I wasn’t even particularly hungry when I walked by Kintoku and saw the huge crowd of people lining up for what appeared to be some kind of burrito. I tried to resist, I really did — but I couldn’t. If there’s a bunch of people lining up for food, I’m getting in that line. It can’t be stopped.
The burrito turned out to be a Taiwanese dish called run bing, in which various veggies and meats are rolled up in a thin, chewy wrapper.
At Kintoku, they fill it with pork, tofu, cabbage, beans, shrimp, and a mixture of sugar and crushed peanuts. They wrap it up, and then put it on a griddle to crisp up the exterior.
It’s not bad. There’s a lot going on here: it’s crunchy, it’s chewy, and it’s soft, not to mention the various flavours.
It’s odd; it’s got so much of the sugar/peanut mixture that it’s almost dessert-like in its sweetness. It basically works, but it’s a little bit bizarre.
Location: No. 19號, Section 3, Minzu Road, West Central District, Tainan City, 700
How to find it: They assemble the wraps as they go, so keep an eye out for the huge spread of ingredients. There’s also a picture of a cartoon wrap on their sign, and “since 1954” written in English.