Night Market – Jinzhou, China

Dalian was a warm-up, and for Justin, this is where China gets real. Leaving a well-run, organized city for a taste of all the chaos. We’re not in Chinatown anymore; here’s what a real night market looks like. Think LA has a lot of people? You’ll never complain about Disneyland lines again.

So many vendors in so little space. There are stalls with t-shirts, sellers of skewers, and plenty of random, discount clothing and household odds and ends. You can buy a necklace from one person and a bottle of bleach from his neighbor.

We’re just here for the food, but we’ll take a kinda-edible souvenir. This guy shapes liquid sugar into a gorgeous koi. I’m told it just tastes like sugar, but real sugar melts and this one doesn’t so I think I’ll just admire it and pass.

I’ve posted pictures of skewers for years, and the stuff on the background plate is just meh. We have the usual lamb, chicken, and squid, but a separate stall is selling Grilled Gluten spirals. Gray balls of nondescript stuff, chewy like a fish ball, tasting as gray as the flour-y starch that shapes it. They’re rolled in a hot sauce and soy that stings and the texture has potential, but despite being dirt cheap at 2 for a yen, I won’t be trying those again.

Dessert is near, and we found the Egg Puffs. These are the best. Soft, fluffy bites, hot off the iron, like a heavy sponge cake but much more satisfying thanks to the rich egg inside.

What could possibly be better than egg puffs? EGG PUFF ICE CREAM. OMG. BEST THING EVER. The egg puffs are more airy and more crisp than the regular ones, but they need a that structure as a roll-up cone for scoops of strawberry ice cream and cookies n’ cream.

I don’t care for the night market crowds, and I’m afraid half the street food will make me sick. The merch is cheaper-than-thou, though it becomes more costly if you don’t watch your wallet. But I will keep coming. As long as they have that egg puff ice cream.