Hsinchu City’s Chuchien Cakes (竹塹餅) are popular among locals and tourists. However, few people know that they are actually developed from pork zongzi (meat dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves)! The famous cakes in Hsinchu City are made by mixing the red onions and fatty pork fillings of meat dumplings with candied winter melon. The meaty cakes are a delicious snack that has been passed down from generation to generation for more than a century.

People in the past wanted to make the cakes more flavorful, so they decided to put the meat stuffing from meat dumplings into the cakes, which became a mixture of salty and sweet flavors known as the Chuchien Cake. It can be said that the predecessor of the Chuchien Cake is the meat dumpling. This kind of crunchy and soft meat cake has a special taste, which is both salty and sweet, and they are a delicious snack many Hsinchu people have grown up eating and are still very fond of.

Recipe

Main ingredients:

[Skin] 200g of medium-gluten flour, 50g of lard, 50g of powdered sugar, 1 whole egg, 2 egg yolks (smear the surface)

[Filling] 150g of fatty pork, 150g of candied winter melon, 50g of powdered sugar, 60g of lard, 30g of maltose, cooked flour 100g, milk powder 50g, whole egg 1, white sesame 30g, fried onion 30g

Cooking method:

1. [Skin] Mix the ingredients other than the egg yolks, and knead them into a dough that is not sticky, divide into small pieces of about 60g each, and let stand for 30 minutes.

2. [Inner stuffing] Dice the candied winter melon and fatty pork, soften the lard in room temperature, sift the powdered sugar, and stir fry the white sesame seeds in a dry wok to bring out the flavor.

3. Gently flatten the skin dough, wrap in the fillings, close the mouth, face (mouth) down, and press into a round Chuchien Cake with thickness.