Restaurants for Rice-based Dishes in Taipei and Taichung

Mullet Roe Fried Rice

This one-MICHELIN-starred restaurant spares no effort in its dish of bottarga fried rice featuring orange mullet roe with fragrant smoky aromas, paired with pearlescent rice evenly coated with egg, seasoned and fried to perfection.

Mullet Roe Fried Rice

Unlike what’s available at the market, the mullet roe at Mountain and Sea House is first soaked in Shaoxing wine, sliced ​​and ground into powder, and then fried to release its aromas. It is fried with long-grained indica rice and garnished with another generous sprinkle of mullet roe powder to serve for extra fragrance.

Abalone Hokkien Fried Rice

Golden Formosa’s luxurious take on mullet roe fried rice features rice topped with abalone, scallops, sea cucumber and shrimp, served in a simmering hot broth rich in seafood flavors.

Mullet Roe Fried Rice

Ming Fu's mullet roe fried rice is a paragon. The rice is perfectly browned with soy sauce and carries an eggy fragrance. Nicely separated, each grain of rice is distinct and mixed with minced green onion, onion and diced mullet roe, full of umami and smoky wok’s breath.

The menu here is built around Taiwanese fried rice, with a contemporary twist that makes it more attractive to a younger generation. “New fried rice” is the specialty here. Try the fried rice with grilled dried scallops and mullet roe — the bright pink rice is dyed naturally with dragon fruit juice.

Steamed Crab Glutinous Rice

The hong xun mi gao here features long-grain glutinous rice cooked with dried shrimp and shiitake mushrooms. The round rice cakes are carefully plated on the side for ease of service during banquets. This dish is available all year round, but orders must be made three days in advance.

Steamed Crab Glutinous Rice

Steamed crab glutinous rice is a seasonal specialty here in autumn and winter. Rounds of glutinous rice cake and seasonal crab are placed in bamboo steamers and cooked so that the rice cakes carry a faint bamboo fragrance.

The traditional steamed sticky rice here is made according to a 50-year-old time-honored recipe. The small, soft and delicious rice cakes are made from carefully selected short-grain glutinous rice aged for a year. The rice is soaked, steamed, and then mixed with other ingredients such as fried shallots and garlic. The rice pudding is best enjoyed with a spicy radish sauce made with bird’s eye chili.

Pomfret Rice Noodles

The preparation of this classic Taiwanese dish is a complicated process: the pomfret is first slowly fried on gentle heat, then sautéed shallots, garlic sprouts, fried taro, clams, and southern Taiwanese rice noodles are added to the pot and simmered together. Seasoned with pepper and shallots, the broth is rich with the flavor of seafood and smooth taro.

Claypot Mackerel Rice Noodles

This dish features a pot chock full of squid, taro, garlic sprouts, thin rice noodles, and mounds of fluffy fried egg floss simmered with fried mackerel slices. After simmering, the rice noodles absorb the rich umami of the stock, as well as the eggy goodness and fragrant taro aroma — a generous portion perfect for sharing.

Stir-fried Pumpkin Rice Noodles

Shredded cabbage and pumpkin are added to rice noodles and chicken stock and then simmered. Veering away from the dry traditional style of fried vermicelli, Mipon’s rendition is presented slightly moist, which shines the spotlight on the natural texture and sweetness of the rice noodles and pumpkin, highlighted by its appetizing golden hue.

Taro Seafood Rice Noodles

The rice noodles here are boiled in chicken bone broth with sautéed shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimps, and fried local taro from the Dajia district, resulting in silky rice noodles that have fully absorbed the savory flavors of the soup stock.

Taiwanese Fried Rice Noodles

Thin rice noodles from Hsinchu City are fried with shredded pork, eggs, sliced green onions, and shredded carrots for a moreish dry noodle dish.

Now run by its second generation owners, the Hakka-style rice balls are made with glutinous rice harvested in winter and filled with juicy minced pork. Served in a traditional Hakka bone broth with winter vegetables, the dish evokes a taste of warmth and comfort.

The ba wan at this 80-year-old stalwart are prepared with rice flour and sweet potato flour and filled with a mixture of pork trotters, five spice, and shallots. The dumplings are deep-fried at a low temperature and served with sweet sauce and dark soya sauce.