Chen Family Meat Tzong and Ketzong King (成家肉粽粿粽大王) is located at 97 Chungshan Rd., Hsinchu City (新竹市中山路97號) tel (03) 522-5900.
* Chiayi: Fuyuan Meat Tzong (福源肉粽) has been in the tzongtze business for 22 years. According to Lin Fu-yuan (林福源), the store employs about 40 staff just to wrap tzongtze every day. The shop is unmistakable, with its bundles of tzongtze hanging from racks looking like wind bells and smelling sweetly of rice and bamboo. Lin said the bamboo leaves are first scrubbed with a scourer to make them soft. Inside are wrapped tender pork and dried shrimp.
Fuyuan Meat Tzong is located at 36 Chungcheng Rd., Chiayi City (嘉義市中正路36號), tel (05) 278-6827.
* Tainan: Tsaifahao Eight Treasures Meat Tzong (再發號八寶肉粽) has been opening its doors for business each day for the last 120 years. Wu Li-yuan (吳立源) is the fourth-generation owner of the store, which derived its name from the eight ingredients used in its tzongtze: scallop, dried fish, dry shrimp, chestnut, mushrooms, ground pork, lean meat and salted egg yolk. Prices range from NT$50 to NT$150, depending on the ingredients used and the size. Eight Treasure tzongtze can range in weight from regular size at 350g to jumbo size at 700g.
Tsaifahao Eight Treasures Meat Tzong is located at 71, Minchuan Rd., Sec. 2, Tainan City (台南市民 路2段71號), tel (06) 222-3577.
* Kaohsiung: Tsai Tzong Lee Vegetarian Tzongtze (菜粽李菜粽店) has specialized in vegetarian tzongtze for 50 years. The store only adds peanuts to its tzongtze, which provide a natural sweetness. The tzongtze are wrapped in wallflower leaves (桂竹葉) and sell for NT$25.
Tsai Tzong Lee Vegetarian Tzongtze is located at 122-1 Hsintien Rd, Hsinhsing District, Kaohsiung City (高雄市新興區新田路122-1號), tel (07) 282-3223.
* Hualien: Mother Tu's Meat Tzong (涂媽媽肉粽) makes tzongtze in the northern Hakka style. For Mrs Tu, the secret to making a delicious tzongtze is to choose high-quality glutinous rice and to carefully control the cooking time. In the northern Hakka preparation, the rice and other ingredients are first fried before being wrapped in bamboo leaves. The triangular tzongtze are tied together in strings and then steamed. Mrs Tu began by selling tzongtze from a push cart and her popularity allowed her to later open her own shop.
Mother Tu's Meat Tzong is located at 49-1, Chungcheng N., Rd., Juisui Hsiang, Hualien County (花蓮縣瑞穗鄉中正北路49之1號), tel (03) 887-1125.
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