Wang's Broth: Two Years in Taiwan, Finally Eating at the famous Michelin Bib Gourmand Restaurant
By Kalen Johnson ·
I have a confession. It’s been almost 2 years since I moved to Taiwan. I've tried Din Tai Fung, night markets, and Taipei 101; all well-known stops in Taipei. While less mainstream, is Wang’s Broth, still a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant. I haven’t eaten here yet. That changes today.
I arrived at 3pm on a Thursday. Plenty of tables, about 40% full. I always suggest visiting famous restaurants during off hours to hopefully avoid long lines. To sample more dishes, I ordered small portions: Braised Pork Rice, Steamed Minced Pork with Pickles in Broth, Braised Cabbage, Sweet Potato Leaves, Tofu, Fried Tofu, and a Braised Duck Egg. All for NT$295 (US$9.36). And oh my, was a lot of food.
Not just quantity, though. It’s clear why this is repeatedly on the Michelin list. The braised pork rice is incredibly savoury, with five-spice coming through loud and clear. The pork belly is ridiculous. They’re cut into pretty small chunks, but they’ve been braised for so long it’s hard to tell how they stay together. I tested taking a piece, putting it on my tongue, and pressing it against the roof of my mouth. The fatty part instantly disappears, and the meaty part is not far behind. This is the type of lu rou fan that shows why the dish is so popular.
For as popular as they have become from the lu rou fan and braised dishes, the name of the restaurant is “Wang’s Broth”, and the pork and pickles soup is what they originally became famous for. It shows as well: the broth is clear and extremely tasty, it has a bunch of umami, salty, and savoury flavours. You can see the fat floating on top, adding richness to the relatively light broth. They use pickled cucumbers alongside pieces of pork, with a fish paste and starch coating. The pickled cucumbers are tossed into the broth, which gives it a salty, tangy flavour, and are apparently soy-pickled. The pork seems like it could be deep fried with the starch coating it has, but apparently this comes from the starch hydrating with the fish paste and then hitting the hot soup broth; pretty cool.
The braised cabbage on the first try was not my favourite. It initially tasted pretty bland. Especially after the soup and braised pork. However, that seemed to change as it cooled slightly and also sat in the braising liquid more. I wonder if the top piece just had a bit of the braising liquid drain out of it after sitting for a few minutes. Coming back to it after trying everything else gave the other pieces of cabbage a braised flavour. It switched from the lowest-rated side to a much higher one.
The sweet potato leaves are the only dish I ordered that is wok-fried to order. I did not see any garlic or ginger pieces, but it had a savoury flavour. To me, it tasted rather strongly of sesame oil, which carried through the flavour profile. I’d say it’s on a similar level as 熱炒 places.
The tofu pieces have been sitting in the braising liquid. I’m still undecided about which I enjoyed more: the fried tofu or the regular tofu. The regular tofu seems to have picked up more braised flavour, although still pretty light. The fried tofu still had a bit of oily flavour. They’re cheap, though, easy to order and try both.
The last thing I had was the braised duck egg. This, for me, was probably the least favourite. Not because it was bad, but duck egg seems to have a thicker white than chicken egg; even though it had a dark exterior, it tasted like a very basic hard-boiled egg. If you like hard-boiled eggs, it’s worth getting, but if not, it’s also a very easy pass.
I walked away so ridiculously full. Wang’s Broth is located down an ex-red-light district alleyway. It’s now a pretty lively alley with lots of stalls and restaurants lining it. The hype around this place is easy to understand. It’s also understandable why they have opened a second location right in the airport, in terminal 2 after the security checkpoint. If you’re not able to make it to Wang’s Broth when you visit Taiwan, that’s okay - it’s just one more of many reasons you have to visit again.
Kalen Johnson
A Canadian born husband and father, living in Taiwan for the last two years. He does web development during the day, but is always excited to try out new food from all places and cultures
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