Xuwu Jianpan Rice Cake Introduction
Wang Yeh-Ying (born 1946) started her business in Guangming Road when her children were young, selling scallion pancakes and salty cakes to supplement the family income. Since the scallion pancakes and salty cakes were not suitable for vegetarians and the scallion pancakes were only popular during the Lunar New Year, she switched to selling pan-fried rice cakes. In 2013, due to her advancing age, she passed the business to her son Chen Guo-Shu (born 1968) and daughter-in-law Yu Hsueh-Hung, who continued to run it. The method for making the rice cakes involves soaking Taiwanese rice for 2-3 hours, grinding it into rice batter, and pouring it into a lead bucket about 90% full, mixing in flour and seasonings. After boiling water in a large pot, the rice batter is added, stirred and smoothed out with a spatula, and cooked for 4 hours. Once done, it is cooled, brushed with salad oil after one hour to prevent the surface from drying out, and then sliced. Since no preservatives are added, it should not be kept for long, and once sliced, it is stored in the refrigerator for later use. The following morning, it is taken to the market; when customers order, oil is added to a frying pan, the rice cake slices are fried until golden on one side, then flipped and fried until golden on the other side, and served on a plate with dipping sauce. The dipping sauce is made by boiling soy sauce and mixing in minced garlic. The soy sauce needs to be boiled first to prevent it from being overly salty.
