朋友介紹我一定要吃的一家肉圓店，是在地人從小吃到大的老店，位在老街上，店內就只販售肉丸跟貢丸這兩樣食物，肉丸就是我認知的肉圓，之所以叫做肉圓，是因為它的形狀和內容物，「肉」指的是內餡主要成分為豬肉，而「圓」則是因為這道小吃的外形圓潤，形似圓球，因此兩者合稱「肉圓」，我還蠻好奇店家為何要故意改成肉丸，不過，最後，吃完結帳時，我也沒問老闆緣由。
肉丸一顆是五十元台幣，已經漲價了，朋友說，之前一顆只要三十元台幣，桌上有壺清湯是要讓客人吃肉丸時可以加進湯內一起吃，我在台北西門町的老店，也看過這種吃法，我點了一顆肉丸試試味道，肉丸上頭會淋上醬油、甜醬及辣醬，看起來有點像豆腐腦，不會很辣，稍微有些甜，肉丸外皮脆彈，吃起來很軟嫩彈牙，不是那種炸得酥脆的外皮，內餡料有肉塊跟筍丁，與醬料結合更能襯托本身淡淡醃料香味，最後，把外皮吃剩下一點再加入蘿蔔清湯，保留一些肉塊、醬料，倒入清湯一起喝下肚，喝完就有飽足感。
除了這家老店之外，細小的老街巷弄內塞滿了各種老字號的攤位，像是蒜肉飯、花枝羹及菱角酥，朋友也很久沒來老街看看，時光流逝，這裡基本上，還是和以前一樣，這次也是因為我的緣故，他才特地來這家老店，重溫老味道，本來回去時，想帶點菱角酥回去做點心吃，但是排隊的人龍蠻長的，只好果斷放棄，也慶幸我們吃肉丸時，不需要排隊，剛好有空位可以入座享用美食。
A friend recommended a Taiwanese meatball shop that I had to try. It's an old shop that locals have been eating at since they were kids, located on an old street. The shop only sells two things: Taiwanese meatballs and pork balls. The "meatball" is what I know as "meat round" (肉圓). They call it that because of its shape and contents—"meat" referring to the pork filling, and "round" because it's shaped like a ball. So, they call it "meat round". I was a bit curious why the shop changed the name to "meatball", but in the end, I didn’t ask the owner why when I went to pay.
Each meatball costs 50 NTD, which has gone up in price. My friend said it used to be just 30 NTD. On the table, there's a pot of clear soup that you can pour into your bowl to eat with the meatball. I’ve seen this way of eating before at an old shop in Ximending, Taipei. I ordered one meatball to try. They pour soy sauce, sweet sauce, and chili sauce on top, making it look a bit like tofu pudding. It wasn’t too spicy, just a little sweet. The skin of the meatball was crispy and springy, soft yet chewy, not the kind with a crunchy fried exterior. Inside, there were pieces of pork and bamboo shoots, and the sauces really brought out the mild marinade flavor. When I was almost done, I left a bit of the skin and some meat, then poured the radish soup into the bowl, mixing it with the leftover sauce and meat. After drinking that, I felt full.
Besides this old shop, the narrow alleyways of the old street are packed with other long-standing stalls selling things like garlic pork rice, squid soup, and water chestnut crisps. My friend hadn’t visited in a while, but time seemed to have stood still here—everything is pretty much the same as before. He came along this time because of me, just to revisit the taste of his childhood. On our way back, I wanted to bring some water chestnut crisps home for a snack, but the line was super long, so we gave up. Luckily, when we ate the meatballs, there was no line, and we got a seat right away to enjoy the food.
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Is this 鹿港？
豐原 😀