Taiwan Mandarin ！

How do you order at a Taiwan night market in Chinese? Vendors will ask 辣不辣？ — answer 小辣 (a little spicy), 不辣 (not spicy) or 正常辣 (regular), then order with 我要一份___ and say 好吃 when you taste it.

A beginner-level reading lesson in Taiwanese Mandarin (台灣華語) — not Mainland Chinese. Head to Taichung’s Fengjia Night Market for fried chicken, sausage-wrapped sausage, and one very important question every vendor will ask you: 辣不辣? You’ll learn 一份 (one order), 辣不辣 (spicy or not), and 好吃 (delicious) inside a real sentence, not a vocabulary list.

文章 The Text

星期五晚上，我跟朋友約好去逢甲夜市。人真的很多，路上擠滿了攤販跟人潮，空氣裡都是各種食物的香味。

我們先在一家賣鹹酥雞的攤子前面停下來。老闆問：「要辣不辣？」我朋友說：「小辣就好，謝謝。」

我看到隔壁攤在賣大腸包小腸，就走過去點了一份。老闆問我：「裡面要加什麼？」我說：「花生粉跟酸菜，謝謝。」

拿到食物以後，我咬了一口，忍不住說：「哇，真的好吃！」朋友也點頭說對啊。

我們一邊走一邊吃，又買了一份炸雞排跟一杯飲料。攤販老闆的聲音、油炸的聲音、旁邊的音樂，全部混在一起，很熱鬧。

逛到快十一點，我們兩個人都吃得很飽，才慢慢走回停車的地方。

單字 Vocabulary

中文	Pinyin	English
夜市	yè shì	night market
辣不辣	là bú là	spicy or not
一份	yí fèn	one order / one portion
好吃	hǎo chī	delicious
攤販	tān fàn	street vendor / stall
熱鬧	rè nào	lively / bustling

翻譯 Translation

It’s Friday night, and I’ve made plans to meet a friend at Fengjia Night Market. It’s packed — the street is jammed with stalls and people, and the air is full of the smell of every kind of food.

We stop first at a stall selling salt-and-pepper fried chicken. The owner asks, “Spicy or not?” My friend says, “Mild spicy is fine, thanks.”

I spot a stall next door selling da chang bao xiao chang (Taiwanese sausage wrapped in sticky rice sausage) and go order one. The owner asks, “What do you want inside?” I say, “Peanut powder and pickled greens, please.”

Once I get my food, I take a bite and can’t help saying, “Wow, this is so good!” My friend nods in agreement.

We keep walking and eating, and end up buying a fried chicken cutlet and a drink too. The vendors calling out, the sizzle of frying, the music nearby — it all blends together, and it’s lively.

By almost 11pm, we’re both stuffed, and we slowly walk back to where we parked.

Notice This

辣不辣? gets asked constantly. Have an answer ready — 小辣 (a little spicy), 不辣 (not spicy), or 正常辣 (regular spicy) — so you don’t get blindsided.

大腸包小腸 (sausage wrapped in sticky-rice sausage) is a night-market classic that’s a genuinely Taiwanese street-food invention — worth knowing by name before you order.

好吃 is your most useful word at a night market. Vendors love hearing it, and it works for basically anything you eat.

Try It Yourself

試試看：指著一樣小吃說「我要一份，好吃嗎？」

Try it yourself: point at any street food and say 我要一份，好吃嗎？

拼音 Pinyin

星期五晚上，我跟朋友約好去逢甲夜市。

Xīngqíwǔ wǎnshàng, wǒ gēn péngyǒu yuē hǎo qù Féngjiǎ Yèshì.

人真的很多，路上擠滿了攤販跟人潮，空氣裡都是各種食物的香味。

Rén zhēnde hěn duō, lùshàng jǐmǎnle tānfàn gēn réncháo, kōngqì lǐ dōu shì gèzhǒng shíwù de xiāngwèi.

我們先在一家賣鹹酥雞的攤子前面停下來。老闆問：「要辣不辣？」我朋友說：「小辣就好，謝謝。」

Wǒmen xiān zài yì jiā mài xiánsūjī de tānzi qiánmiàn tíng xiàlái. Lǎobǎn wèn: “Yào là bú là?” Wǒ péngyǒu shuō: “Xiǎo là jiù hǎo, xièxie.”

我看到隔壁攤在賣大腸包小腸，就走過去點了一份。老闆問我：「裡面要加什麼？」我說：「花生粉跟酸菜，謝謝。」

Wǒ kàndào gébì tān zài mài dàcháng bāo xiǎocháng, jiù zǒu guòqù diǎnle yí fèn. Lǎobǎn wèn wǒ: “Lǐmiàn yào jiā shénme?” Wǒ shuō: “Huāshēngfěn gēn suāncài, xièxie.”

拿到食物以後，我咬了一口，忍不住說：「哇，真的好吃！」朋友也點頭說對啊。

Nádào shíwù yǐhòu, wǒ yǎole yì kǒu, rěnbúzhù shuō: “Wa, zhēnde hǎochī!” Péngyǒu yě diǎntóu shuō duì a.

我們一邊走一邊吃，又買了一份炸雞排跟一杯飲料。

Wǒmen yìbiān zǒu yìbiān chī, yòu mǎile yí fèn zhá jīpái gēn yì bēi yǐnliào.

攤販老闆的聲音、油炸的聲音、旁邊的音樂，全部混在一起，很熱鬧。

Tānfàn lǎobǎn de shēngyīn, yóuzhá de shēngyīn, pángbiān de yīnyuè, quánbù hùn zài yìqǐ, hěn rènào.

逛到快十一點，我們兩個人都吃得很飽，才慢慢走回停車的地方。

Guàng dào kuài shíyī diǎn, wǒmen liǎng ge rén dōu chī de hěn bǎo, cái mànman zǒu huí tíngchē de dìfāng.