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| 阿惠虱目魚米粉 📍#279號, Rende St, Qianjin District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 801 🚅 5 minute walk from Central Park station ☏ +886 7241 0578 ⏰ 5am - 11am (Monday off) |
One of the objectives I set for myself for my recent trip to Kaohsuing was to come back with a good appreciation of milkfish in Taiwanese food culture.
My first experience of Kaoshiung was in 1981, and the image that sticks in my mind was the street side milkfish stalls with fish bellies displayed belly up together with a small mountain of rice (I presume). Maybe it was MSG, I don't know. There is nothing like it in Singapore.
Then, life kept me occupied with other pursuits and I never tried the fish. Until years later after I retired from work and first tasted baked milkfish in Singapore.
I was mind blown by the taste and feel of baked milkfish belly fat, and thus began my fascination with this staple protein of Taiwan (and also nearby Philippines).
My first taste of milkfish in Taiwan was at 阿惠虱目魚米粉 recommended by my Kaoshiung friend Ching 青 🙏
阿惠虱目魚米粉 was located at Rende Street which was a busy morning market. Rende Street 仁德街 which led to the wet market building 大立市场 was lined and choked full with street side stalls.
The street stalls do more business than stalls inside the market, perhaps because they were more price competitive. For example, 600 grams of these bananas cost NTD15 or SGD60 cents
A fishmonger cleaning milkfish in the market 大立市场.
阿惠虱目魚米粉 was located in a shop unit behind a street side fishmonger. 阿惠虱目魚米粉 doesn't have an English name, so for the purpose of this article I shall transliterate it as "Ah Hui".
阿惠虱目魚米粉 was in its second generation and had nearly 50 years under its belt. Though Taiwanese have been eating milkfish since the Ming dynasty, it was first farmed in scale in the 1970s. 阿惠虱目魚米粉 was one of the pioneering milkfish specialist shops.
阿惠虱目魚米粉 was a grimey, gritty, no frills place popular with locals. No tourists. It's not for everyone but I love this kind of hyperlocal experience and actively sought them out during my overseas travels.
I like the savoury aromatic smell from the steamy open kitchen, buzz and energy from people streaming in and enjoying their meal, the sound of ordering and banter (Hokkien is widely spoken here), and the colourful though messy environment. Sound from the traffic and street market added to the cacophony. I like it lah, soaking in the local vibes.
I can't wait to taste the milkfish.
The writing, I mean menu, on the wall. All in Chinese. From left to right, fish belly soup, fish skin soup, fish ball soup, combo (mixed) soup (belly, skin, ball), sweet potato rice. Last three were belly, ball and skin sold by weight (I assume for takeaway).
Guess what a good Singaporean like me would order? 🤭
Don't cheat - make a guess lah 😄
Combo with everything, of course lah. Made sure I don't miss out on anything like a good Singaporean 🤭
The clear, clean tasting savoury sweet soup was topped with lots of aromatic grassy tasting crunchy chopped chives. Very nice.
The fish belly and skin all mixed with fish meat paste were spongy, springy, chewy, tasted uber fresh with a clean tasting natural sweetness. The roughly shaped fish balls were hand pressed milkfish meat paste.
Each milkfish has 222 fine, spiny bones. At 阿惠, the fish were completely de-boned. Zero bone, all meat, all pleasure - the whole meal felt wholesome, delicious and satisfying.
I opted for sweet potato rice as it is so homely and not usually seen in Singapore or Johor Bahru restaurants or hawker stalls.
Slightly sweet rice and slightly sweeter sweet potato. Perfect complement for the gently savoury sweet milkfish and soup.
Aromatic fried garlic and aromatic oil. Next time, I shall make sure to add some of these into my soup.
Condiment set. Didn't try any except for the savoury salty spicy fermented bean chili sauce. For this first round, I wanted to taste the original flavour of the fresh milkfish.
Oh I love 阿惠虱目魚米粉. Emblematic local staple, hyperlocal setting, high quality ingredients, authentic local cooking / preparation style, delicious.
A great start to my milkfish discovery journey.
Restaurant name: 阿惠虱目魚米粉 Ah Hui Milkfish Bee Hoon
Address: No. 279號, Rende Street, Qianjin District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 801
Nearest MRT: 5 minute walk from Central Park station
Tel: +886 7241 0578
Hours: 5am - 11am (Monday off)
Written by Tony Boey on 5 Nov 2025
Who is Tony Johor Kaki?
There’s a Philippines milk fish recipe where the fish is butterflied and all the flesh and bones removed. the flesh is mixed with herbs and spices and stuffed back into the fish skin then the whole thing is fried. mind boggling work. super tasty. i don’t think i will every try to replicate.
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