It was two years ago in March that husband Dai Jianguo and wife Cai Yifang left their jobs in the advertising and mobile communications industries, respectively, to launch their Japanese food stall. After experimenting with ramen (noodles in hot soup), ankakegohan (stew mixed with rice), and later donburi (meat layered in a bowl over dry rice), they finally hit the jackpot with "fried noodle 'n' rice."

Dai's great-uncle opened a restaurant in Takasaki, Japan, in 1956, where Dai often helped out, naturally picking up first-rate culinary skills in the process. The opening of the Taipei incarnation of Qinghuaxuan, at that time serving ramen, was not a success, despite the special price of NT$70. For one thing, there were problems with the air conditioning in the Shuiyuan Market, leaving customers sweating up a storm. Moreover, Taiwanese have always thought of ramen as a somewhat exotic dish, to be eaten in a restaurant with appropriate Japanese decor and atmosphere, whereas the bustling market didn't have the right ramen ambience.

Japanese often eat rice as a side dish with fried noodles (yakisoba), enjoying the moistness of the former with the chewy fragrance of the latter. Besides solving the perennial dilemma, "What'll it be today, rice or noodles?" that goes with every meal, this combo leaves diners with a satisfied stick-to-your-ribs sensation. Last June, after the remodeling of the Shuiyuan Market was completed, Dai decided to try using noodles and rice-which play the supporting roles in mainstream Japanese restaurants in Taiwan-as the leading players, frying them up together in his wok to create a unique new taste. "This is also getting popular in Japan right now, but there the frying is done on a teppanyaki stove," says Dai.

Noodles, rice, and generous amounts of cabbage and corn are deliciously blended at Qinghuaxuan, which makes a determined effort to serve food that is both healthy and filling.

In fact, there is a trick to making good fried rice, and it is a chilling one. The rice used at Qinghuaxuan is always refrigerated one day before. The owner says that chilled rice already has the moisture content removed, so the grains have a drier texture, and are better at absorbing added spices and flavors. Moreover, in order to also ensure quality control and cleanliness, the rice is first separated into small bags.

"Less oil, less salt, and no MSG" make Qinghuaxuan's fried noodle 'n' rice unique. Dai explains that most cooks put a lot of oil in fried rice to give the rice grains a smooth texture. But at Qinghuaxuan, because their more solid-textured rice is cooked with smooth noodles, you already get a sleek, agreeable mouthfeel, so there is less need for oil.

Qinghuaxuan's fried noodle 'n' rice uses a great deal of cabbage and corn, with the ratio of noodles, rice, and vegetables being 1:1:1. As a result, you get cabbage and corn in every bite. "Having natural sweetness like this, you don't have to add any MSG or flavorings."

Dai states that when he first started out, other market stall owners were pessimistic about his approach, with one providing a friendly warning, "It's going to be bland as hell if you don't add MSG!" Because the clientele of traditional markets generally consists of nearby elderly residents and the less well off, demand is mostly for salty and heavily flavored food. At first Dai wasn't sure what to do, and added MSG for one month. But being allergic to MSG himself, plus the fact that many people encouraged him to stick to his principles, he steeled himself to the idea of never adding MSG again. Little did he expect that this "foul ball" would straighten out into a home run, drawing a new type of customer from the surrounding university area into the old market.

There are a lot of schools near the Shuiyuan Market, including National Taiwan University, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and the Gongguan Campus of National Taiwan Normal University. As a result, 60-70% of Qinghuaxuan's most loyal customers are college kids. During winter and summer vacations, there are also many high school students from other areas who attend activities on the university campuses.

Noodles, rice, and generous amounts of cabbage and corn are deliciously blended at Qinghuaxuan, which makes a determined effort to serve food that is both healthy and filling.

Despite exclusively selling fried noodle 'n' rice, Qinghuaxuan has invested a great deal of thought into coming up with nine distinct taste sensations, including mixed seafood, beef, shrimp, cuttlefish, chicken, sausage, and curried chicken. With the seafood flavor costing only NT$90, beef NT$80, and the basic fried-noodle rice with egg at the common man's NT$60, the place has become a favorite with university kids.

While "a full belly" is what proves irresistible to students, the stall's attention to health and hygeine also attracts a group that makes a priority of nutrition. One mother of this cast who lives in Shenkeng always orders five different takeaway meals so that her child will have one for each day in the week, with a different flavor each day.

Have you ever had fried noodle 'n' rice? The next time your route takes you past the Shuiyuan Market, why not drop into Qinghuaxuan and get the country's one-and-only, delightfully aromatic fried noodle 'n' rice, with a side of miso soup. So far, the reviews have been anything but mixed.