Tasty Finds at Nantun Market in Taichung: Medicinal Pig’s Trotters with Fragrant Sesame Oil Rice

Text and photos bySanga Eats Chinese

Feeling refreshed after a hot spring soak, I headed down the mountain at noon and stopped by this pig’s trotter vermicelli spot near Nantun Market. I also picked up some sesame oil rice from Zifeng Delicacies in the market to take home. As someone who loves pig’s trotters—whether braised, stewed, roasted, or fried—I’ve known about this place for quite a while.

There’s a parking lot just three minutes on foot away, which is very convenient. First, you order and pay at the counter up front, then find a seat and wait for your food to be served. I thought the prices weren’t exactly low, but the portions that arrived were hearty and satisfying.

I started with the pig’s trotter soup. The broth, infused with herbs like angelica, had only a subtle medicinal flavor—not overly complex—but it was aromatic, smooth, and slightly sweet.

The trotters had been well-cooked in the soup, making them flavorful. This bowl was a mix: the leg meat and skin were tender but not mushy, the lean parts weren’t dry either, and the parts near the trotter joints with tendons had a nice Q texture and were easy to chew. It was a pretty comforting bowl of pig’s trotter soup.

The duck gizzard vermicelli wasn’t all duck gizzards—it also included duck liver, but both textures were good. The duck gizzards were sliced to just the right thickness, highlighting their bounce, and the flavor was fresh too. I also ordered a bowl of dry offal (duck gizzard + duck liver), and the portion was so big I almost couldn’t finish it.

The pork floss rice had the aroma of garlic and shallots. The pork was relatively lean and not greasy, and the flavor was simple without anything particularly standout—except that the rice that day was clumped together, which detracted a bit. Otherwise, it was still decent.

The pig’s trotter vermicelli spot isn’t far from Nantun Market. Zifeng Delicacies, where I ate at noon, does brisk business during lunch hours. It’s a decades-old shop, and its nearby second branch, Wenchang Branch, is open until 7 PM. The sesame oil rice is always pre-prepared, so you can just ask for a box to go and get it right away.

Zifeng serves some of the most fragrant sesame oil rice I’ve had so far. It uses black sesame oil, aged ginger, and fried shallot flakes, but the strong aroma of the sesame oil makes the aged ginger and shallot flavors more like subtle accents. The portions of pork and squid weren’t skimpy either, and the textures weren’t too tough or hard. The sticky rice had a medium level of Q texture and stickiness—not too wet or oily—and had a really nice traditional flavor.

Nantun Pig’s Trotter Vermicelli
Address: No. 702, Section 2, Wuxing West Road, Nantun District, Taichung City
Business Hours: 10:30 AM – 9:30 PM

Zifeng Delicacies
Address: No. 593, Section 2, Nantun Road, Nantun District, Taichung City (inside Nantun Market)
Business Hours: 7:00 AM – 1:30 PM

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