Yuan Ji Traditional Fen Guo Ice

Review

Yuan Ji Traditional Fen Guo Ice sits on Minzu Road inside Lukang's First Market. It was built on handmade fen guo, a soft starch jelly, and has been at it for about forty years. Supertaste and local bloggers list it as a must-eat dessert when touring the market, and many Lukang locals have eaten here since childhood. The long-running Fa Ji fen guo ice is on the same street, and the two are often compared.

The fen guo is made from coarse sweet potato starch, colored naturally with gardenia, and cooked fresh every morning. It is springy and tender with a gentle chew. The rice noodle jelly is also made daily from rice batter and bites firm and smooth. The signature ice costs NT$35: shaved ice heaped with fen guo, rice noodle jelly and aiyu jelly, a generous portion under a clean, lightly sweet syrup. Most ices and tofu puddings cost NT$30 to 35, and warm sweet soups are offered in winter.

Praise centers on the generous toppings, the low prices and the natural, not-too-sweet fen guo. Some write-ups note that the ice is shaved coarse rather than fluffy, which may not suit fans of fine snow ice, and the shop is a plain market eatery with no real decor. Most available reviews date from 2018 to 2022, so prices may have changed.

Sources disagree on opening hours: some say 7:30 am to 6:30 pm, others 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, so check before you go. There are only five or six tables inside; the front is a half-open counter with a freezer, and many locals buy whole bags of fen guo, rice noodle jelly and aiyu to take home. Drivers can use the multi-level car park at Minzu Road and Gongyuan 1st Road, entered from Gongyuan 1st Road, about a five-minute walk away.

It suits anyone who has finished meat buns or vermicelli soup in the market and wants a cheap bowl of ice to finish. First-timers should order the signature ice to try all three toppings at once; to relive it at home, buy a bag of toppings and add your own ice.