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[RESTAURANT REVIEW] Er Kung Juan Cun Restaurant (二空眷村小館)

Meticulous preparation goes into the making of many of Er Kung’s dishes, such as the Shanghai delicacy kao fang. PHOTO: HO YI, TAIPEI TIMES

When the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) sought refuge on Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War in 1949, many of its soldiers settled down in military villages, or juan cun (眷村). The residential compounds built to house soldiers and their families were like miniature versions of China, with people from different Chinese provinces living next-door to each other. The juan cun as a unique cultural landscape may soon pass into oblivion, as old soldiers pass away and the villages themselves are demolished and replaced with modern housing. Fortunately, their cuisine has been preserved in lively establishments such as Er Kung Juan Cun Restaurant (二空眷村小館), which serves juan cun cuisine, mixing the traditions of various Chinese provinces with culinary innovations born of necessity in a time of scarcity. With roots in Tainan’s Air Force Second Village (台南二空新村), Er Kung has seen several changes of ownership but has remained true to its juan cun origins with an extensive menu offering Chinese delicacies as diverse as Sichuanese fly heads (蒼蠅頭), Chinese scallions stir-fried with minced beef and fermented soybeans, preserved pork (臘肉) from Hunan, and Shanghai’s kao fang (烤方), or pork stewed with soybean sauce and spices.

Er Kung Juan Cun Restaurant (二空眷村小館) Address: 14, Ln 155, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei City (台北市敦化北路155巷14號) Telephone: (02) 2712-2077 Open: Daily from 11:30am to 2pm and 5pm to 9pm Average meal: NT$350 Details: Chinese menu; credit cards accepted

The restaurant’s interior resembles nothing so much as a miniature juan cun museum, with a model military plane hanging from the ceiling and uniforms and Air Force insignia nailed to the walls. On a recent visit with a group of friends, every dish at this simply decorated but well-kept eatery lived up to expectations. For starters, no one could resist the famous cold plate, or “husband and wife lungs” (夫妻肺片, NT$160), slices of stewed beef and tripe flavored with vinegar, sesame oil and chili. We then gobbled up a serving of kao fang (NT$340), a thick layer of tender pork and a thin layer of fat that has been stewed with soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, chili and other spices for more than six hours until it literally melts on the tongue. Next came the fried shredded pancake with preserved pork (腊味炒餅, NT$120), a testament to the ingenuity of juan cun housewives that turns one evening’s leftovers into a filling lunch for the next day. The only difference between the original and Er Kung’s pancakes is that the latter are made fresh every morning. The signature chicken soup with aged dried radish (老菜脯雞湯, NT$220) was an ideal way to wrap up our hearty juan cun-style meal. Normally oily and overly rich, the broth at Er Kung was light and tasty.
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