Lioho Night Food Market, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Travelling across Asia you realise that street food is where it's at. This is where the culture and ethos of a place is on display in all its colours, this is where the sights and sounds and smells dance together to evoke the unique flavours of a city, town or country and where the local people come out to be their authentic best. Street food is a no- pretensions , hygienically incorrect, raucous celebration that digs deep into the history of a place and has its roots firmly embedded in its bowels.

Kaohsiung's Lioho Night Market for example, sizzles with the raw energy of Southern Taiwan and offers a mindboggling array of tastes. Barbecued chicken sizzling away on open charcoal grills, mountains of squid and lobster, a seafood smorgasbord, dumplings in soup, old men selling fried yam to even older ladies. And in the midst of all this, a pretty young girl perched on a plastic chair, strumming a guitar-like instrument and sending the strains of a folk song soaring into the evening air.