台湾卤肉饭 (Taiwan Braised Pork Rice)

All because there were talks about going to Taiwan in Sept, I thought of my last Taiwan trip in June. Lol. And I think I missed nothing but the food there. Haha. And the first food that actually came up to Ah Dear's mind was the 卤肉饭! Lol. And suddenly, everytime someone talks about Taiwan, the image of the 卤肉饭 will come into my mind automatically! Haha.

The first encounter with the rice was when we ordered bento at the synchrotron. Back then, I had absolutely no idea what I was eating. I just thought it tasted nice. Haha. *Ignore the lack of colors! Great food doesn't mean colors all the time! Hahaha!*

 

And shortly after I ate this, my dear friend told me that I have to eat the 卤肉饭 when I'm in Taiwan. So, haha, I ordered it for dinner! And tadang! This is what I got! Exactly the same thing as what I had for lunch! (It tasted better than the lunch! I think it's from different stores.)

And because it blown my heart away, when Ah Dear met me in Taipei (which is just 1-2 days later), I told him, 卤肉饭 is a must try! Well, because of this, I faced 卤肉饭 almost everyday!! Right after I told him, we had it for dinner near where we stayed.

Before we left Taiwan, we have to have a last bowl.

And before this, we actually had another one as bento. Haha. No photos were taken because the main character was supposed to be the yummy 猪血汤 (Yes, pig blood. Go ahead and gag. Haha. It won't stop me from loving this dish since young. Haha!) Although it did not show the rice, I put this photo to stress how many bowls of 卤肉饭 I actually had for a short 1 week at Taiwan. Lol.

How should I explain the taste? 

I would think that the sauce made the meat really nice. Without the sauce, it is nothing. That's why they called it 卤肉 ma.. And I have absolutely no idea how they cooked it till you cannot really taste the presence of the fats even though you can see it staring right at you. But the stalls who does not cook it well will let you have the gagging experience you have something really fatty (the last photo). The best one I had was the 2nd one at Hsinchu (I wonder where they order from. Hmmm....) and the best Ah Dear had was the one near 牡丹居 (3rd photo).

And something that we had realized was that. The rice (except when you order as bento) is usually sold in very small servings. So, you almost have to order other dishes if you want to eat it. Haha. So, no worries about being overloaded with the meat. And they are usually just ard NT50 (S$2.50). Great taste does not have to come with high price! Haha. Well, it is actually very expensive if you were to include the air tickets. Hehs.

*There's a reason why I came back with extra 2kg after just 1 week in Taiwan. I wonder how the girls there get themselves so fit, or rather, so THIN!*

**Dear, if you are reading it, does it give you more motivation to earn more money and save up and go back there next year with the whole family? Haha.**