Sticky rice for all the offal lovers in the house.

A few months ago I made my first ever Chinese New Year’s resolution: eat more Taiwanese food. Lucky for me Taiwanese Gourmet is just a few subway stops away from C+M headquarters. I’ve slowly been eating my way through the Elmhurst eatery’s menu. Recently I started exploring the vast selection of offal. There are more than half a dozen preparations of intestines, including two varieties of goose innards. One of my favorites is something that goes by the Chinese name da chang bao xiao chang, which translates loosely to big intestine wrapping little intestine.

“The Chinese name doesn’t describe anything about the food,” Taiwanese Gourmet’s manager, Alvin Chen told me explaining that the dish consists of a glutinous rice stuffed pig intestine that’s been steamed and sliced. A disc of Taiwanese pork sausage is then placed between each slice.

Listed on the menu as “glutinous rice and sausage” the dish eats like an offal lover’s version of the sticky rice packets that were a favorite dim sum item on my childhood forays to Manhattan’s Chinatown. The intestine itself has a slight fattiness and funk that’s nicely balanced by the sweet rice. Be sure to grab a disc of sausage too and swipe the entire lot through the sweet garlicky sauce.

While it might not be everbody’s cup of oolong, as far as I am concerned this popular night market snack merits the descriptor “gourmet.”

Taiwanese Gourmet, 84-02 Broadway, Elmhurst, 718-429-4818