Sinwu Baozi Mantou Introduction
Cai Chongming (born in 1951) was originally an employee at the Taiwan Salt Corporation's Chiayi Salt Field. His wife was a seamstress, sewing clothes for the villagers to supplement the family income. Starting in the 1970s, the emergence of ready-made clothing factories severely impacted the tailoring business, leading to a significant decrease in income. To provide his wife with a side business while caring for their children and to increase the family income, Cai Chongming went to the Wushulin Salt Field in Kaohsiung to learn the methods of making buns and steamed buns from his brother and sister-in-law. His brother and sister-in-law were employees at the Wushulin Salt Field Welfare Society and learned from an elderly man from mainland China who made buns and steamed buns to increase their income. After mastering the methods of making buns and steamed buns, Cai returned to Xinwen and began selling them. Initially, he was not skilled, so he sought advice from a mainland elderly man known as "Haikongzi" at the Budai office, continuously improving and innovating to achieve the current reputation. His son, Cai Cheng'en (born in 1979), returned to help and learn in 2010, officially taking over the business after marrying in 2014. The preparation of buns and steamed buns starts the day before. In the afternoon before, the dough is kneaded and allowed to ferment. At 12:30 AM, he wakes up to knead it again, shapes it, lets it undergo a second fermentation in the fermentation box, and then places it in the steamer to cook. The first batch comes out of the steamer at 3 AM.
