Dishes
Pork heart glass-noodle soup
豬心冬粉
Also called: pork heart soup · 豬心湯 · dong fen
Slices of gently cooked pork heart in clear soup with glass noodles, often with other offal alongside.
What it is
Pork heart, sliced to order, in a clear soup with glass noodles. The heart is tender rather than chewy because it is cooked gently. Shops also serve liver, tongue and other offal the same way.
Where it comes from
On Tainan's Baoan Road, A Ming is one of four similar pork-heart shops that share the same family roots. Its owner's brother runs the Huang family shop. Michelin says the chef still prepares the offal the way his father did almost 70 years ago.
How it is made
At A Ming, the heart is sliced, put in a small aluminium cup and covered with hot soup, then the cup sits in a pot of hot water so the meat cooks through slowly. The owner describes it as steeped rather than boiled, and Michelin calls it a bain-marie method that stops the offal overcooking.
How to eat it
In Tainan it is an evening and late-night dish. Expect a queue, and bring cash. In Cishan, offal can come with egg noodles, glass noodles or rice, and a little grated garlic goes well with the pork tongue.
In Tainan
Tainan's Baoan Road shops are evening affairs. In Kaohsiung's Cishan, Hsiu Ming has been beside the old street since 1986, and regulars add braised pork rice topped with a fried egg.
Where to eat it in Tainan
Sources