Sweet soup dumplings can be found all over Taipei. But, I really implore you to check out 八棟湯仔圓 in the Nanjichang night market. Especially as Winter Solstice is just around the corner!
The Ultimate Food Lovers Guide to Nanjichang Night Market
If you're interested in night markets and want to learn more about it, you should read the following posts:
Taipei street food: 15 of the best food stands you should eat, and where to find them.
What did we order?
Alright, so let's have a crack at breaking down the menu:
- 湯 Tāng
- Soup
- 粥 zhōu
- Porridge
- 花生 huā shēng
- Peanut
- 紅豆 hóng dòu
- Red bean
- 綠豆 lǜ dòu
- Mung bean
- 薏仁 yìrén
- Adlay/Job's tear
- 芝麻 zhīma
- Sesame
- 酒釀 jiǔ niàng
- Fermented rice
- 湯圓 tāng yuán
- Sweet soup dumplings
If all that sounded good, then read on for more of what I recommend. If it didn't sound good, then I don't think we can be friends #soupdumplings4lyf
Peanut soup with sweet sesame dumplings
花生湯+芝麻湯圓 = incredible.
Huā shēng tāng + zhī ma tāng yuán
The peanuts inside the soup are delicately soft while still retaining a bite to them, and have infused the soup to make it almost like peanut milk (as wrong as that sounds, if you like peanuts, you know what's up). If you just want a bowl of soup, that's worth it by itself. But, I implore you to get the sweet soup dumplings, too.
I like to get the sweet sesame dumplings with the peanut soup, as the earthy nature of the sesame works really well with the richness of the peanuts. The soup dumpling skin is soft and sticky and gives way really easily when you bite down. But, don't bite down too soon! The molten-lava-like sesame will burst and burn your tongue off.
Also, on a side note, the location of this spot right inside the night market with the lovely woman owner (and often her son) really sparks joy every time I eat here. The bowls are cute, the food is delicious and honest, and they don't even care that there's a tree growing right through the middle of the dining area. My kind of place.
Red bean and peanut soup with a sweet pastry
紅豆花生湯 + 泡餅 = inventive
Hóng dòu huā shēng tāng + pào bǐng
My wife ordered this, and when it arrived I thought it looked like someone had just thrown a fried fish inside leftover dregs of soup. But, alas, it blew my mind! Peanut meets red bean and then is intersected with a sweetened pastry that has soaked just enough in the soup to retain its integrity, yet add an incredible 4th dimension in terms of texture.
Honourable mentions
OK, so this is going to divide opinion, but I don't care - Fermented Rice
Hold on, don't click off just yet. Do you like egg nog? This is kind of weirdly like a Taiwanese version of egg nog, sort of. Rice is fermented, then spooned into a bowl and soup is added to it. It is packed full of alcoholic flavours, and sweetness, but also an earthiness taken on from the rice. It's weird, it's delicious, and it's worth trying.
Take out dumplings
Sweet soup dumplings to take away? Hells yessss. They sell frozen dumplings to take home and cook up. Use this to ask:
我要買生的（芝麻 or 花生) 湯圓外帶
Wǒ yāo mǎi shēng de (zhī ma or huā shēng) tāng yuán wài dài
I want to buy uncooked (peanut or soup) sweet soup dumplings to take out.
When you are ready to cook them at home, the golden rule is to boil your water and slowly lower the dumplings into the water so that they're fully submerged. Occasionally dip your spoon into the water so they don't stick to the bottom. When they rise to the surface for a sustained period of time, then they are ready to eat! Pair them with something like the soups below, and you're off to a winner.
The bottom line
Is it really that good? Yes.
How often do I go there? A lot.