Dishes
Pig-head rice
豬頭飯
Also called: 鋤頭飯
Small bowls of rice cooked in pork-head stock, a Yanshui speciality eaten with braised side dishes.
What it is
Plain-looking long-grain rice cooked in a pork stock, so each grain stays separate and smells of lard. Despite the name there is no pig's head on top. It is eaten with side dishes such as braised pork belly, blanched squid and sausage.
Where it comes from
One story says farmers came to eat after work carrying their hoes, so it was called hoe rice (鋤頭飯), which over time became pig-head rice (豬頭飯).
How it is made
A stock is simmered from pork head and bones with pork belly, then long-grain indica rice (在來米) is cooked in it. TVBS compares the method to paella.
How to eat it
Order a small bowl or two of rice and pick side dishes from the counter, buffet-style.
In Tainan
Hu Xu in Yanshui, northern Tainan, sells it in small bowls alongside a counter of side dishes.
Where to eat it in Tainan
Sources