Pork Lard Drizzled Egg Porn at Zhu Ji 珠記, Taipei
I chanced upon a Braised Pork Belly and Pork Lard Rice stall on FourSquare during my vacation in Taipei last year.
焢肉飯 Pork Belly Rice @ TWD 50，魚丸湯 Fishball Soup @ TWD 25 & 油豆腐 Pork Lard Tofu @ TWD 10
The Pork Lard Rice 油飯 had sold out by the time we arrived at close to 1 pm. What a bummer! We ordered the Braised Pork Belly Rice, Fishball Soup and Pork Lard Tofu instead. Served in small bowls, the food here isn't expensive. The Braised Pork Belly Rice costs about USD 1.60, the fishball soup about USD 0.80 & the Pork Lard Tofu was about USD 0.32. The fishballs were too floury for my taste. I'm convinced that the best fishballs are in Singapore and Malaysia. The only exception though is a stall in Kowloon, Hong Kong, that's my absolute favourite. The tofu was a little too bland even though it was dressed with rendered pork lard and soy sauce. The Braised Pork Belly Rice fared much better as the tender and flavourful pork broke easily when prodded with a pair of chopsticks. I was really thrilled to discover little cubes of braised pork lard under the chunk of meat! This was the closest I ever got to having pork lard rice in Taipei. The Braised Pork Belly Rice is a Must-Try!
Folded Fried Egg 荷包蛋 @ TWD 15 (about USD 0.48)
Even though I struggled to decipher what the locals were writing online, I figured out that the 荷包蛋 (aka Pocket Eggs) is a very popular item. Naturally, we had to order one...and then another. For the uninitiated, this is the Chinese version of a sunny side up and an omelette. When done well, one is treated to egg porn when the egg is pierced. When overdone, the yolk is dry and tough. Sporting crisp and smoky edges, I loved the fluffy texture of the egg white. Topped with an umami-filled first-drawn soy sauce and rendered pork lard, the egg was addictively tasty. We drizzled runny egg yolk and sauce over the rice for a richer flavour. The 荷包蛋 (aka Pocket Egg) here is a Must-Try!
Egg Porn
If you're wondering if the yolk's runny enough, check out this egg porn video! How's that for some egg porn to start the day? Sitting there, we gathered that most of the patrons visit this place for breakfast so go early as popular items get sold out really quickly.
Business was brisk even though it was an hour shy of closing time. Judging by the number of people streaming towards the counter outside the dining area, it seemed like a popular place for locals to grab takeouts for lunch. If you do get to try the Pork Lard Rice, do tell me what you thought of it.
珠記大橋頭油飯 Zhu Ji Da Qiao Tou You Fan 民權西路186-1號, 大同區, 103, 186-1 Min Quan West Road, Datong Qu, 103 Taipei, Taiwan Phone: +886 2 2557 6503Google Maps
Operating Hours: Daily: 6 am till 2 pm (Closed every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month)
