Cycle 5 – Item 298
30 (Thu) October 2014
Braised Pork Belly with Taopok
3.5
at Tao Yuan
-Malate, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines-
with colleagues
Try Every Item at Tao Yuan (14) (see also TEITY)
Eating my way through the restaurant’s entire menu, currently at 222 items.
Tasted 8 new items tonight, bringing the total to 64 items tasted thus far, 158 items remaining, averaging 4.6 items per visit, on pace to finish at TEITY 49.


While I don’t have any dietary restrictions, I generally prefer to avoid any part of an animal on the outside (e.g., skin, ear, tongue, foot, penis, ball) or the inside (e.g., central organs). The only exceptions would be oxtail in soup, lower intestine as sausage casing, upper intestine via barbecue. Otherwise, I’ll stick with the nice and clean muscle tissue in between.




The occasion was lunch with staff to commemorate my position this week as the unit’s acting coordinator, which I’ve assumed by virtue of everyone above me being away on duty travel.
A win-win situation, as Filipinos tend to like outer/inner parts of animals, the opportunity allowed me to order dishes that I wouldn’t order for myself.

Taopok is a Singaporean dish. Deep-fried, with soft wrinkly skin and spongy interior – similar to the tofu used to make Japanese inari sushi. May be stuffed with additional ingredients or added on its own as a component to a stir-fry.
At Tao Yuan, the Braised Pork Belly with Taopok was excellent. A harmonious trifecta of soft and squishy textures from the taopok, pork belly, and mushrooms. Garlicky brown sauce, complemented by bright chunks of bell pepper. A strong contender for the permanent rotation.
(See also GLOBAL FOOD GLOSSARY)
(See also RESTAURANTS IN PHILIPPINES)