What it is
Garlic rice (蒜頭飯, suan tou fan) is cooked white rice mixed with minced garlic that has been fried in lard or oil. The garlic and its fat coat the grains, so every mouthful smells of it. In Tainan it is sold as a side at milkfish shops and as the base of everyday fried-chicken rice plates.
How it is made
Minced garlic is fried gently until golden and fragrant. A Xing Shi Mu Yu (阿興虱目魚), a milkfish shop, does this in lard and spoons it over the rice. A long-running lunch shop in Guiren stir-fries the rice with the garlic instead, which leaves the grains slightly moist but still separate and strongly flavoured.
How to eat it
A breakfast or lunch order. At milkfish shops a bowl goes with milkfish soup or pan-fried milkfish belly. Lunch shops pair it with a fried chicken leg or pork chop, pickled mustard greens (酸菜) to cut the richness, and a small soup. Ask for suan tou fan (蒜頭飯).
Around Taiwan
- Tainan
- Mixing garlic into white rice is often described as a Tainan habit. A Xing Shi Mu Yu, a Bib Gourmand milkfish shop on Wenxian Road, is known for its lard-fried version. In Guiren, a shop called Garlic Rice (蒜頭飯) has fed students from nearby Chang Jung Christian University for decades.
