Yuan Family Tube Rice Cake & Fried Pork Ribs

Review

Yuan Family Tube Rice Cake & Fried Pork Ribs sits in the food section of Chiayi's East Market and, alongside the Wang family beef soup and Ah Fu's pork rolls, is one of the market's most-named breakfast stalls. Supertaste's listing says it has operated in the East Market for about seventy years, and another report notes the fried rib recipe has passed down three generations, a flavour locals have eaten since childhood.

The tube rice is steamed in bamboo baskets so the glutinous rice is soft, chewy and distinct, topped with braised minced pork and the stall's pink sweet-chilli sauce. The ribs are marinated with house spices, coated in sweet potato starch and deep-fried; you can have them in soup or take away a whole catty freshly fried. Besides fried rib soup, there is bitter melon rib soup, bamboo shoot rib soup and the less common pork head marrow and spine marrow soups.

Sources disagree on prices: an earlier report lists the rice at NT$25 and rib soup at NT$30, while a recent blog gives NT$35 each, NT$40 for marrow soup and NT$260 per catty of fresh-fried ribs, so go by the board on site. Diners praise the tasty rice, clean, non-greasy broth and good value; drawbacks are the small portions, limited seating and queues at peak times.

It opens from about 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. or until sold out. Sources differ on closing days, with some saying Mondays off and only ribs on Tuesdays, and others saying both Monday and Tuesday off, so check before going. The stall sits by a market aisle with seats around the cooking counter; scooters crowd the narrow passages, so arrive early and come on foot.

Ideal for travellers who want an authentic Chiayi breakfast for pocket change, or to combine with other stalls while exploring the East Market. Order a bowl of tube rice with fried rib soup, or swap to marrow soup if you like gelatinous textures. Portions are small, so add a second bowl of rice or take a bag of freshly fried ribs as a snack.