Shulin Black Bawan

Review

Shulin Black Bawan sits in a lane near the rear exit of Shulin Station, less than a minute's walk from the station. The small shop has been run locally for nearly thirty years. Supertaste's TV programme and a TVBS Shulin food roundup have both featured it; one host recalled eating it as a student, and many Shulin residents see it as their go-to cheap snack.

The signature black bawan is steamed rather than fried. The skin keeps its chewiness after steaming and is coated with a dark house sauce, which gives it the name. The pork filling comes in big, springy, well-seasoned pieces, and each dumpling is larger than a typical bawan. The soups matter too: the pork blood soup has large cubes of blood with shacha sauce and pickled mustard greens, and there is also pork ball soup.

Diners mostly praise the solid portions, low prices and fragrant filling; some call it their number one bawan, and visitors have travelled specially to try it. Critics say it is fine but not amazing, some expected a fried bawan and were surprised to find it steamed, and the small shop has few seats, so you may wait at peak times.

Media list hours of about 10:30 am to 7 pm, while Google shows 10 am to 6:30 pm; sources differ, so check before going. It is closed on Mondays. Media prices are NT$30 for a black bawan and NT$30 each for pork ball soup and pork blood soup, so about NT$60 fills one person. Taking the train to Shulin and leaving by the rear exit is easiest; riders can find scooter parking nearby.

It suits train travellers passing through Shulin who want a cheap snack, and fans of southern-style steamed bawan. First-timers should order one black bawan with a bowl of pork blood soup, and bigger eaters can start with two bawan. Choose pork ball soup for something lighter, or the shacha pork blood soup for a bolder flavour.