Jinzhi Red Yeast Meatball (Main Shop)

Review

Jinzhi is the red yeast meatball shop on Jiufen's Jishan Street that the media mention most often; Supertaste once called it Jiufen's first red yeast meatball shop, and TV food shows have visited many times. It now has three outlets on the old street, with the main shop at No. 112. Plenty of other stalls hang the same sign and claim to be the original, and bloggers note the flavours are similar, so choosing the main shop is mostly about its name and history.

The signature ba-wan has a sweet potato starch skin that is translucent with a faint pink tint; frying leaves the outside lightly crisp and the inside soft and chewy. The filling is not minced meat but a whole piece of pork marinated in the shop's own red yeast, balanced by bamboo shoots to cut the richness, with a light wine aroma. It is served with a house sauce and cucumber. The other common order is the five-flavour mixed ball soup, which lets you try several kinds of balls at once.

Fans praise the chewy skin, fragrant filling and the rare red yeast flavour, a snack they see as distinctly Jiufen, with the cucumber adding freshness. Critics find the red sauce unusual and a bit herbal, not to everyone's taste. Some feel its fame outweighs the food and that it is not worth a special queue, and ordering by self-service kiosk with little service leaves a fairly ordinary impression.

Online listings show roughly 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends; sources vary slightly, so check before you go. Sources disagree on the meatball price, with some listing NT$45 and others NT$60, so confirm before you go; overall, one person can eat well for under NT$200. There is indoor seating, weekends bring a short wait, and parking in Jiufen is hard, so the bus is the better option.

Good for anyone wanting a local Jiufen snack or curious about red yeast flavours. On a first visit, one meatball plus a mixed ball soup is the full experience. If you are wary of strong sauce, ask for less or on the side and taste it plain first. It fits neatly into a half-day Jiufen walk alongside taro balls and herb cakes.