Yonghe Zhou's Rice Cake Introduction
In the early years, Yonghe District was known for the many military and educational personnel from mainland China, making various dishes from the outside province such as village dishes and rice cakes quite famous. When it comes to rice cakes, Zhou's Rice Cake located in Dacheng Village is a must-try delicacy during the Lunar New Year in New Taipei City. This long-established rice cake shop is busy all year round, with steam baskets rarely resting. Regular customers come one after another not only for the unforgettable Dacheng rice cake but also for the Korean rice cakes made to cater to the large number of Korean expatriates. Zhou's Dacheng rice cake has a chewy texture and is often stir-fried with other dishes. The production process is quite labor-intensive; it involves soaking the Punglai rice, grinding it into paste, draining, crushing, and finally steaming in special steam baskets, mixing thoroughly, shaping, and air-drying. Besides buying delicious food, simply standing in front of the shop to watch the process of rice cake steaming is also a very interesting experience.
