What it is
A quick stir-fry of thinly sliced goat (羊肉, yangrou) with bitter melon (苦瓜, kugua), the ridged green gourd eaten for its clean, sharp bitterness. It sits on the hot stir-fry (熱炒, rechao) list at goat restaurants, which are known mainly for herbal goat soup and goat hot pot. The melon's bitterness balances the goat's strong flavour.
Where it came from
No one is credited with inventing the dish. It belongs to the stir-fry menus of Taiwan's goat restaurants, and Gangshan (岡山), a district of northern Kaohsiung, is famous for them. A popular account dates the local goat trade to 1926, when a seller named Yu Chuang (余壯) hawked goat meat from shoulder-pole baskets in the old market, and calls his business Taiwan's first goat-meat brand. The shop said to descend from him is Ta Hsin (大新). Joes (舊市羊肉) began as a small market stall in the mid-1950s and is now in its third generation.
How it is made
Goat is sliced thin and tossed in a very hot wok with sliced bitter melon, just long enough for the meat to cook through and stay tender. Some Gangshan shops buy goats every day and butcher them on site, and one uses castrated local billy goats slaughtered that day, which it finds less fatty than imported meat. Stir-fried goat in Taiwan is often seasoned with basil, shacha sauce, chilli bean paste and rice wine to tame its gamey smell.
How to eat it
Order it as a shared side alongside goat soup or goat hot pot, with a bowl of rice. At Joes, dishes come in three portion sizes.
Around Taiwan
- Tainan
- In Tainan's South District, BAA Wanli (咩灣裡羊肉店) on Xingnan Street keeps the seasoning light and the goat slices just cooked.
- Kaohsiung
- Gangshan, one of Kaohsiung's 'three mountains' (三山) food towns, has dozens of goat restaurants. Michelin's entry for Joes (舊市羊肉), a Bib Gourmand, names its bitter melon stir-fry among the dishes not to miss.
- North
- Goat houses in Taipei serve it too. Hsia Kang Ye (下港吔羊肉專賣店), a 30-year-old shop in Zhongshan District, wok-fries it over high heat alongside scallion goat.
