Hi, i looked online about this and saw some images of open meat markets where meat is hanging out in the air and apparently it’s supposed to be in Taiwan. I’ve seen these markets in Hong Kong before and they look a bit sus so im wondering if they really exist in Taiwan because i dont remember seeing any. If they do exist then how sanitary? Im assuming they should be since Taiwan is developed but i guess sometimes things slip through the crack.
Whats your thoughts.
Thanks.
My thoughts are based on 15+ years ago so take it with bit of grain of salt. 
I never got sick from them and in fact loved them because the meat seemed fresher. Plus I like going to the butcher so it suited me.
But it’s not for the sqimish or animal rights lovers. IJS
Stuff in traditional markets are not only fresher, they are cheaper too.
If you bought pork there, the pig was killed this morning. There’s nothing more fresh than that. Supermarket stock can take several days to make it through the supply chain. Meaning the stuff isn’t fresh at all, and possibly treated with carbon monoxide to make it look fresh.
They used to have cages of chicken and they would kill the chicken in front of you and stuff, but that stuff ended because of bird flu.
The main difference is here you will not find slaughtered exotic animals for sale. Most butchers sell pork and chicken.
It is as sanitary as an open stall in a bazaar can be.
Are there live animals there just like in China?
Fresh meat and proper sanitation don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
I know the name of the different animals sold in the markets here, unlike China.
This isn’t china…
Wet markets in China
Disturbing image
Wet market in Taiwan
Just pork and chicken/beef. Often it’s the only way to get certain food like cow bones or pork fat.
Yes.
Go up to the old lady selling intestines. In Chinese, greet her and say 老王 sent you.
She’ll hand over 2 liters of bat soup in a plastic bag with pink plastic drawstring. Pay her NT$1500, turn around, snd leave. Whatever you do, do Not turn and look back no matter what happens.
Wat, lol. What happens if iturn around?
When I first came ten years ago most markets had live chickens and would slit the throat and save the blood if you bought the whole chicken. Then straight into the dryer like machine to take off the feathers.
Honestly I used to only shop in wet markets… But over the years I’ve seen how unclean they are. They butcher on the same wooden cutting boards daily… With raw chicken. The worst part is the meat is put on display for days.
I’m done with rancid meat, it’s happened enough times. Costco, Carrefour, etc is the only place I’ll be meat now. Just look at how clean it is and the standards they follow
Its more sanitary than the wet markets in china, which are like hell. but they are still disgusting places. I wouldn’t shop there.
Theres a brand new one in Wanhua, the old one was like something from a horror movie. Cats and rats everywhere (after hours) and it stank. So i went to the brand spanking new one a few weeks after it opened. Already smelled super bad and the brand new toilets were plastered in shit. Which should tell you something about the people that work there.
Do other developed countries like Japan and Singapore have wet markets, if amyone here has been there. there’s woulr be more sanitary?
I can’t remember. May have been some chickens. I know Hong Kong had live ones.
live chickens were banned 10 years or so ago due to the bird flu.
Does Taiwan have wet markets?
Most meat in the local stalls, restaurants and shops comes from the wholesale street markets located in every city. And neighborhoods have a few meat vendors just chopping things up street side.
Not exactly sanitary. All mostly without any climate or hygiene control.
Check this link here for example.
I thought most meat here cane from Australia. Is ot the carcuses that do and then they drive around with it on the truck like that?
Btw, what about wellcome and pxmart and those supermarket places, is their meat sanitary.
The more I think about it, the more I think I should go full vegan. Grow my own veggies in the balcony and such. Wouldn’t have to worry about how my food was processed…
But really, the way raw meat is handled both in markets and at restaurants here really makes me squirm. I worked food service in the US, so I am well aware of the lack of sanitation everywhere, but here, even without live animals at markets…things are on another level of “ew”
And near the end of the cycle more sausages appear.
