Taichung Street Food Part 2: Markets Day and Night

"The Sixth Market" in Taichung is a farmer's market/food hall located inside an upscale shopping mall in the city center - so named because the other public food markets in Taichung was named by the number system from first to fifth.

Touring Middle East 9: Walking Around the Local Market

It's unfortunate that we didn't spend quite enough time to explore the modern side of Jerusalem, as one can never see the full picture of this town so steep in history just by looking at century-old buildings and artifacts in the Old City and other religious sites in the proximity. We tried to spend as much free time as we could exploring on our own, but we probably hardly scratched the surface in such a short period of time.

Feb-ulous Kyoto: Cooking at Our Temporary Home

One of the main reasons of renting a house rather than staying in a hotel was to have the opportunity to spend more time eating in rather than dining out all the time during our quick weekend getaway in Kyoto. I am always fascinated at the variety and quality of food ingredients found in the area, so I thought it will be interesting to actually cook with whatever I came across in the market at the time of our visit.

Summer Produce: Young Ginger Roots

Ginger root might be available all year long in local wet markets and grocery stores, but you will only see the milder young ginger root (子薑) in early summer, beginning at around the time of Dragon Boat Festival until early August. It’s rather easy to distinguish them – the regular, mature ginger roots are often tougher with dark, thick skins; while the young ginger roots, though in the same size, her thinner and paler, almost translucent skin, looks juicier and more tender, with a pinkish tint towards the tip.

50 Hours in Tokyo: Aoyama's Farmers Market

Going to the farmers market gotta be one of my favorite things to do whilst visiting a city. To me that's my way of "feeling the vibe" of local culture or catching a glimpse of people's daily lives by observing what they shop for food.

Exploring Local Markets (Part 2: Paris and Milan)

(Continued from the previous post)

Shopping in Paris. Okay, I know what you are thinking. Yes we did spent some quality time at Galleries Lafayette and Printemps, fighting shoulder to shoulder with fellow Asian shoppers parading through the department stores with their bags and luggage during the sale season, but what I wanted to say was another kind of shopping - buying cookware and food.

Exploring Local Markets (Part 1: Kyoto and London)

For us, part of the fun when traveling was to check out the local markets and explore the different ingredients available in different countries. Through that you learned so much more about their cuisine and culture and had a glimpse of the lives of the locals, so much more than going through museums or eating at the finest restaurants.

This time we didn't spend enough time in each place to really settle and cook, still we had a good time walking through aisles, going around stalls by stalls, admiring the fresh produce offered, and in some case, buying some and carrying them home whichever possible.

Let's start with our first two stops, with 2 iconic markets which serve locals for their daily grocery shopping needs, and tourists for their sightseeing experience.

Open-Air Market in Milan

Scrolling in the local markets has always been our favorite thing to do whilst travelling to a foreign country. You can't find a better spot to feel the pulse and dynamics of the town then taking a look at where locals shop for food and other daily necessities, plus I am always curious of what kind of food they buy and eat.

Cooking at home: Candied Kumquats

I found these beautiful kumquats in a farmers' market recently and thought they are perfect for my spring cooking projects. Kumquats are one of the few citrus fruits that you can eat as a whole, with their thin skins on. The slightly bitter zest combined with sweet, juicy flesh created this unique, complex tangy taste that are good on its own, or along side with other food, in savory dishes or desserts.