Pork Everything!

I still avoid chicken. And if I go easy on beef, then daily meat proteins become fish or pork. I can deal with minced pork and pork chops. Lean pork is cool. While pig stomach soup is awesome, I'm not keen on the rest of the offal or organ soups. They kinda stink. Somehow I had a strange craving for pork at lunch. It was a casual meal with J at Din Tai Fung at NEX. J is also one of those who can inhale a 10-piece basket of xiaolongbao (小籠包) and call it lunch. We can probably do that for dinner too. HAHAHA. My jiaozi tribe!

Din Tai Fung's menu will always have easy food for us. This outlet's kitchen is decent. Not all outlets' food taste the same although they should be using identical recipes. J went for the 10-piece xiaolongbao, of course. I decided not to overestimate my stomach space, and went for the 6-piece basket instead. That was because I added the fragrant pork belly with cucumber and crushed garlic (蒜泥白肉) and Taiwanese pork chop (臺灣式炸豬骨). I'd have to finish those on my own. Hahahah. I did. No food wastage today.

I'm not hot about the sauce in the rolled pork with cucumber and crushed garlic. The kitchen drizzles 'Sichuan chilli oil'. Lately, I don't even feel like tasting it. Next time I'll ask them to leave out the sauce. Me no like Sichuan peppercorns. This is probably why I ignored J's bowl of oriental wontons with black vinegar and chilli oil (紅油炒手).

Initially I was confused by the menu description because English said 'pork chop' and menu sorta indicated 'fried spare ribs'. Okay, I shall not overthink it. Checked Google images and saw one portion stroll by to another table. It was exactly what I wanted — pork chop sliced up — all lean meat, no bones and no belly fat. No rice or noodles necessary. That was A LOT of pork. Those meats and a cold refreshing lemongrass drink made for a satisfying lunch.