Taiwan, Part XIX - Master Ji

There is a famous sushi stand at Shi Dong Market called Master Ji. (It's truly a "stand". There isn't any place to sit.) From what I've read, normally people just tell Mr. Ji their budget, and let him decide everything. Since this was my last day in Taipei, and I had another plan for lunch, I knew exactly what I wanted to get. The small downside was that I wanted to get to my final lunch destination at a reasonable time, so I didn't wait for Mr. Ji, or the official 11 o'clock opening time.

One of the highly praised items was the sea urchin Ezo Bafun Uni (scientific name: strongylocentrotus intermedius) flown in from Hokkaido. "Bafun" means horse manure. What a distateful name for such a delicious delicacy. Well, name aside, the urchins were so smooth and amazingly sweet.

I also ordered two other highly recommended items - salmon roes and toro. Those didn't quite live up to my expectations. Salmon roes were just OK, nothing special. I've had better. At dinner, my friends told me that the salmon and salmon roes in the Pacific Northwest are much better than the ones in Taiwan. No wonder, I would definitely skip this in the future.

The toro was VERY fatty. (The second picture is the puddle of tuna oil left behind the toro.) It was torched, topped with the super fine menegi (leek sprouts). I don't like the strong pungent flavor of raw onions, green onions, etc. The menegi, however, was very mild, perfect with sushi. I felt the torching was unnecessary. It rendered a lot of the fat into oil, and completely covered the fish, that all I could taste was the oil. I would much more prefer a perfectly cut and unaltered piece of toro nigiri.

There is always a pot of fish soup at the end of the counter that the customers are welcome to help themselves. The broth was well prepared with pieces of random fish (with bones) that didn't make to sushi. Some other bloggers have mentioned that if you spend over certain amount, you'd get the special soup with shrimp that they keep in the back.

My two hand rolls and one piece of nigiri rang up to NT$600. It's unfortunate that I didn't like the salmon roe or the toro. Next time, I would definitely wait for Mr. Ji, and get more uni.

Master Ji (阿吉師)
Address: 100 Shi Dong Rd (Shi Dong Market, 1st floor, stand #88)
地址：台北市士東路100號(士東市場一樓88攤)
Telephone: 02-2834-6136 0936-132578
電話：02-2834-6136 0936-132578
Hours: 11 am - 5pm, closed on Mondays
營業時間：週一休息，平日11:00am-5:00pm