肠蚝面线 (NT$60)!
A New Year's Day bowl of Taiwanese mee sua: thin noodles in a thick, savoury broth with braised pork intestine and oysters. NT$60.
New Year’s Day in Taiwan, and we started it the local way with a bowl of 肠蚝面线 (intestine and oyster mee sua) for NT$60 (around SGD$2.75). 😋
What I had:
- Mee sua (thin wheat noodles) in a thick, starchy broth, with braised pork intestine, oysters, coriander and a spoon of chilli
This is a Taipei street-food classic, and the bowl is unmistakable: super-fine mee sua noodles sitting in a glossy, starch-thickened broth so it is almost gravy-like, deeply savoury with a hit of garlic. You eat it with a spoon rather than chopsticks because the noodles are so soft and the soup so thick.
The toppings are what make it. The pork intestine was braised until tender with no off note, springy and rich, while the plump oysters added little bursts of briny sweetness through the bowl. A scatter of coriander and a swirl of the chilli-garlic sauce lifted everything and cut the richness.
Eating it on New Year’s Day felt right, too: long noodles are an auspicious symbol of longevity, so it is a fitting first bite of the year. Warm, comforting and so cheap, it was the perfect way to kick off the trip.
Overall: 4.8 / 5. 😋👍🏼 Silky mee sua in a rich broth with tender intestine and briny oysters, a brilliant Taipei classic. Would re-visit.
