Delights everywhere
Hope Plaza, located near Shandao Temple Metro station, hosts a weekend farmers’ market that brings together food producers from across Taiwan. Although the market does not officially open until 10 a.m. on weekend mornings, not long after nine o’clock regular customers are already enetering the sales area in search of treasure. Parenting author Wang Pitsu, who enjoys researching home-cooked cuisine and strolling through markets, and is very knowledgeable about Taiwan’s farming and fisheries industries, is no exception.
Whenever Wang visits the Hope Plaza market, it is her habit to first make a circuit of the venue to see what good things are available that day. We follow her as she walks like a hunter of food ingredients, moving quickly though the terrain with sharp-eyed alertness. We often find that if we turn our backs even for a second she is already at the next booth, chatting with the owner. Browsing the market for just a single morning really opens our eyes. There are naturally ripened figs straight from the tree, as well as Asian clams, which have long been exported to Japan but are now available at the Hope Plaza because the pandemic has hindered exports. Dried straw mushrooms, sun-dried by the mushroom farmers themselves, are used in the same way as dried shiitake mushrooms, but they have an intoxicating aroma, and even Wang, who routinely visits markets all around Taiwan, says with surprise that this is the first time she has seen them.
Strolling among the booths, Wang takes notice of not only the main products that farmers prominently display, but even more the “private treasures” set off to the side, such as the little jar of 20-year-old dried radish on the stand of a bamboo-shoot farmer, or the hen’s eggs sold by a beekeeper who raises the free-range birds himself.
Hope Plaza arranges for different farmers to set up stalls each week. They also showcase different cities and counties each week, depending on what produce is in season. Farmers bring their finest products to the market and some even hand out name cards and proudly say: “If it doesn’t taste good, feel free to call me and complain.”
Wang Pitsu says with a smile that whenever she comes to Hope Plaza she happens upon unexpected delights. When she sees novel produce, she will always buy some to try out, just to make life more interesting. Despite the two-hour round trip from her home, she finds the market endlessly enjoyable, and comes at least two or three times a month.
Sun-dried straw mushrooms, golden bamboo shoots, ripe figs straight from the tree, dried radishes, baby taros, and other rare produce can be found at the weekend-only Hope Plaza Farmers’ Market. The place is always full of surprises.