🍓 Candied Fruits – Taiwan’s Sweet & Shiny Street Snack

Wait — if you still have a little space left after all that savory street food, make sure to try Taiwan’s famous Candied Strawberry (糖葫蘆, táng hú lu). These shiny, sugar-coated strawberries are hard to miss in Ximending Night Market — glistening under the neon lights like tiny edible jewels on a stick! 🍭

They looked so irresistible that we just had to buy one — even though we were already completely stuffed from fried chicken, beef cubes, and milk tea. We picked the candied strawberry skewer, thinking it would be the perfect sweet ending to our night. Since we were too full to eat right away, we decided to take it to go and save it for later. Spoiler alert: that didn’t go as planned. 😅

By the time we got back to our hotel, the candy coating had hardened, and it was almost impossible to bite into! I was too full and sleepy to bother, so I popped it into the mini fridge for the next day. Come morning, it had turned rock solid — I couldn’t even crack it. Lesson learned: candied strawberries are best eaten fresh from the stall while they’re still crunchy and juicy!

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🕒 2025 Update: Where to Find & What to Expect

📍 Location: Stalls selling candied fruits — especially strawberries — can be found along Emei Street and near Ximen MRT Exit 6 in the Ximending Pedestrian Area.  It's actually available in almost all of the Night Market in Taiwan, like the Shilin Night Market.

🍓 Popular Choices: Strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and occasionally hawthorn berries — all dipped in a glossy sugar syrup and skewered on bamboo sticks.

💰 Price Range: Around NT$50–80 (~₱90–₱140) per stick, depending on fruit type and size.

🕔 Best Time to Buy: Evenings (5:00 PM – 10:00 PM), when the night market is bustling and fruits are freshly coated.

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💡 Travel Tips:

🍭 Eat it right away! The sugar coating hardens as it cools — once refrigerated, it becomes too hard to bite.

🍓 The strawberry version is the most popular — perfectly sweet, tart, and crunchy in one bite.

 📸 Snap a photo before eating! The shiny red strawberries look stunning under Ximending’s colorful street lights.

 💵 Bring small bills or coins; fruit stalls are usually cash-only.

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💭 The Candied Strawberry is a delightful way to end your Ximending food crawl — sweet, nostalgic, and full of local flavor. Just remember: don’t save it for later like I did (unless you enjoy edible rocks 😂). It’s a simple yet iconic Taiwanese street snack that’s best enjoyed fresh, crunchy, and right in the heart of Taipei’s night market.

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✨ Ready to taste Taiwan? 🍓 Grab a fresh Candied Strawberry in Ximending and enjoy this shiny, crunchy-sweet street snack while it’s still perfect — don’t wait! 🚶‍♀️🍭

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🚶‍♀️ Continue the Adventure

Still craving more Ximending snacks? Check out my other foodie finds:
🍗 Hot-Star Large Fried Chicken
🔥 Blow-Torched Beef Cubes
🧋 CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice