Squid from Laoning Street Night Market, Taipei

Needing a quick refuel before returning to a long evening of work ahead, I popped out onto the streets of Taipei for some cheap street food. I fumbled around a bit with some fishball soup and even some sesame oil noodles that were loaded with chunks of raw garlic before finally spotting this stall, which apparently specialized in live Hokkaido squid.

At first I grabbed some of that thick geng soup before I spotted a couple eating a plate of plain squid like you see above. That aroused my curiosity, so I asked for one of those. Contrary to what the wasabi and soy sauce dip on the side might suggest, this was actually blanched rather than raw. And the squid was nicely fresh and firm, going well with the basil and raw ginger shreds.

Now, it wasn't necessarily something that I'll get cravings for, but I am glad that I found something so healthy. I'll likely make an effort to come back if I'm in the neighborhood again (it was maybe one or two stalls back from the north end of the street on the west side - just look for the lady with the big metal tray of sliced squid under the blue and white sign).