「好康」是源自閩南語，它意指賺到便宜的好機會，被頻繁地出現在店家布條、臉書粉專、文宣品等，用來吸引消費者，這個市集有很多便宜的好產品嗎？我逛了一圈，發現好像並沒有，不過對於參加這個市集的廠商來說，雖然場地不豪華、設備不完善，但是只要有人潮，就有曝光機會，就有賣出產品的可能性。
這個市集有一些美食、文創與特色產品，還有一區提供手作體驗課程，這類的體驗課程，非常多元，我看過的課程，從烘焙、陶藝、木作、紅磚、果乾到香氛蠟燭等，各種想不到課程都有，常常讓父母買單，因為可以幫助孩子在手作中訓練美感與激發創意，最重要的是，可以消耗孩子們的精力，讓父母可以休息一下，課程價錢則相對較貴，因為兒童的未來是無價的。
除了體驗課程區之外，其中有一家攤商的生意特別的好，攤位前圍著一圈顧客，我湊近一看，是家專賣客家美食的店家，販賣一些用米做成的糕點，對客家族群而言，從日常三餐到節慶祭祀，米食幾乎無所不在，走進客家庄，常常可以聞到蒸米、炒米或是糯米料理散發出的香味，這家主要賣各種口味的草仔粿，傳統的草仔粿，外皮是艾草皮， 內餡有滿滿的蘿蔔絲、香菇、蝦米、豆干、豬肉、胡椒所組成，很好吃。
還有賣紅糖粿，或稱黑糖發粿，以濃郁黑糖香與彈牙口感為特色，表面會有裂痕，象徵發財，客家油飯也是不可忽略的重要米食，與一般油飯相比，客家油飯味道通常更濃郁，會加入香菇、蝦米、豬肉等配料，再以醬油與油蔥提味，也很美味，最後，我帶了一些草仔粿回家，因為我喜歡吃鹹的，而且，我已經知道，它很好吃。
“Haokang” comes from Taiwanese Hokkien. It basically means a great chance to get a good deal. You see this word everywhere on shop banners, Facebook pages, flyers. It is all used to attract customers. But does this market really have lots of super cheap, great products? After walking around, honestly… not really.
But for the vendors joining this market, even though the venue isn’t fancy and the equipment isn’t perfect, as long as there’s foot traffic, there’s exposure. And if there’s exposure, there’s always a chance to sell products.
This market has some food stalls, cultural and creative products, and specialty items. There’s also an area that offers DIY experience classes. These classes are super diverse. The ones I’ve seen include baking, pottery, woodworking, brick crafting, dried fruit making, and even scented candles, basically all kinds of things you wouldn’t normally expect.
Parents often end up paying for these classes because they help kids develop aesthetic sense and creativity through hands-on work. And most importantly, they burn off kids’ energy, so parents can get a little break. The classes are relatively expensive, but hey, kids’ futures are priceless.
Besides the DIY area, there was one stall that was doing especially well. There was a circle of customers around it. When I got closer, I realized it was a stall selling Hakka food, mainly rice-based pastries. For Hakka communities, rice foods are everywhere, from daily meals to festival rituals. If you walk into a Hakka village, you can often smell steamed rice, stir-fried rice, or glutinous rice dishes in the air.
This stall mainly sells grass cakes (cao zai gui) in different flavors. Traditional grass cakes use mugwort dough on the outside, and the filling is packed with shredded radish, mushrooms, dried shrimp, tofu, pork, and pepper. It’s really delicious.
They also sell brown sugar cakes, also called black sugar fa gao. It has a strong brown sugar aroma and a chewy texture. The cracks on top symbolize prosperity. Hakka sticky rice (oil rice) is also an important dish. Compared to regular sticky rice, Hakka-style usually has a richer flavor, with mushrooms, dried shrimp, and pork, seasoned with soy sauce and fried shallots. It’s really tasty too.
In the end, I bought some grass cakes to take home, because I prefer savory flavors. And honestly, I already knew they were going to be good.
