Chen Sanding Brown Sugar and Black Pearl Milk

Gongguan Night Market is an unfamiliar attraction for many foreign sightseers as it is less known than the one in Shilin and less historic than Raohe Night Market. In spite of its lesser popularity, it is welcomed by students of National Taiwan University and younger salarymen with its provision of economical delicacies. The most notable one that you shall never miss is brown sugar and black pearl milk. The shop sits at the corner of an alley and always long-queued by crowds, no matter weekdays and holidays. Staffs are needed to manage the line order. Though no one likes waiting, the shop does deal with the orders in a really fast pace. Indeed, the metaphrased name in English means ‘frog milk with brown sugar’, but need not be scared away as it is the similar recipe of pearl milk tea.

It has this kind of weird Chinese name only because tapioca balls are smaller in the past, which looks like frog eggs in the drink. The secret recipe of this shop is freshly-cooked pearl, that the fusion of hot pearl and cold milk provides an extra contrary mouthfeel when sucking the milk via straw pipe. Except black pearl milk, other drinks such as aiyu xiancao (愛玉仙草, Chinese mesona with aiyu jelly) and qingwa ningmeng (青蛙檸檬, back pearl lemon tea) are available. Since the speed of ordering is really fast, it is advised that determine your order while queuing, in avoidance of blocking the line too long.