Jhi Wu Pan-Fried Rice Cake Introduction
Wang Yeh-Ying (born in 1946) started her business selling oil onion cakes and savory cakes on Guangming Road when her children were still young to supplement the family income. However, as oil onion cakes and savory cakes could not be consumed by vegetarians, and oil onion cakes were mainly sold during the Lunar New Year, she decided to sell pan-fried rice cakes instead. In 2013, due to her aging, she passed the business to her son Chen Guo-Shu (born in 1968) and daughter-in-law Yu Hsueh-Hong to continue operations. The method for making clear rice cakes is as follows: In the afternoon of the day before, soak the rice from the main island in water for 2-3 hours, then grind it into a rice slurry. Pour the slurry into a lead bucket, filling it about 90% full, then mix in rice flour and seasonings. After boiling water in a large pot, pour in the rice slurry, stirring with a frying spoon and smoothing it out. Cook for 4 hours, then take it off the heat and let it cool. After one hour, spread salad oil on the surface to prevent it from drying out, and cut it into slices once cooled. Since no preservatives are used, it cannot be stored for long, so the slices should be placed in the refrigerator immediately after cutting. The next morning, the slices are taken to the selling location. When customers order, oil is first placed in a frying pan, and the clear rice cake slices are fried until browned, flipped, and fried on the other side before being plated and served with dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is made by boiling soy sauce and mixing in minced garlic. The soy sauce is boiled first to prevent it from being too salty. Back in the day, when Wang Yeh-Ying asked others for advice on how to make rice cakes, no one was willing to teach her, so she went to a rice shop to buy rice and asked the shop owner to take her to...
