There are many street foods in Taiwan, but the popular food in Taiwan in the north, central and south is not the same, and there are not many turkey shredded rice to eat in Chiayi, which may be less than that of turkeys raised in northern Taiwan. When you go to southern Taiwan, then "Chiayi Turkey Shredded Rice" is a must-try food. The chicken rice we generally eat is called chicken rice, but the chicken rice in Taiwan is turkey meat, not ordinary chicken, but we are still simply called chicken rice, and the chicken rice in Taiwan is that you must go to Chiayi in southern Taiwan to taste the real chicken rice. For the term "Chiayi", you may be relatively unfamiliar, but "Alishan" must be no stranger, Alishan is in Chiayi County, Taiwan.
According to local accounts, after the end of World War II, many U.S. troops stationed in Taiwan (mainly the Air Force) were stationed in the Chiayi area, and after the U.S. military brought in turkeys, they were bred in large numbers by farmers in the vicinity of Chiayi. Due to the lack of various materials after the war, it is not easy for ordinary people to eat chicken, turkey is larger, the price is low compared to the local chicken, the nutritional value is also high, and the local food stalls think of using turkey as a snack ingredient, so they make a chicken rice dish similar to the brine rice. Traditionally, in southern Taiwan, chicken breast is steamed and peeled into shredded chicken or chicken slices spread on rice and poured with sauce is called shredded chicken rice.
practice:
The traditional recipe is to spread turkey on top of rice and drizzle with chicken juice and lard, but the recipe varies slightly from shop to shop. Although restaurants selling turkey rice can be seen in various counties and cities in Taiwan, most of them will be called "Chiayi". The traditional Chiayi turkey rice mainly uses turkey meat as the material, and the chicken juice is the sauce made of whole chicken steaming, plus the lard of the fried shallot head, mixed with chicken and white rice stirred, the taste is fragrant but not greasy; the traditional store will sprinkle some oil on the turkey meat, so that the overall flavor is more layered, generally it will be accompanied by a piece of pickled yellow dried radish, quite a rice, the chicken rice is delicious, because the chicken is soaked for 2 hours, chewed sweet and not dry wood, and the rice is snail rice, Cooked to a grain clear, not hard and not rotten just right, the turkey meat is tough Q, and then paired with small dishes, the taste is excellent, and it has become a fixed dish for the public to eat three meals or even spend the night. At present, there are more than 120 chicken restaurants in Chiayi City, and the density is so high that there is almost one on the street corner, which shows its popularity.