On the evening of June 15th, the “Taiwan Night Market” in Boston’s Chinatown welcomed a bustling crowd. This year, the organizers, Chinatown Business Association, specially introduced frozen “Pineapple Sugar Apple” and “Lychee with Jade Purse” produced in Taiwan, hoping to allow people to enjoy these delicious fruits all year round.
“Both of these fruits have a short seasonal period, lasting just a few weeks. Many times, if people can’t get their hands on these seasonal fruits, they have to wait until the next year to eat them,” said Chen Shiwei, chairman of the Chinatown Business Association and owner of Jingyun Melon and Vegetable Company. “This time, using Taiwan’s advanced technology, we have frozen them so that we can taste these two Taiwanese delicacies all year round.”
As a member of the Boston Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, Chen Shiwei had sampled these frozen fruits during a previous trip to Taiwan and decided to introduce them to the US market. He praised Taiwanese manufacturers for maintaining the texture of frozen Pineapple Sugar Apple and Lychee with Jade Purse using advanced technology.
“In terms of sweetness, because they are processed using advanced technology, there is basically no reduction in sweetness,” Chen Shiwei said.
At Saturday afternoon’s event, Jingyun Melon and Vegetable Company set up a booth to promote the Taiwanese frozen fruits imported last month at a price of $2 per pack, which was well received by many visitors.
Another member of the Boston Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, Guo Jingru, expressed her hope of promoting these new products to every supermarket to allow more consumers to taste them.
She also mentioned that this year’s Boston Taiwan Night Market features another new product, “Formosa Buns” pan-fried buns and pan-fried dumplings from New York, as well as classic snacks like pineapple cakes and sun cakes.
“All these are things you can find in our Taiwan night markets. We are making more and more progress,” Guo Jingru said.
This year marks the third edition of the Boston “Taiwan Night Market.” Chen Shiwei stated that the initial purpose of this event was to help boost the economy of Chinatown after the pandemic. After three years of development, the Taiwanese night market has grown stronger, allowing many locals, especially descendants of Taiwanese immigrants, to find authentic “Taiwanese flavors.”
Medford City Councilor Justin Tseng mentioned that this year was his third visit to the Boston Taiwan Night Market. Seeing the event grow from a few booths to an entire street, he felt that it demonstrated the great attraction of Taiwanese culture in America.
“I think Taiwanese cuisine is the best in the world. The food, drinks, games here are all authentic. For me, it’s like visiting Taipei to see my grandparents during summer vacation,” Tseng remarked.
On that day, two streets in Boston were transformed into pedestrian streets to accommodate around 20 booths. These booths included local Taiwanese restaurants like “Zhu Mama’s Kitchen,” barbecue, oden, freshly squeezed juices, and various other food stalls; health consultation and “Yang Yuan Wan” booth brought by Dr. Cai Xiluo from “Fule Chinese Medicine”; as well as some game and cultural booths like the Boston Taiwan Film Festival Association, and more.
After 5 p.m., the main stage outside Chinatown’s gate welcomed performances from the Chinese folk art workshop, including classical and modern dances, diabolo spinning, drumbeating, and more. Following guest speeches, the Boston band “You & Me” performed a series of popular songs.
Director Liao Zhaohong and his wife from the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Boston, as well as the Director of Overseas Chinese Education Center Pan Zhaorong, also delivered speeches and toured the various booths.
Director Liao humorously remarked that this was his second time attending the Taiwan Night Market event since arriving in Boston. The booth he most wanted to visit this year was Chen Shiwei’s imported Taiwanese fruit booth.
“This year, I see more crowds and more booths participating in the Taiwan Night Market. We hope that it can expand every year so that more of our friends can experience more Taiwanese cuisine and culture,” Liao said.