Sticky rice doused in braised pork stew is a classic Taiwanese dish. In Chiayi''s Puzi, one family restaurant has been refining the recipe for almost 60 years. The Huang family make all their dishes with traditional methods, by hand, and that''s gotten them a name for the best pork rice in Taiwan. Even President Tsai made a trip to savor the perfect glutinous rice.
Glutinous rice is sprinkled with a glistening meat stew. With some coriander to lift the flavors, it’s unbeatable.
Member of public
Someone told me the glutinous rice here was great, so I came here specially. I just learned President Tsai came here specially for this!
The restaurant opens at dusk and sells the famous rice until midnight. Normally glutinous rice is dressed in a brown stew of dried shrimp and mushroom. Here they do it very differently, with the rice cooked to perfection in a traditional bamboo steamer basket. The braised meat stew is prepared with the utmost care.
Huang Hsin-lai
Restaurant owner
We use rice that’s a few years old, so it has more bite to it, more chewiness. We use mostly long grain glutinous rice. We cut all our pork by hand.
The restaurant opened in 1962. It’s long been legendary in Chiayi, and in 2019, President Tsai Ing-wen herself came here just to try the famous rice dish.
Huang Chang chou
Restaurant owner
I was very happy the president came to eat here.
Huang Hui-chuan
Restaurant owner
It was about two years ago that she came and had our glutinous rice.
Second-generation restaurant Huang Hui-chuan has been helping her parents here since she was a child. She knows all the tricks of the trade, from selecting the best vegetables to braising the meat. Even the side dishes are all made to traditional recipes, handmade in house. That’s what has made the restaurant its reputation for unshakeable quality.