Xialun Fried Snacks Introduction
Most residents of Xia-lun are engaged in agriculture, and because there were not many snacks available in the countryside in the early days, Wang Long-jie (born in 1946) came up with the idea of selling fried rice cakes made from locally produced rice. He started selling these in the market, and surprisingly, he continued for over 30 years. It wasn’t until 2009, when he became older, that his son Wang Chia-ho (born in 1980) took over the business. The rice cake batter is prepared the afternoon before; the process involves soaking the rice for 3 hours, grinding it into a rice paste, adding seasoning and a small amount of sugar, stirring it well, and pouring it into a steaming basket to steam for 6 hours. After steaming, the cake is cooled with a fan for 3 hours and then placed in the refrigerator for later use. The freshly steamed rice cake is relatively moist, and refrigerating it helps remove excess moisture. Since the rice cake contains nothing else, the locals refer to it as "Qing Guo," or clear cake. The following morning, the clear cake is brought to the market, sliced, and then pan-fried on both sides until golden brown before being taken off the heat and cut into pieces for takeaway. When sold, it comes with a small packet of dipping sauce, which is prepared by blending garlic into a paste using a blender, and then boiling soy sauce and mixing it with the garlic paste to enhance the flavor.
