Celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival with meat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings)! A taste test of 4 popular zongzi shops at Taipei’s Nanmen Market

Text & Photos /Three Highs Sir

After 2011, I finally returned to Nanmen Market this year just to try the Huzhou-style zongzi. Honestly, it’s also because I ate zongzi quite frequently last year—visiting spots like Cai Wanxing, Jiuru Shop, Daqiaotou Zongzi, Shimen Liu Family, Tainan Zaifa Number… and so on. So this year, I suddenly didn’t know which shop to go to? I went back to Nanmen Market to revisit old favorites and discover new ones. There’s actually a huge variety of food there—you could explore for ages~

Back then, I bought a bunch in one go: Nanyuan (pork), Lijia (pork and red bean paste), Hexing (lotus seed paste). This time, although I revisited Nanyuan and Hexing, at Nanyuan I switched to buying their Jinhua ham zongzi and red bean paste zongzi. Back then at Hexing I only tried the sweet zongzi, so this time I got their pork zongzi. And I’d never tried Yichang Yufang’s zongzi, so I decided to try their pork rib crumb zongzi. By the way, I once mentioned in a blog post about Beigang’s Shenglin Lotus Seed Soup that there’s also a Shenglin in Taipei’s Nanmen Market (I’m guessing opened by descendants), and sure enough, it’s here—but it’s on the second floor, so I didn’t go up.

On the afternoon before the Dragon Boat Festival, Nanyuan wasn’t particularly crowded. If it had been during the actual festival, you’d definitely have to queue. Each shop here has such a wide variety of zongzi options that it’s almost overwhelming—for example, Nanyuan offers 18 types, though they’re mostly more traditional styles. Their Jinhua ham zongzi costs 100 NT$, but the size is much bigger than the pork zongzi from next door, Hexing. Hexing is a long-established Shanghai-style pastry shop—you can see items like sponge cakes, and at the back there are tables displaying birthday peaches that are bigger than your head, which is pretty fun. During the Dragon Boat Festival period, the popularity of their zongzi is no less than that of their neighboring competitors. I just simply bought a pork zongzi.

As I walked further, I passed by the stalls of Junwenshan and Yichang Yufang. Yichang’s business was noticeably busier. Though I’d never bought anything from Junwenshan, the food on display at their stall also looked very tasty...

At Yichang Yufang, customers of a certain age were busy picking out dishes. Their food isn’t cheap, but those who think it’s worth it are happy to buy. I, on the other hand, just wanted to buy a zongzi.

Compared to Nanyuan, Hexing, Yichang Yufang, and later Lijia (which I also passed by), all offer more unique types of zongzi. For example, Hexing has beef brisket zongzi, Yichang Yufang has Dongpo pork and preserved vegetable zongzi, Lijia has Shaoxing wine chicken zongzi and cured meat pork zongzi, as well as the pork rib crumb zongzi that both Yichang and Lijia sell. In short, everything looked so good I wanted to try a bit of each.

After buying the zongzi, I browsed around a little more. On the other side, Shanghai Ham Shop had hanging dried cured meats, dried mackerel, cured pig tongues, and wind-dried chicken—all catching my eye—so I stopped to take a look. Then I was invited to try some dried fruit snacks. It turns out the shop next door belongs to them too. They were very generous with the samples. I rarely try too many samples at stalls, but the dried fruits and vegetables here really tasted great—like the baked, crispy okra and shiitake mushrooms, which were unexpectedly delicious. In the end, I bought some Irwin mango slices, Dahhu strawberry slices, and Dahongpao spicy peanut crunch (really fragrant—not inferior to a certain famous brand).

I ate the frozen zongzi over two days. First I tried Nanyuan’s ham zongzi and red bean paste zongzi. The zongzi themselves were upright and slightly chewy, with lightly seasoned rice grains. Both had a nice fragrance from the bamboo leaves. The ham zongzi contained big chunks of ham; when you cut it open, the fat was soft, smooth, and rich, while the lean meat wasn’t dry at all. The red bean paste filling had a smooth, thick texture and a delicate sweetness. Both were pretty much exactly as I expected—delicious.

The next day, I tried Hexing’s pork zongzi and Yichang Yufang’s pork rib crumb zongzi. Hexing’s Huzhou-style zongzi was much smaller. The texture of the rice seemed stickier and softer, dissolving more easily in the mouth. The seasoning was noticeably stronger, with a richer sauce aroma. Savoring it slowly in small bites was also quite enjoyable. But this one had more lean meat, making it a bit firmer. Though it had a nice springy texture and wasn’t bad, overall it lacked a bit of richness. It might be just right for people who don’t like eating too much fat.

Yichang’s pork rib crumb zongzi is made in the southern style. The overall flavor was fresher and less greasy than I expected. Originally, the glutinous rice texture might have already been on the softer side—if you steam it for too long at home, it becomes even more mushy. Inside, there are peanuts and deep-fried pork rib crumbles (boneless). If there were a bit less starch and the marinade had more distinctive flavors, I think I would’ve liked it even more. The taste was actually a bit less bold than I imagined.

Nanyuan Food Store
Address: No. 8, Section 1, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Business hours: 7:00–19:30 (Closed Mondays)

Hexing Pastry Shop
Address: No. 8, Section 1, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Business hours: 7:00–18:30 (Closed Mondays)

Yichang Yufang
Address: No. 8, Section 1, Roosevelt Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Business hours: 8:00–16:30 (Closed Mondays)

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