Wednesday, April 13, 2011

[基隆] - 基隆廟口夜市- 天一香肉羹順 Tien Yi Hsiang - the pork rice of legends at Keelung Night Market



On some of the other internet foodie boards, one food geek question commonly asked is "how far would you travel to get your fix of something?". And then people say they'll drive upwards of 2 to 3 hours here for a little bitta this, or fly to Japan just for the weekend and back. If not driving 8 to 9 hours from Northern to Southern California for superior Japanese, Taiwanese, and perhaps regional Chinese food.

But in Taiwan, no matter the duration, a pilgrimage to the culinary delights of the streets is a must. Ignore the weight gain that may occur during the visit, just walk as much of it off, and starve yourself coming home because whatever equivalent you will have back home (if you are visiting from abroad) will likely suck.

The signature item here is misleading....it's not necessarily the pork potage soup 肉羹 as the stall name suggests, but the holy minced stewed pork belly rice, Lou Rou Fan 魯肉飯 . While this dish is not as sexy looking as Hainan Chicken Rice, it can also be a very personal bowl. Some might like it more than others, or others may have a different favorite.

It's a small snack portion, allowing you to sample other things like their signature meat stew soup, yoh doufu (fried stuffed tofu with a delicious thick broth sauce), and absolutely not to be missed, their steamed bamboo shoots that are super sweet and paired with a very interesting mildly spicy orange looking sauce that contains no orange.

It is quite amazing that the founder of this stall is actually the daughter of Mr Wu, who owns

http://beefnoguy.blogspot.com/2010/10/wus-ding-bien-dzuo-91-year-old-shop-in.html

Surely there are better options for minced pork rice (e.g. Formosa Chang) in Taipei city, but in Keelung Night Market it is hard not to pass up on this satisfying place.




天一香肉羹順 (Tien Yi Hsiang) at Keelung Night Market
基隆市仁愛區仁三路31號  Keelung city, Ren Ai district, Ren Shan Rd #31
02 2428 3027