Gongguan Night Market 公館夜市 - Part 2

Chen Sanding Brown Sugar pearls

This relatively new shop has enjoyed explosive popularity in recent years due to its drinks. Lines of waiting customers frequently stretch onto the street, forcing the proprietor to set up a waiting area for them. The "frog" in the name refers to the large rice pearls, which resemble frog eggs. They are simmered with brown sugar and when they are added to fresh milk, the drink exude rich aromas of caramel and milk.

Food-for-thought: The signature Frog Hits Milk drink is probably the only drink it needs to prepare. Strange names, coupled with an unique taste, gets you to fame. No wonder the tour guide did mention that the weirder the name of the food, the more famous it becomes. How true this is. Afterall, I could have just called it sweet caramel milk tea with pearls and remain a pauper for life.

Lan's Steamed Sandwiches

Lan's Steamed Sandwiches are located at the Gongguan Night Market (Alley 8, Lane 316, Section 3, Roosevelt Road). It's a favorite of students and foreign travelers. It has not changed its flavours or its prices for more than decade. It even insists on a fixed source for its materials so as to assure quality. For the pork filling of your sandiwch, you can choose fat (100% fats), lean (0% fats), mixed (50% fats), mixed with extra fat (75% fats) or mixed with extra lean (25% fats).

Food-for-thought: I chose mixed (50% fats) whilst Sy chose lean (0% fats). The mixed tastes better than the lean because the fats give an additional salty taste and smooth texture to the otherwise-boring meat. Whilst the unhealthy food becomes the tastier choice, I asked - will we succumb to the unhealthy choice to satisfy our cravings? Is life too short to worry about what to eat or should we worry about what to eat so that life wouldn't be too short?