Eating steamed pudding is an unforgettable experience

As a Chinese student studying in Hamilton I found the night markets an excellent opportunity to extend my culinary experience.

Usually I stick strickly to food I am familiar with, but I  tried Purini Mamaoa, a  Māori steamed pudding, from an Auckland Night Market stall in Hamilton on Friday night.

As an international student I have never had  Māori food before.

However, Auckland Night Markets provided the opportunity for  me to taste a variety of food from all over the world.

The night market is at The Base car park and opens every Friday night.

On my previous visits I have had Chinese food from the night market, but this time I decided to try something new.

The steamed pudding is different from the one that we Chinese are  used to buying from the supermarket because it is not as jellied as the traditional pudding.

The chef cooked the pudding in a stove and took it out from there directly and put it into the take-away box.

I think they may have added butterscotch sauce as the pudding tastes very soft and oily.

I found it tastes similar to Chinese rice cake because there was a cake underneath the butterscotch sauce and the cake was a bit sticky.

This was the first time I have eaten a warm pudding as dinner.

This experience is unforgettable, and I recommend  Purini Mamaoa for people who like sweet food and cakes.

I also spoke to Kyla Shepard from Hamilton because she chose a different food with me from the same booth.

Kyla said this was her first time in the night market.

“So far, I have only tried the Māori store down there,” she said.

Kyla bought Puru Parāoa Parai, which is stuffed fried bread.

“It’s really good; I guess that’s my favourite,” she said.

“It’s hot, and it’s fresh, I would recommend  you try some,” she said.

The chefs put pāua fritter mixture in ice-cube-size portions into the middle of the fry bread dough or use bacon and mushroom filling.

However Kyla said there was a range of fillings to choose from.