Ah-Ing (Braised Pork Rice)
Closest MRT: Gongguan
To name the one must-try item in Taiwanese cuisine is an extremely difficult mission. Due to Taiwan's multicultural background and vibrant food culture, it is hard to find one single dish that holds the title of the signature dish of Taiwan like Snitzel of Vienna or Sushi of Japan. However impossible, after years of pondering and careful evaluation, when people ask me if to try one dish in Taiwan, what should they go after, I answer Braised Pork Rice.
Like all translation of local foods here, it sounds nothing special, yet it turns into a different story once you try it. Braised Pork Rice is a simple dish, cooked rice with braised pork on top, this is not a grand and glamorous dish but a daily home dish. Each restaurant has its own braised pork recipe, the basic element includes pork, soy sauce, and sugar, yet it is the extra that counts. There could be fried onion, garlic, chilly pepper, star anise, and other herbal ingredients. Selected pork (usually minced pork, but the professionals choose different parts of pigs in certain percentage and mix them when cooking) is boiled in soy sauce with the extra ingredients until absorbing all essence and fragrance...
So, to try this dish, most local restaurants have it ready to serve for lunch and for dinner. Yet of course I have to share with you my favourite. This is a restaurant called "A-Ying" (阿英). Named after the owner, this small restaurant hides in the deep alleys around National Taiwan University. Their specialty is exactly the braised pork rice, sided by some soya-boiled goods, and it is a fulfilling and delicious meal. They also have a hidden item that was so beloved by all that eventually they decided to put it on menu. This dish is called Stroke Braised Pork Rice, with a sunny-side-up egg on top and sprinkled with scallion. Break the egg yolk and mix it evenly with the rice and pork before taking your first bite, and welcome to the paradise.
After all the nagging, here is the address of Ah-Ing: No. 1, Alley 5, Lane 74, Wenzhou St, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106. If you are travelling by MRT, go to Gongguan station, take Exit 1, then try venture into the alleys -- don't worry, you will be very safe as Taiwan's the second safest country in the world!
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