@jiayueneatinghse is more well known for their creamy salted egg zichar dishes, but their stellar sweet & sour pork deserves just as much acclaim. While it’s exorbitantly expensive for a single portion of a zichar staple at $12 a plate, the quantity & quality justify the precious price tag.
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First, let’s talk quality. The cut of pork used is lusciously layered with fat, and some pieces did get overwhelming fatty. As we all know very well by now, fat equals flavour, and this was no exception. The pork was seasoned simply, but it was enough, and it was coated in an immensely light batter that gave this sweet & sour pork its cracking crunchiness.⠀
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The sweet & sour sauce does get cloyingly saccharine after the halfway mark, but mix it up with that perfectly piquant pork and the plain rice and you’ll be fine. The tastefully thick sweet & sour sauce doesn’t look like it’s out in force, but a little goes a real long way here, as the overpowering sweetness of the sauce gets moderated by the rice. The egg, while perfectly fried with an egg-splosively liquid yolk, felt unnecessary with an unneeded creaminess. I would’ve far preferred a small serving of plain fried vegetables, or even spicy sambal kangkong, to combat the hedonistic richness of this dish.⠀
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At Jia Yuen, you do get what you pay for. Top dollar gets you top quality zichar, and I could foresee myself dropping in every now and then for a serving of zichar zingers.