Taipei - Dongmen Market

Dongmen Market was just a few blocks from our hotel in Taipei, so we ended up checking it out a couple of times. It is a very comfortable, well-patronized but not at all frantic local market that spans a street section, as well as an inside area.



Lots of produce available, as well as plenty of meat, fish and seafood.



On one of our visits, we breakfasted on some daikon buns from a little corner-side stall.



I'm definitely developing a bit of a crush on daikon.



As we were heading out, we noticed a happy, vibrant crush of mostly elderly people around a small store-front.



We had no idea what was going on, but we were motioned to sit down and quickly had steaming bowls thrust into our hands.



It turned to out be mochi - balls of glutinous rice heated in a sweet and somewhat medicinal, but very pleasant syrup.



These mochi snacks were free. I'm not sure what was going on - perhaps some sort of promotion or celebration by the business. They were also walking up and down the street giving out bowls to the market vendors. Everyone was quite giddy and delighted.

We had seen mochi frequently on our travels in Asia, but had never had it. This made for the perfect first experience.