Braised belly pork is one of those quintessential Taiwanese dishes that you see on menus all over the island. I mean, maybe you see it in the braised belly pork fashion of a hunk of meat stewing away in this deep rich liquor. Or maybe you see it chopped up and cooking away in a similar liquor but called braised pork over rice (滷肉飯). You might find it served with rice, in a steamed bun, or even just sitting like royalty on a plate by itself, for you to mix n match with whatever tickles your fancy.
Whatever you want, braised belly pork is rich, unctuous, and juicy, and will get you through both the good times and the bad. But, here at Yi Jia Zi in Ximen, is it better with their rice, or in their steamed bun?
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Be prepared to line up for a little while at this spot just south of Ximen MRT station and north of Longshan temple MRT station, but that is the hallmark of quality in Taiwan. If you have to line up for food, then it must be worth it!
From the outside, Yi Jia Zi isn't going to win any Michelin awards for cleanliness or anything like that. But it really doesn't matter here, as you get that feeling of honestly cooked, old-school Taiwanese food that keeps you coming back for more. I could well imagine that, for some people, Yi Jia Zi's braised pork belly would have them coming back on a weekly (if not daily) basis.
The staff here work in a streamlined order, everyone has their specific duty of picking out braised pork, filling the box with rice, putting veg on the side, making Taiwanese burgers, and then putting the lid on. It's a well-oiled machine that gets the job done in a timely manner.
The Menu
The menu is very similar to many other classically Taiwanese restaurants/market stalls - that is a good thing!
- Bigger meals:
- 焢肉飯 hōng ròu fàn $100
- Braised belly pork with rice
- 焢肉飯 hōng ròu fàn $100
- Lighter meals/snacks:
- 雞肉飯 jī ròu fàn $40
- Chicken with rice
- 麻豆碗粿 má dòu wǎn guǒ $40
- Wa Gui
- 下港肉粽 xià gǎng ròu zòng $50
- Sticky rice dumpling
- 滷肉飯 lǔ ròu fàn $30
- Braised pork over rice
- 刈包 yì bāo $50
- Gua Bao - Taiwanese burger
- 雞肉飯 jī ròu fàn $40
- Soup:
- 油條魚丸湯 yóu tiáo yú wán tāng $40
- Fish ball soup with fried dough stick
- 豬血湯 zhū xiě tāng $40
- Gelatinous pigs blood soup
- 豬腸湯 zhū cháng tāng $50
- Pork intestine soup
- 豬血豬腸湯 zhū xiě zhū cháng tāng $60
- Pigs blood and intestine soup
- 油條魚丸湯 yóu tiáo yú wán tāng $40
If you have lined up and only want to buy one thing on the menu, then that absolutely must be the braised pork belly over rice. It is by quite a way the best thing I have tried there. But, if you want some soup, I have it on fairly good authority that the fish ball soup is pretty good, too!
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What we ordered
Gua Bao (pronounced Gwa Bao)
It may not look as good as it was initially intended to look as we took out, rather than eating in. But, when we got this bun home and took it out of the plastic bag, the smell was intoxicatingly delicious. Straight away you could smell the braised pork belly with the spices it had been stewed in for clearly a long period of time. You also got a good whiff of the peanut sugar that so often accompanies a quality gua bao, as well as the yeasty aroma of the steamed bun. My mouth was watering…
In terms of flavour, the gua bao here ticks all of the boxes. The meat is thick enough to settle in with the bread wonderfully and balance everything out. The pickled greens add the sourness that cuts through the richness, and the sweet peanut sugar brings the aroma that you so crave of a Taiwanese gua bao snack like this. However, where it didn't perhaps stack up was on the texture.
The bun was soggy and flat, rather than fluffy and airy like I would ideally like. Was this due to it being stored in a bag and then being taken home? Maybe. Or is it just that the steamed bun isn't quite as good as some others that I have had more recently? See here for my ultra secret best one I have ever had, that isn't on Eating in Taipei, yet.
Wa Gui (pronounced Wah Gway)
As typically Taiwanese as they come, this dish is made by mixing rice powder with water, adding a few flavourings such as mushroom, pork, shrimp, or deep-fried shallots, then steaming it and serving it with a soy based sauce.
More popular in the south of Taiwan, specifically in Tainan, Wa Gui is eaten on a daily basis. I wanted to like it, but I just didn't. But why? I think it was partly because it didn't have any discernible flavour to it. I found myself wanting it to be a bit more rich, a bit more punchy, and have a bit more substance to it. But I found it lacking on all fronts. Maybe it was this particular one at Yi Jia Zi, or maybe I am just not that into Wa Gui. I will continue to try it wherever I see it, and be as open-minded as possible. I'll keep you posted!
Braised belly pork
The star of the show. The pork is beautiful. The rice is good. The tofu is tasty. The spicy radish is lip-smacking. The pickled cucumber is essential.
As soon as you take a bite of the pork, you'll know what I mean. The fat gives way and just melts in your mouth, and the meat itself has this amazing flavour taken on by the liquid it was cooked in. The tofu is delicate and tasty, which also surprised me here. Often tofu is boring and bland, but this was not. That spicy radish on the side was right on the money with a good bit of spice to elevate all of the flavours.
But one of the most surprising additions here was the pickled cucumber which was sweet, sour, and refreshing all in one. Everything on one fork/spoon/chopstick together just sings in your mouth. This braised pork belly is absolutely on-point and you should definitely pencil it in for your next meal when you're in Ximen. Honestly, even if you're nowhere near Ximen, it is worth travelling for!
The bottom line
Is it worth coming to Ximen just for this? Yes, you won't regret it.
Do you have any other recommendations for braised belly pork in the city? Yes, King Belly Pork is great, too.