring rolls
- Pigโs blood soup
- Fan tuan (occasionally but more of a breakfast dish)
- Veggie omelets
- Alligator
- Baked potatoes
- Roast duck
- Nutritious sandwich – a deep fried sweet bread filled with meat, egg, vegetables and mayo (weโve seen this at a couple of night markets including Keelung)
Taiwan Night Market Desserts and Puddings
23. Peanut ice cream roll (huasheng juan bingqilin)
This ice cream roll is a fun and quirky Taiwanese dessert and consists of peanut candy shavings and two creamy scoops of taro ice cream wrapped in a handmade thin rice flour tortilla (like a burrito!).
The stall holders usually shave a huge brick of peanut and caramel brittle right in front of you so watching this dessert being prepared is great fun.
The tastes are sweet, nutty and salty, whilst the texture is creamy and crunchy โ coriander is also a strange and optional ingredient to add to the mix but is highly recommended!
24. Wheel cakes – savory or sweet (che lun bing)
Wheel cakes are a pancake like dessert and are made from two halves of dough cooked in a cup-shaped waffle pan, which are then sealed together by a creamy filling that comes in a variety of flavours such as adzuki bean, red bean paste, chocolate, matcha and vanilla custard.
You can also purchase savoury versions too with fillings such as corn, egg, tuna, curry, meat and vegetables. You can find this dessert at most of Taiwanโs night markets.
25. Taiwanese shaved ice (pao pao bing)
Something to keep you cool after spicy food or a hot summerโs day. Taiwanese shaved ice usually comes in a variety of flavors.
It genuinely just tastes like ice-cream but is somehow more refreshing โ a pleasant surprise!
26. Lava custard taro ball (dan huang yu bing)
Simple but sublime, these hot taro dough balls of goodness are filled full of hot salty duck egg custard and are a great way to end your epicurean evening at Taiwanโs night markets.
Just remember (similar to pork pepper buns), the filling inside can sometimes be a little hot if theyโve just come out of the fryer so eat the custard with caution!
27. Tofu pudding (douhua)
Tofu pudding in Taiwan, locally called douhua (่ฑ่ฑ), is a super soft dessert made from fresh soy milk curdled into a custard. It is sometimes served warm in Taiwanโs colder months or chilled over shaved ice in summer, bathed in syrup or sugar.
28. Turnover pancake (apam balik)
These sweet griddled thick and fluffy dense pancakes are stuffed with rich fillings such as peanut butter, brown sugar, cream and sesame seed.
29. Night market fruit stalls
Not necessarily unique to Taiwan but most night markets have several fruit stalls selling chopped guava covered in liquorice and / or plum powder (suan mei fen).
It is a good way to get your fruit intake or you can try other chopped fruits like wax apples. Expect to pay NT$20 to NT$40 a bag depending on location and size.
30. Candy sugar coated fruit (tanghulu)
This is super popular in many night markets across Asia and particularly so in Taiwan night markets.
Tanghulu are pieces of fruit such as grapes and strawberries which have been glazed with a sugar coating and skewered on a stick like a kebab. They are sweet, sticky and crunchy on the outside and soft and juicy on the inside.
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