Dishes
fried burdock fish cake
炸牛蒡
Also called: 牛蒡天 · 甜不辣 · burdock fish cake
Fish paste mixed with burdock root and deep-fried, a side at fish-noodle shops.
Photo: Ralff Nestor Nacor, CC BY-SA 4.0What it is
A fried fish cake with shreds of burdock root in it. It is a kind of 甜不辣 (tianbula), Taiwan's name for Japanese-style fried fish cakes.
Where it comes from
Wikipedia says this type of fried fish cake, the satsuma-age that parts of Japan call tempura, came to Taiwan in the Japanese colonial era and took the sound-alike name 甜不辣.
How it is made
Fish paste is mixed with burdock and deep-fried.
How to eat it
A piece makes a side for milkfish rice noodle soup. The flavour is mild at first and the fish and burdock come through as you chew.
In Kaohsiung
Dagouding Milkfish Rice Noodle Soup in Yancheng makes it from the same fish paste it uses in its noodle soup.
Where to eat it in Kaohsiung
Sources