I recently found myself near the Lingya Night Market in the middle of the afternoon. I knew it would be closed, but I figured I’d walk through just to check it out.
It turned out there were a few vendors open, including a place serving up some very tasty-looking deep-fried goodies with an impressively massive line-up.
I’ve said this a million times on this blog, but once more probably won’t hurt: if you see a line-up for food, get in that line. The locals are trying to tell you something. They’re trying to point you toward delicious food. Don’t ignore them.
So of course, I got in the line. I wasn’t sure what anything was, but everyone seemed to be ordering some kind of fried dough. It gets dunked in a sweet mixture of black sesame seeds and sugar, and then it’s ready to eat.
It was hot and fresh fried dough. Yeah, it was good. The sesame seed mixture was lightly sweet, with a nice nutty/sesame flavour.
The pastry itself reminded me of a lighter version of a millet doughnut. It was super crispy and a little bit airy on its exterior, with a super chewy (but not overly dense) interior. It was very, very good.
Location: 802, Taiwan, Kaohsiung City, Lingya District, 自強三路與苓雅二路
How to find it: There’s no English anywhere, but it’s right on the east end of the Lingya Night Market. Just look for the big basket of fried goodness, and the line.