Taiwanese steamed rice cake – what do you know?
Have you tried it? How much do you love it?
The savory Taiwanese steamed rice cake, known as “mi gao,” is a welcome change from its sugary counterpart. This delectable delight is prepared from glutinous rice flour and steamed to perfection before being topped with savory toppings like dried shrimp, meat, egg, onions, and soy sauce. The distinct texture and umami flavours of Mi gao make it a must-try dish in Taiwan’s culinary scene.
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Daqiaotou station is one of those stations that you really need to be familiar with if you’re interested in traditional Taiwanese food, markets, Chinese medicine, and everything Taiwanese. Whether you’re in the mood for walking around a great day market for some fresh fruit and veg; or whether you’re looking to come here in the evening and hop from restaurant to restaurant as you hit up snacks, main meals, then desserts; or whether you’re looking for some alternative Chinese medicine – Daqiaotou is where it is at.
You should also check out the following posts if you are in the area:
Taipei City – CiSheng Temple 慈聖宮 and everything delicious for a Taiwanese breakfast!
Taipei market – YongLe Market 永樂市場- The Best Market You’ve Never Heard of! (迪化街 DiHua street)
Looking rather shabby, this Daqiaotou steamed rice cake hot-spot will not win any design awards. But it's not all about how it looks on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts...
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The Menu
When you get inside, you'll line up along the counter and place your order. My top recommendation would be:
- Fatty "mi gao" steamed rice cake - large portion
- 肥肉米糕大份 - Féi ròu mǐ gāo dà fèn
Bear in mind that for you absolute top foodie's out there, the large portion will have 2 steamed rice cakes, whereas if you don't specify that you want a large one, they will just give you 1.
Apart from the "Mi gao" steamed rice cake, everything else on the menu here is a soup variation:
- Pig blood soup
- 豬血湯 - zhū xiě tāng
- Fish ball soup
- 魚丸湯 - yú wán tāng
- Meatball soup
- 貢丸湯 - gòng wán tāng
- Fuzhou fish ball soup
- 福州丸湯 - fú zhōu wán tāng
- Mixed meatball soup
- 綜合丸子湯 - zòng hé wán zi tāng
- Oyster soup
- 蚵仔湯 - kē zī tāng
- Pork liver soup
- 豬肝湯 - zhū gān tāng
- Oyster + pig blood soup
- 雙拼湯 - shuāng pīn tāng
- Oyster + pig liver soup
- 海陸湯 - hǎi lù tāng
- Pig liver + pig blood soup
- 雙豬湯 - shuāng zhū tāng
Taiwanese Steamed Rice Cake
肥肉米糕 Féi ròu mǐ gāo
We had to go for the fatty one, but we had just finished up a meal elsewhere, so settled on a single portion only...
Slathered with the house special sauce that has a tiny hint (and I mean a tiny hint) of chilli, the steamed rice cake portion is dumped into your bowl so that the meat and egg are present at the top. Fatty pork is the real winner here, as it melts into the rice giving it an elevated level of delicious naughtiness.
We paired ours with a soup, which helped to dissipate any greasiness from the pork and steamed rice cake itself.
I will definitely be back here to get the large portion - remember, that's doubling up on the one you see right there, in one bowl! I mean, what more could you want than two old-school steamed rice cakes like that both combined into one ball and lashed with that sauce?
Soup
海陸湯 hǎi lù tāng
Oysters aren't particularly a regular order for me, even though I really like them. This soup is a variation of the surf n' turf combination that we are all familiar with. But this ain't no fancy restaurant serving a lobster with a steak. No. Here you're going to get the oyster and pig blood surf n' turf combination. It's delicious, and you should definitely consider it! See more below for why.
Pig blood cake is a love-it-or-hate-it thing. I get that. But it has this ironic richness with a delicate texture that intrigues, and when paired with those fresh and fat taste-of-the-sea oysters, it's a match made in heaven.
You're going to bite down on those oysters and this fresh oyster flavour will burst into your mouth. These oysters were big and packed with such fresh sea flavours that I could have had two portions of these, alone. The broth is a strong flavour of leek and shallots that washes everything down nicely, bringing the oysters and pig blood together in this unlikely marriage that stands the test of time.
The bottom line
Is it worth it?
It's fun if you're OK with being a little crammed in. The atmosphere is busy and fun, but if a quiet space with friends is what you're looking for, then you might want to look elsewhere.
How busy does it get?
It does get pretty busy here, so be prepared for a wait. However, looking at what they have on the menu, your wait is unlikely to be long.
Is it worth going to Daqiaotou for this alone?
I would strongly suggest you to get 2 more things on this road. The first of those is a cabbage and pork rib soup and a great ice mochi shop.