Town built on gold in spotlight again

Tourists in Jishan Road, tasting various local specialities.

Various tastes

One of the first things that caught my eye was a sign saying "Baked jade whelk" and the next thing I saw was the whelks' alluring green shells. A woman worked on the juicy whelks, lying side by side as they sizzled on a stove. After I ordered three for NT$100, about 20 yuan, the stall keeper picked up three from the stove and removed the meat from the shells, before slicing it and coating it with sauce. It tasted just as good as it had looked - fresh, sweet, sour and slightly spicy.

I moved on, and around a corner another food stand loomed. Whatever this red crystal stuff was it looked appealing. It turned out to be cakes made of pork cooked in wine sauce and coated with sweet potato powder. A woman at the entrance was making these cakes. I sat down to have one. It was first steamed then put into warm oil to keep it from getting cold. It had bite.

Walking along the narrow street my culinary tasting tour continued: baked ice cream covered with a thin pancake and chopped peanuts, and taro balls, then preserved tiny fish. The question now became whether my stomach was big enough to cope with all the local specialties on offer, and that was very quickly answered in the negative.