Dishes
Duck rice
鴨肉飯
Also called: 冬菜鴨 (duck with preserved cabbage) · 鴨肉冬粉 (duck glass-noodle soup)
Sliced duck over rice, usually with a duck soup on the side. Tainan also serves duck with preserved cabbage.
Photo: 王新漢, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: bryan... from Taipei, Taiwan, CC BY-SA 2.0What it is
Rice topped with sliced duck, in some shops over a layer of braised pork sauce, with pickled radish on the side. Duck shops also sell duck glass-noodle soup and plates of boiled or smoked duck and offal.
Where it comes from
Duck shops in both cities go back decades. The Michelin Guide says Zhu-Ji in Tainan has sold sliced duck since 1942, and TVBS Supertaste reports that Ya Rou Zhen in Kaohsiung's Yancheng has traded for more than 65 years.
How it is made
Ducks are boiled or smoked and sliced to order. Zhu-Ji uses four-month-old ducks from Pingtung and seasons its duck glass-noodle soup with preserved cabbage (冬菜).
How to eat it
Duck rice is lunch food. Get it with a plate of sliced duck or mixed offal (下水: heart, liver, intestine and gizzard), and use the garlic sauce where it is offered.
In Kaohsiung
In Kaohsiung, one reviewer describes Ya Rou Zhen's duck rice as braised pork rice with duck laid on top, while Hou Chi serves thick-sliced duck with pickled radish. Zhu-Ji's smoked duck in Tainan often sells out around lunchtime.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
侯記鴨肉飯Hou Chi Duck Rice
This popular duck shop slices its duck thick and lays it over rice with pickled radish. Pair it with the angelica herbal duck soup.
正宗鴨肉飯Cheng Tsung Duck Rice
A busy, no-frills Zuoying shop where the draw is sliced smoked duck over rice, with a small daily batch of hand-cut duck-leg rice for those who come early.
鴨肉珍Ya Rou Zhen (Duck Zhen)
Yancheng's famous duck rice counter has been going since 1960. Order the duck rice (rice under minced pork sauce and sliced duck) and a plate of sliced duck on the side.
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