August 21, 2024

Shantou Street Food 汕頭街頭美食

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

More food adventures from our recent trip to the Chaoshan area!  The first night of our trip we arrived in Shantou 汕頭*.  Due to a typhoon affecting the area our speed rail trip was longer than expected.  Arriving, we were tired and hangry as heck!  Luckily we spotted the most gorgeous sight a hungry traveler can see, the gleam of food trucks serving up local street food lighting up the night!  

It was pretty late and the city streets were quiet.  But the crossroads where we spotted parked food trucks was bustling with action.  Most late night food seekers zipped over on scooters while a few drove cars.  We joined in the fun, circling the trucks, sniffing the air, checking out all the food on offer.  Oh man, everything smelled and looked so good!  In no time at all we were on our way back to the hotel, loaded down with yummilicious bags of Shantou street food!!

*Note: The Chaoshan area 潮汕 is located in the province of Guangdong.  Chaoshan area consists of the cities of Chaozhou 潮州, Jieyang 揭阳 and Shantou 汕頭.  For this trip we went first to Shantou and then to Chaozhou.

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

Back in our hotel room, we quickly spread out our loot.  OMGGG!  Woohoo!  Look at that yummiliciousness!  Nom, nom, nom...street food rocks!  Now let me tell y'all what snacks we got to gobble on that night.

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

The first street food that we went for was tofu.  Looks pretty straightforward and simple, right?  What could be so delicious about a block of tofu?

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

Deep fried perfection, that's what, the fresh tofu squares cut and then deep fried to achieve crispy golden skin contrasting with tender tasty almost creamy insides.  The tofu is dipped into the chive infused water sauce.  Tofu-fection!

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

What next caught our eye was this chef with his hot gas fired wok, ready for some serious 'wok hai' stirring.  The wok was installed right on the side of his food cart, neat-o, amiright?  These food trucks are works of glory, equipped with everything that a working kitchen needs.  What deliciosoness was that being tossed and stirred amongst the blue flames of the wok?

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

This is what we ordered, stir fried hot, hot on the spot as we watched.  The famous Chinese noodle dish known as Char Kway Teow 炒粿條, which translates to mean 'stir fried flat noodles'.  Flat rice noodles are stir fried over high heat with garlic, soy sauce, chili paste, shrimps, cockles, Chinese chives, Chinese sausage and bean sprouts.  Verra, verra nommy!

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

From the same hot wok we ordered this second dish, also a famous one, the Chaoshan Oyster Omelette 潮汕蚝烙.  This is the one dish everyone orders when they go to a Chaozhou style restaurant.  First starch is mixed with egg to thicken the omelet, then small plump oysters, chopped cilantro and spring onions are added to the batter.  Watching that huge egg omelet turn golden in the wok was such a kick!  

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

The last street food we grabbed for our midnight feast was a necessary indulgence.  Oysters cooking in their own shells 蒜蓉烤生蠔, what a beautiful sight!  The aromas coming from this food truck were absolutely to die for!  

Shantou, street food, Chaoshan, food truck, 汕頭, 潮汕,街頭美食

Look at these babies.  Plump juicy oysters cooked in their own juice, piled high with chopped garlic, spring onions and chilies.  OMGosh these were so yummilicious!  I'm now feeling very sad not to be able to run out and get me some more of these delicious nibbles.

Our street food, as you can imagine, disappeared at a rapid pace.  We were left replete and satisfied, happy food smiles on our faces.  What a way to start off exploring a new city!  Thanks Shantou street food trucks!  WE ❤️ YOU!

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