Located on the busy corner of Nanking East Road and Kuangfu South Road, Ta Ching Hua is easy to miss. But once you discover it, you'll probably become a regular. In a city with too many Chinese restaurants that are pretty much the same, Ta Ching Hua comes out with the bold idea of introducing imperial Manchu cuisine to Taipei. The restaurant offers a range of dishes that run from simple dumplings to roast meat dishes that are on par with the best in town. And the dumplings are nothing to sniff at either.
"Dumplings are one of the most basic foods up in northeastern China," general manager Chung Yu-chi (鍾宇奇) said. "There are hundreds of fillings. Ta Ching Hua offers more than 20 kinds. The tomato steamed dumplings and the green pepper steamed dumplings are a revelation, the former a must try for vegetarians. Other options include cabbage, winter melon and cucumber. At just NT$120, it is hard to come by better value for a combination of innovation, presentation and taste.
Another upgrade on a common dish that can be found in northern restaurants in Taipei is the ta-la-pi, a jelly made of green bean usually served with vegetables. In this case, there are slithers of fried egg, carrot, agaric fungus, pork and cucumber and topped with a sharp mixture of mustard and sesame seed paste. Normally no more than a insignificant side dish in northern-style eateries, at Ta Ching Hua it is elevated to a visual and culinary tour de force.
"Manchu cuisine naturally has many meat dishes," Chung emphasized, and these are very different from what you might expect from a Chinese restaurant. "Manchu food is actually not part of the Chinese culinary tradition at all, she pointed out, and what Ta Ching Hua serves is the result of nearly 400 years of culinary integration as practiced in the Manchu court.
This unique combination can be found in dishes such as the Ching Royal Dynasty's oiled gigot. This is a shank of lamb that has been first cooked in a highly spiced sauce, then deep fried before fragrant oil is poured over it. It is a rich and spicy dish that meat lovers can really get their teeth into -- although it is so tender that teeth are a bit of an afterthought.
Ta Ching Hua opens the door to a much more cosmopolitan Chinese cuisine that includes the northern steppe. It was first opened by the Hu Family in Shengyang in northeastern China and now has many branches around the country. The branch in Taiwan, operated as a franchise, is the first outside China.
"All the chefs were trained over in China," Chung said. "The whole project has been a long time in the planning. Although the menu is extensive," Chung says that there are still many Manchu dishes that have been left out. "We will introduce them gradually," she said, "or perhaps run special menus to introduce new dishes."
Although open less than two months, Ta Ching Hua already does a brisk trade and dinner bookings are recommended. Takeout is also offered.
RSS