Next came a big bowl of Zhajiang noodles (炸醬麵), which translates to “fried sauce noodles.” The noodles sat neatly in the bowl with a chunky topping of diced pork, little tofu cubes and bright green soybeans. We also tried another one of Din Tai Fung’s famous entrees, the pork chop fried rice (排骨蛋炒飯). It was served as a golden mound of fried rice with crispy-edged pork chops on top. Out of everything I got to try today, this was one of my favorite dishes. We finished with Taiwan’s famous salted egg yolk lava buns (黃金流沙包). If you ever try one of these, make sure to take a small bite first because the inner filling can be scalding hot!
I was surprised at first by some of these appetizers, especially the drunken chicken, which is soaked overnight in rice wine. Don’t worry, though: the alcohol mostly boils off when the chicken is cooked, and it adds a very unique and unmistakable flavor. The cucumbers were cool and spicy at the same time, and the wood ear mushrooms made a fun crunchy sound when I bit into them.
The Xiaolongbao was easily the most memorable part of the meal: I placed one of them on my soup spoon, poked a small hole at the top to let out some steam, sipped the hot soup from it, and then added some ginger and vinegar to go with it. So much flavor packed in one bite!
Before eating the Zhajiang noodles, I mixed all the sauces, pork, tofu, and soybeans, coating every noodle in a salty-sweet savory sauce. Something about the dish made it feel like the perfect type of cozy, comfort food that you might want to have on a rainy day.
