环记麻油鸡

Similar to Bak Kut Teh’s popularity in Singapore, sesame oil chicken is equally popular with tourists in Taipei. Although we can also find the same dish in Singapore, the cooking method is different resulting in a totally different flavour

On my first night in Taipei, I decided to pop by Ningxia Night Market for dinner as I missed the shredded chicken rice and braised pork rice from one of the stalls in the night market. I was disappointed by the taste of the chicken rice and decided to venture around the market for more food when this signboard struck me

As you walk along the shophouses in Ningxia market, many shops sell sesame oil chicken but this shop’s menu called out to me with their sesame oil pork liver and kidney. The main cooking area with a huge stove is located on the first floor on the shop front to make it easy for takeout

I proceeded to the 2nd floor which was air-conditioned to escape the sweltering heat outside. The stairs to the 2nd floor are quite steep, high and with small steps and low railings. I would not recommend the 2nd floor to anyone with mobility issues especially when there is no lift. The 2nd-floor dining area is spacious and cooling due to the blasting coolers all over the place. There is about seating for 30 people at one time and orders are taken via a paper order chit where you can tick the item you need. Order is placed at the counter with payment collected upfront

The first thing that arrived was the sesame oil flour vermicelli which was a small bowl of noodles soaking in the light sesame broth. Unlike the outlook of the noodles, the broth is not oily at all and is a pretty light and flavourful soup accompaniment for the slightly savoury flour noodles. The noodles were soft and bouncy and perfect together with the broth

The first dish which came was the sesame oil pork liver which came in a dark color gravy. The serving of the liver was generous with huge pieces in the small bowl. There were at least 10 pieces of liver in 1 serving. I am pretty picky when it comes to pig liver as many restaurants tend to overcook the liver and it becomes too tough to enjoy. The liver here was inconsistent as I picked up some pieces which were too tough to bite and some were soft. The only saviour was it did not become rubbery so each piece was still edible. The sesame flavour of this dish is much heavier than the noodles and worked well covering any boar taint small

The next dish was the sesame oil pork kidney which was served on a plate with a lesser oily gravy. With the liver, I was not expecting the kidney to be done well but I was pleasantly surprised as I bit into my first piece. The kidney was crunchy and soft with absolutely no ammonia taste. You could taste the fragrance of the ginger and sesame working well together with the kidney

Last but not least, the sesame oil chicken was served after 10 minutes. The bowl was piled high with a huge chicken drumstick chopped into 2 pieces with some thigh meat. By now I was pretty full but still wanted to dig in on their signature dish. I was immediately disappointed as the meat was extremely tough for me. It was impossible to peel off any meat from the bone just using chopsticks and it had to be picked up by hand and bitten with your teeth directly. This made it tough to eat the chicken properly. I was expecting the meat to be more tender but the texture felt like an overcooked piece of chicken

Overall, the dish I enjoyed most here was the sesame oil kidneys which was done almost perfectly and I would return anytime to just eat the kidneys with noodles. The liver was a close 2nd dish but I did not appreciate the inconsistency in the texture. The chicken is a skip for me as it is overly tough

Address: No. 44號, Ningxia Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, Taiwan 103

Operating hours: 12 pm to 3 pm and 5 pm to 12 am ( Sat only 5 pm to 12 am and closed on Mon)