Tuchengzi Zhanbo Handmade Buns Introduction
Chen Ding-hui's grandfather, Chen Lao-kang (born in 1902), originally opened a grocery store at the site on Chengbei Road. When the family divided, his father, Chen Zan-tong (born in 1953), took over this shop and switched to selling rice and animal feed. In 1998, Chen Zan-tong began making handmade buns and mantou for sale. In 2003, he passed the shop on to his sons, Chen Ding-fu and Chen Ding-hui. The elder brother, Chen Ding-fu, operates a breakfast business in the morning, while the younger brother, Chen Ding-hui, sells handmade buns and mantou in the afternoon. Zhan Bo's meat buns are filled only with pork belly, while the vegetable buns are filled with shiitake mushrooms, vegetarian ingredients, and pickled vegetables, all made starting at 10 AM and ready by 1 PM. The mantou is baked in two batches; the first batch is from 12 PM to 3 PM, and the second batch from 3 PM to 6 PM, coming out one after another. In addition to white mantou, there are also cranberry mantou and multigrain mantou. The cranberry mantou is made by mixing cranberries with the dough, resulting in a unique flavor; the multigrain mantou is made from whole wheat flour, mixed grains, raisins, and dough. Notably, Zhan Bo preserves part of the fermented dough each day, which is kept in the refrigerator to continue fermenting into "old dough," and the next day, this "old dough" is mixed with the new dough to make buns or mantou.
