Zheng Laopai Fengyuan Ba-wan

Review

Zheng Laopai Fengyuan Ba-wan is a long-running fried ba-wan stall in the lanes of Miaodong Night Market. Around Fengyuan the dumpling is called rouwan, and coverage describes this one as a childhood memory for many locals; Supertaste's 2026 ranking of Taichung's ba-wan includes it. The menu is minimal: just ba-wan and pork ball soup.

It follows the central-Taiwan style of frying in warm oil. The skin, made from glutinous rice flour, sweet potato starch and potato starch, is thick, bouncy and smooth without sticking to the teeth, and it is drained before serving so it is not greasy. The filling is a large chunk of marinated lean pork with diced bamboo shoots and fried shallots, balanced between salty and sweet, with the shoots adding crunch. It is dressed with soy sauce and a pink sweet sauce, which one article describes as layered with miso and sweet chili notes. The price has gone from NT$40 around 2018 to NT$50 in recent years.

The ritual everyone mentions is the finish: each table has a pot of free clear radish broth, so you leave a little skin, filling and sauce, pour in the broth and stir it into a warming soup. Feedback from diners and media is mostly positive, praising the skin and the bamboo shoots, though one blogger notes that every ba-wan stall in Miaodong has its own fans and the pink sauce leans sweet, so tastes differ.

Recent listings give hours of 10:00–22:00, closed Tuesdays. There is seating and food comes out quickly, but expect a short wait at mealtimes. Parking near the market is scarce; on weekends, take the train to Fengyuan Station and walk.

Best for anyone who wants a traditional central-Taiwan ba-wan along with the local broth-to-finish custom. One dumpling plus a bowl of pork ball soup per person is about right—just do not finish all the sauce.