An Bàng - Early Morning Market

An Bàng Beach is a pretty touristy area, and as such there aren't a lot of food options around that we find very interesting. One exception is the market which operates during early mornings (show up much after 10 and its all over).

We had breakfast at the market both mornings we were there. The first morning, we sat down at a little table and had some bún mắm - this version with grilled pork (thịt nướng).

It was really tasty. The lady also had a cauldron of broth and was serving up bowls of bún bò. It looked really good, so we came back the next morning to try some.

Unfortuantely, that lady wasn't there, but another lady was working at another nearby table with similar offerings. Very good.

While we were there, a batch of fresh little fish came in and everyone around us immediately stopped what they were doing and huddled around to try to get the best of the catch.

We also found a lady frying up bananas.

Yum!

Saigon - Bún Thịt Nướng at Thái Bình Market

We love the combo of rice noodles and grilled meats, so I was looking forward to trying a southern Vietnamese take on it.

Thái Bình was the closest market to where we were staying, so we stopped by the food stall area one late morning.

Following the savory-smelling smoke, we found the spot we were looking for. Ladies were busy grilling over several separate stations.

We got bowls with a bit of everything in them - grilled pieces or meat, sausages, and meat-filled rolls.

Mixing it up with some chilies and a generous amount of nước chấm, it was super good. Perfect food in a perfect setting.

Langkawi - Temonyong Night Market

Langkawi has a night market that rotates daily through various locations. On Thursday nights it is near where we were staying, so we stopped in to see what we could find.

I often find night markets disappointing - either full of non-food items or food I'm not interested in. This market was very food centric, and had a lot of appealing things to eat.

We started with some nice-looking grilled chicken on a stick. It was juicy, and coated in a tasty, spice sauce. Meat on a stick rarely disappoints, and this was no exception.

Next, we saw stand selling murtabak - someting we'd not yet tried. Malaysian murtabak consist of a roti-like wrapper stuffed with various fillings - usually egg with vegetables and sometimes meat.

We got one with chicken. The vegetable seemed to be primarily cabbage. It was mildly flavored, but tasty and very filling.

Needing just a little bit more to fill us up, we got some fried chicken. It had a salty, spicy coating and was delicous.

The market had a great buzz, and was being frequented by a lot of people - tourists and locals alike. Great place to grab a bit to eat.

George Town - Pasar Lebuh Cecil

One day we trekked in the heat of midday to Pasar Lebuh Cecil - a market and hawker center - to have lunch.

The place was very busy, which is always a good sign.

We got a bowl of Prawn Mee. It wasn't as spicy as it looks, with the only heat coming from a fairly mild sambal, but the stock was packed with prawn shell flavor.

The noodles were a mix of mee and bee hoon.

Popiah was a dish that had been on our list of things to try, so we took the opportunity to have some here.

We'll leave our opinions open as I think popiah varies a lot, but we weren't big fans of this. Overly sweet, and without much texture.

As we were getting up to leave, we heard a motorcycle rev up and this guy zipped by - angling his stall into his slot in the market.

Kuala Lumpur - Chow Kit Market and Supermarket Fishes

Chow Kit wet market is a sea of fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, and fishes. We always enjoy taking a stroll through markets like this.

We were particularly envious of the bounty of beautiful large red chilies - they are hard to come by at home.

We bought some fruit and snacks, including a package of jackfruit that proved to be very tasty and aromatic.

Even the regular grocery stores in KL are fun to wander in. They had huge bins of dried shimp and tiny fishes.

The sheer variety of fresh fish was impressive - even compared to the large asian markets at home.

Kuala Lumpur - Brickfields Pisang Goreng and Other Snacks

The last time we were in KL, we tried to get pisan goreng (fried banana) from this stall, but we got there too late and they were out.

This time, we made sure to get there earlier and were rewarded with freshly fried banana fritters.

We also got one of their kuih bakul - a fried "sandwich" with nian gao (a sweet, sticky paste made from glutinous rice flour) between a slices of sweet potato and/or yam. And we got some curry puffs to snack on later.

We've professed our love for egg tarts before, and we've been snagging them here and there on this trip. This one was from a cart in a hawker center in Brickfields. Mildly sweet, and nice and eggy.

We'd heard that KL's Chinatown has been up-and-coming in recent years, but you wouldn't know it from our visit to the Petaling Street market stretch. Still just packed with stall after stall of knock-off shoes, bags and watches.

As on our previous visit, the one highlight is the soy milk stall in the middle.

Tau foo fa - soy milk pudding - topped with a brown sugar and ginger syrup. Comforting and refreshing.

Taipei - Dongmen Market

 
One of the places we enjoyed walking around on our previous trip was the Dongmen market area, so we made sure to revisit it.

It was mid-morning, and the market was in full swing.

Lots of little shops were busy making dumplings - presumably for the lunch rush.

We don't often go for sweet items, but this stall selling custard-filled pastries caught our eye.

They had a slightly crispy waffle-like exterior, with a soft inside and a custard filling. Warm and delicious.

We were happy to see this woman selling savory fried pastries in the same spot she was in when we visited five years ago. We had a radish-filled one, and it was great.

We also bought a sausage and snacked on it later sitting in Da'an Forest Park. It was juicy, flavored with something like five-spice and slightly sweet.

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.