This little piggie went to the market

If you’re ever planning to go to the Dihua Street Market in Taipei, make sure you go hungry. By the time you’ve walked the length of the market, you’ll have a full stomach without ever having emptied your wallet.

This week, the street was packed with people–if not the entire population of Taiwan–all sampling what the vendors had to offer, and stocking up on food for the Lunar New Year holiday (Jan. 26). While the street is often busy, the days and weeks leading up to the new year are the most hectic and exciting. According to photographer Dennis Flood, “Taiwanese people love food, shopping, and “re-nao” (noisy, lively action) in general. He adds: “What better place to find it than DiHua Jie.”

So here we are in the midst of the crowd, being jostled around, pushed from behind, and at the same time being bombarded with vendors pushing their products. There are all kinds of tea, dried meats, fish, dried fruits and vegetables, octopus, candy, rice cake balls, milk-and-peanut nougat, and so much more. Chris took a liking to the wasabi-coated nuts and beans and I went out on a limb and ate dried squid.

We’re looking forward to seeing how all these ingredients come together in one meal, when we go to the Wu house for the lunar new year’s feast this weekend!