Anyone who ever pushed aside their spaghetti to get to the meatballs has to love the Chinese version of the dish: never mind the noodles, bring on the meat! And a Chungho eatery owned by an emigre from Hong Kong has people pushing their way into the restaurant to sample her handiwork.
Of course, a little publicity doesn't hurt. The walls of Wu Li-ying's (
The dish differs from its Western counterpart in other ways besides the absence of noodles. Instead of being made from hamburger, they're made from pork. And instead of being soused in meat sauce on the stovetop, they're prepared in a special pot -- the baoshen of the restaurant's name -- that is something like a ceramic Dutch oven or crock pot that's popped in the oven for several minutes before coming to the table piping hot. The thick walls of the pot keep its contents hot and allow it to keep "cooking" even as it sits on your table.
If not noodles, what goes in the dish? In Wu's version, which she learned from her mother as a child in Hong Kong, it's a tasty concoction of onions and chili peppers braised in a light tomato sauce. The old saying about the third generation frittering away the family fortune doesn't seem to apply to Wu given the lack of available seats during the dinner hour.
Wu's increasingly famous meatballs (NT$200) are one of a few "specialties" that top her menu. Another is her Hong-Kong style fried rice (NT$90), which distinguishes itself by including chunks of salted fish and chicken. It's tasty, but strictly for fans of salty dishes.
"I'm very lucky that Taiwanese like our Hong Kong dishes," Wu said. "Had I stayed in Hong Kong and opened a shop there, it might have been seen as just another restaurant and might not have received the same attention that it's getting here in Taipei."
Other specialties include a Hong Kong-style fish head hot pot (NT$390) and beef version of her famous pork meatballs (NT$180). A small refrigerator in the back of the shop is stocked with drinks.
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