Five years ago, Chao Li was one the first seafood restaurants to set up on the stretch of highway between Nanwan and Hengchun, a stretch that's pretty desolate unless you're looking for a gas station or an industrial yard. But almost opposite the entrance to Taiwan's third nuclear power plant, the restaurant found a surprisingly pleasant, shady little grove and began serving an interesting specialty dish that set it apart from the rest: puffer fish.
Other puffer fish restaurants followed, but Chao Li was the first and deserves its status as the most famous. Unlike the Japanese delicacy that is lethal if prepared incorrectly, the puffer fish served here is quite harmless -- it is a spiny variety of puffer which is indigenous to the waters around Kenting and completely safe to eat.
The puffer is served in a rice noodle soup for NT$60 -- the proprietress wanted to replace the puffer with another kind of white fish, saying that foreigners found the puffer too bony -- but I insisted on puffer which they finally provided.
A local scuba diver told me he'd been approached by Chao Li's owners to catch puffer fish for the restaurant. This confirmed what the proprietress told me -- that they didn't buy any of their fish at the local market, but instead contracted directly with local fishermen. It's one of the reasons the restaurant has gained a reputation for serving dishes truly local to the Hengchun peninsula.
In addition to puffer fish, the display of fresh seafood and vegetables consist almost completely of local catch and produce, including parrot fish and a locally grown chili pepper. Usually the restaurant turns these ingredients into a ten-course meal for large parties, charging a relatively modest NT$2,000 or NT$2,500 depending on the menu.
But there's puffer fish noodle soup for solo diners. It was very good, but not for people who don't like fish eyeballs floating in their bowl. This kind of puffer is a slightly tough white fish, not unlike swordfish or some kinds of shark. There were bones, but they were big and easy to get around.
On the proprietress' recommendation, I complemented the puffer with a plate of fried tofu (NT$50), which was also very good. After the tofu was fried, it was made into little sandwiches with a sesame paste and cilantro filling. This made for loads of flavor, especially when dipped in the accompanying brown sauce, which was so heavy with garlic that I was still tasting it an hour later, even after having brushed my teeth.
The restaurant's only major drawback was the black flies that collected on my discarded fish bones once I'd finished my meal. But I was willing to write that off as a rustic touch.
RSS