Xin Zhen Xiang Roasted Meat Stall

“When you’re sleeping, I’m burning my time roasting meat.” - ─Mr. Hsu

Hualien Markets - Exclusive Interview with Xin Zhen Xiang Roasted Meat Stall

#ChunghwaMarket

#RoastingMeatwithSincerity

#OneHundredPercentHandmadeWithoutAnyChemicalAdditives

June 8th, 2020

Text/ LI Shan

Translation/ LIU Yi-Chun

Photography/ LEE Te-Mao

Xin Zhen Xiang is one of the few roasted meat stalls in Taiwan that still uses the cement stove, so called the bomb stove, for roasting meat. It owns a working area in the market and the stove is set up there, sitting silently around the corner like a large urn. All the tasty meat is roasted with charcoal grill and the owner’s sincerity. People passing by are greeted by the smell of roasted meat. Twenty six years ago, Mr. Hsu joined the business of Xin Zhen Xiang after he finished the mandatory military service. He learnt all the skills and tips of roasting meats from his grandmother and has been running the business till now.

He adheres to the traditional method just to continue the legacy of the elders

"I have to fix the stove once a year. But no one is willing to help me with it even if I offer to pay them 6,000NTD a day, because it is difficult to get the whole person into the stove and they can get hurt easily." Mr. Hsu said this is the major difficulty he encounters at the moment since the cement stove needs maintenance at least once a year. One time he asked his uncle to help him, and his uncle accidentally slipped and hit the ribs. In addition, Mr. Hsu also roasts the meat with charcoal which requires accurate time-control skills or the meat will be burnt easily. He persists in roasting meats with cement stove and charcoal to continue the legacy of the elders, despite the fact that it’s labor-intensive and exhausting.

He insists on the traditional method to highlight the value of handmade

He works in the market every day from 4:30 in the morning, continuously roasting the meat at the working area and send the fresh roasted meat to the stall. He keeps making adjustments and learning in the process. Whenever he has any questions, he will ask his aunts for advice. They became his teachers and continued to guide him through difficulties. Now, he masters the excellent techniques of roasting meat. Mr. Hsu said that he is a very detail-oriented person and always wants to do his best. That’s why he insists on purchasing the fresh meat in the market every day and he will select the meat by himself. His wife will take care of the sanitation to make sure every piece of meat sold meets their high standards. Not even a single hair can escape the eyes of her wife. They hope to maintain the quality of their products so as to gain the consumers’ trust. In the meanwhile, they want to show the characteristics of the traditional market, which are handmade and freshness.

The number of customers dropped when schools started to provide lunch for students

Twenty years ago, schools started to provide lunch for students based on the new policy, and there were more and more double career families, indicating that more and more parents were too busy to prepare lunch for their children. Both factors greatly affected the business in traditional markets. Mr. Hsu said the number of customers decreased, and the markets were only busy on weekends. In addition, after the reconstruction of the neighboring Chongqing Market was completed in 2015, some customers who were used to buying vegetables from the Chunghwa Market no longer walked in. Luckily, Xin Zhen Xiang Roasted Meat Stall owned many regular customers because of their good reputation and unique flavor. He hopes the business could last long so that the customers can come back whenever they miss the taste of their childhood.

100% handmade without any chemical additives

Mr. Hsu said his family business also consists of jerky, pork floss and cured meat production. His two cousins are mainly in charge of the other departments, and they also pass on their grandparents’ insistence on the food quality. Therefore, instead of using restructured meat for making jerky, they used the raw meat. They used to dry the meat under the sunlight, now they use driers first then hand-grill the meat. As for making pork floss, they rather render lard by themselves than using soybean oil which is widely available. Mr. Hsu also sells these products at his stall. Whenever people question him about why his products are more expensive than others, he will let them taste first and then patiently explains them the difference between using soybean oil and using pure pork and lard. He doesn’t use any chemical additives to cut the price. Instead, he hopes more and more people could understand the true value of quality and tasty food.

The business is profitable but exhausting, so it is difficult to find a successor

"I joked with my wife that if I got a hundred scars of scald, I will retire," Mr. Hsu said while raising his arm to show us the scars that he got from roasting meat. Due to the long working hours, after the market closes at 1pm, he needs to do the cleanup at 5pm and prepares the sauces until 7pm, which means he has to stay in the environment with high temperature for long hours. Not to mention how labor-intensive the job is. Only someone who is passionate and professional for his work like Mr. Hsu would be able to continue the business and bring the tasty roasted meat for the customers.

Vendors help each other to create a friendly environment together

Mr. Hsu feels that Chunghwa Market is like a big family. He hopes that the environment of the market can become more hygienic, and the stalls can treat customers nicer to create a friendly environment together, so that more and more young people will be willing to work at the market.