The soup is tender, sweet, and refreshingly light – the late-night specialty of Xiao Yier’s Sorghum Chicken is a huge hit

Text and photos byOrange Dog Loves Candy

Eating late-night snacks is inherently an unhealthy and burdensome activity for the body. Though everyone knows this, back in the days when people used to go to bed early and wake up early, it was probably considered that the whole city was asleep after ten o'clock. But once you develop the habit of staying up late, you realize just how colorful the world of late-night food can be – and the fact that you even have to queue for late-night snacks is just unbelievable. In the past in Tainan, you might have queued for soy milk at Dou Nai Zong, or for street food at Fuqian Road’s Tao Gong, or maybe just for a bowl of beef soup or pig heart glass noodles. In Taichung, queuing is required even for a bowl of pork rice, for ramen, or even for a hearty chicken soup meant to nourish the body. This is what this article is about – 【Xiao Yier’s Sorghum Chicken】 on Duxing Road. It only opens at night, and the later it gets, the better it gets.

Although Duxing Road is technically part of West District, it’s actually close to North District. I only used to come here when I wanted to eat Ah Lie’s Ice. Back then, I often saw Xiao Yier next door preparing ingredients in the afternoon, but I never really knew what kind of shop it was. It turns out the name came from the shop owner’s fondness for the “Invincible Duo” (Jue Dai Shuang Jiao), which is why it's called Xiao Yier. (So that means it could’ve just as easily been called Hua Wu Que Sorghum Chicken!)

One day, a few friends and I were planning dinner, and that’s when I found out Xiao Yier serves chicken soup hotpot – and it’s open from night until the early hours. They start cooking at 5 PM, and both regulars and newcomers gradually start showing up. By 7 PM, it’s usually about 80% full. Because the place is so popular, you can’t make reservations. But even if it’s full, you won’t have to wait too long. The seating area is split across both sides of the street. Owing to the high volume of customers, one side of the shop isn’t enough, so it’s common to see waiters carrying dishes and hotpots across the road. Once evening falls, the entire Duxing Road slows down.

Although there are many dish names on the wall pillars, the main highlight is still the chicken soup hotpot. There are a total of fifteen hotpot options, something you’d only expect to find at a mountain-top chicken farm.

I’m particularly interested in dishes like Pineapple Bitter Melon Chicken, Sorghum Chicken, Mushroom Melon Seed Chicken, Aged Pickled Radish Chicken, and Garlic Chicken. The highlight is that they use “black-bone chicken.” The price is 【Half chicken: 450 NT / Whole chicken: 800 NT】. When you come with a group, of course you’ll want the whole chicken. While the price isn’t cheap, trust me, this dark-looking black-bone chicken becomes incredibly delicious in Xiao Yier’s hotpot. “If you come to Xiao Yier and don’t order a whole or half chicken hotpot, you might as well not have come,” said my friend, XD. There are also some sauces on the side, though I couldn’t find any dish that really needed dipping. I filled some up but never ended up using them.

【Nine-Tail Chicken Hotpot / Whole Chicken / 800 NT】
I could never figure out what the “nine tails” referred to. After looking it up at home, I found out it’s a homophone in Taiwanese Hokkien. Its real name is ‘Dogtail Grass,’ where ‘dog’ and ‘nine’ sound similar in Taiwanese. Dogtail Grass is known in traditional Chinese medicine for aiding digestion and improving appetite. But originally, the hotpot only comes with medicinal herbs and black-bone chicken, no other ingredients. The broth is clear, and as it boils, a subtle fragrance wafts through the steam. Yet the taste is refreshingly sweet and natural. Surprisingly delicious.

But the second surprise was the black-bone chicken in the pot – the meat was so tender it separated with just a gentle pick, and while chewing, it wasn’t mushy but had a pleasant bite. Combined with the sweet taste of the Nine-Tail broth, the chicken gets a double bonus. Something that looks so simple turned out to be such a delight.

And there’s actually quite a decent amount of meat even with a whole chicken. For our group of seven, everyone still got a few pieces. Of course, if you order a hotpot, you should also get some sides, otherwise the pot might look a bit empty.

We ordered a lot of sides, but to be honest, I didn’t know the price of each one – we just tossed them all into the pot. However, their 【Blood Rice Cake / 50 NT】 is steamed first, and once cooked in the pot, it has a lovely chewy texture – pretty good. But mainly, it’s the Nine-Tail broth that’s so well made, anything you put in tastes great.

These 【Garland Chrysanthemums / 100 NT】 were also good. The portion size is actually quite generous, although they do shrink a bit once boiled. You can add more broth, but the sweetness of the broth fades more the more you drink, likely because they start adding regular stock.

【Soy-Braised Fish Maw】
I felt I had to order the fish maw – especially since theirs is soy-braised, which is a bit different. Only thing is, I found the outer sauce a bit too sweet. Honestly, pan-frying it with a bit of salt and pepper would’ve been great too. But the fish maw itself is rich and tender, thick and fresh. I’m not sure how much it cost, but I was really satisfied.

【Stir-Fried Salted Pork / 100 NT】
This one’s perfect for drinking – it’s heavily seasoned, and the pork paired with scallions and garlic chives is just spot-on. But the portion is small.

【Stir-Fried Clams / 150 NT】

I only ordered this after seeing another table get it – I mean, a whole plate of stir-fried clams is a bit excessive, XD.

But honestly, whether it’s luffa clams or these stir-fried clams, the clams aren’t super large, but the meat is still plump and sweet. Simple stir-fry with garlic and basil is all it takes – it’s delicious. They give you a really generous portion… definitely worth ordering a plate to try.

【Cold Bamboo Shoot Salad】
It’s not bad, the bamboo shoots are crisp and tender, just not as sweet. Maybe because of the mayonnaise.

So the sweetness of the sauce overpowers whatever natural sweetness the bamboo shoots might’ve had. A bit of a shame, but it’s refreshing and appetizing.

【Stir-Fried Fern / 150 NT】
Stir-fried fern has a uniquely crisp texture, though some friends of mine aren’t too fond of this vegetable. But I think they did a decent job here, it’s pretty average in terms of bringing out the flavor of fern.

【Stir-Fried Sesame Oil Kidney / 200 NT】
This one’s really good – the ginger is fragrant and plentiful, and there’s a decent amount of kidney slices. The thick sesame oil coats the kidneys with a rich aroma. The kidneys are a bit overcooked, but the flavor’s still decent. The best sesame oil kidney I’ve had was probably at Chiyier’s Eel Noodles in Tainan – those kidneys were huge, tender, and perfectly cooked.

【Stir-Fried Asparagus Lettuce / 150 NT】
We often stir-fry similar dishes at home, but seeing those fresh, vibrant vegetables in baskets at the shop still made me want to order some.

[Deep-Fried Tofu]
They actually cut the tofu into small pieces, coat them in flour, and deep-fry until crispy. The outer layer isn’t too thick, and the inside remains soft and tender. Paired with a simple garlic-soy sauce, it’s delicious.

[Stir-Fried Sword Bamboo Shoots / 150 TWD]
I ordered this purely because I really wanted to eat it. Their stir-fried sword bamboo shoots were a bit too salty for my taste (I thought they were overly salty, XD). Although sword bamboo shoots are typically in season in March and April, these ones from Xiao Yu’er were still quite tasty, with a bit of added spice.

[Stir-Fried Noodles with Shredded Pork / Two Portions / 100 TWD]
Because there were so many of us, we were worried there wouldn’t be enough food, but even two portions were gone in an instant, XD. Honestly, their stir-fried noodles weren’t particularly outstanding—the noodles were chewy, and there wasn’t too little shredded pork or cabbage, but they just lacked flavor. In the end, we used the leftover sesame oil from the sesame oil kidney dish to mix with the noodles, XD.

[Sesame Oil Noodles / Two Portions / 40 TWD]
Since the stir-fried noodles didn’t win everyone over, we decided to go with something that frequent visitors recommended as a must-try here: the noodles. Hearing that something was a “must-order” made us feel like we had to try it—otherwise, we’d feel unsatisfied even after eating our fill—so we ordered two portions, despite already being 120% full.

The noodles were quite thin, with a bit of minced garlic oil added. The sesame oil was underneath the noodles and needed to be mixed in while hot. The flavor was pretty good, and they were cheap. The noodles were dry and not sticky, with decent chewiness (though they did stick together once cooled, XD). Since I’ve been to Kinmen frequently lately, where the noodles use even more garlic oil and have an even richer aroma, I think Xiao Yu’er could add a bit more garlic oil to theirs.

There was probably also a stir-fried rice dish and some sponge gourd from Penghu that I didn’t write about because the photos didn’t turn out well. Eating from dinner until a late-night snack was honestly too much. Dining here is pretty relaxed—there’s none of the pressure you get at a formal restaurant. You can wear whatever home clothes you want, even slippers, and still enjoy your meal. And the food is genuinely delicious, especially the stewed chicken pot with fifteen different flavor options—I bet any one of them would be great. The only downside is that the dishes aren’t labeled with prices, so you never really know how much you’ve spent (though it turned out not to be expensive in the end).
In the end, I found some of the dish prices by looking them up on their website. Of course, you could also ask in person. In the end, I only knew that the average cost per person for eight people was 428 TWD, which isn’t expensive—it’s just that we ordered too much. No wonder they can attract so many people night after night. We ate from 7 PM to 10 PM and were getting ready to leave, but the place was still packed with customers.

○ Shop Introduction: [Xiao Yu’er Stewed Chicken Pot, Stir-Fries, Late-Night Snacks, Duxing Road │ West District]
○ Address: No. 151, Duxing Road, West District, Taichung City
○ Contact Number: 04-22014800
○ Business Hours: 5:00 PM – 4:00 AM
○ Spending Reminder: Be sure to note their unusual closing days. There’s an attached parking lot, but phone reservations are not accepted.
Lunar April to October: Closed on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month
Lunar October to April: Closed from the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve to the fourth day of the New Year. Reopens on the fifth day. Closed on Mid-Autumn Festival.

Orange Dog Loves Candy Blog Orange Dog Loves Candy Facebook Fan Page