Lao Dan A-Zhang Ba-Wan
Changhua City · Taiwanese
Dongmen Lai Family Bowl Rice Cake
BreakfastTakeawayLong-standing
VerdictFermented-tofu bowl rice cake and vanishing taro scallion cake, for early risers
A morning-market stall on Minsheng Road whose handmade bowl rice cakes are seasoned with fermented tofu and topped with pickled radish. It also sells taro scallion cake, a rare old-style snack in Yuanlin. Made in limited batches and mostly takeaway, so come early.
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Review
Dongmen Lai Family Bowl Rice Cake is an old breakfast stall on Minsheng Road in the Yuanlin Market area. Supertaste has listed it several times among Yuanlin's old-style and must-eat spots, and its info page tags it for breakfast, snacks and good value. Smile Taiwan, writing on Yuanlin's rice-cake snacks, explains that Yuanlin was once a rest stop for porters traveling to Lukang, giving rise to many quick-to-serve rice cakes, and that taro scallion cake is one now close to vanishing.
The bowl rice cake costs NT$25 and is made from pure indica rice batter, dense and springy. The filling has freshly ground pork and fried shallots seasoned with fermented tofu for a distinctive savory flavor, with preserved radish on top for crunch. The taro scallion cake is also NT$25: shredded taro is steamed and shaped, then steamed with half-cooked rice batter over high heat for more than an hour, and finished with shallot oil and sauce. It is smooth and slightly chewy, sweet and savory with a garlicky edge. The pork rice dumpling costs NT$30, with soft, chewy rice and salty, tender lean pork; radish cake is sold too.
Praise from reports and bloggers centers on the low prices, honest ingredients and the taro scallion cake, a flavor rarely found elsewhere. The downsides: it is takeaway only with no seating, so anyone wanting to sit down must find another spot, and the shop stresses handmade limited batches, so latecomers may miss what they want. The prices available mostly come from older reports, so go by the stall.
The shop's listing gives daily hours of 7 am to 2:30 pm with no closing day listed, but it shuts once sold out, so come in the morning if you want taro scallion cake. The stall is inside the market district where traffic is heavy, so walk in; old shops such as the Huang family horseshoe-crab-shell noodles are nearby.
It suits anyone wanting to discover Yuanlin's old flavors through a cheap breakfast. First-timers can buy one bowl rice cake and one taro scallion cake to compare, plus a pork dumpling; the three come to about NT$80 and make a filling meal. Eat as you stroll nearby or take it back for breakfast.
Why go
- Bowl rice cake and taro scallion cake are NT$25 each, pork dumpling NT$30
- The bowl cake filling is seasoned with fermented tofu and topped with preserved radish
- Taro scallion cake is steamed over high heat for more than an hour
- Takeaway only, with no seating
- Handmade in limited batches, so come in the morning for taro scallion cake
- All three together cost about NT$80 and fill you up
What people say
Liked
- The bowl cake is dense and springy, with a distinctive fermented-tofu savoriness
- Taro scallion cake is smooth with a garlicky note, hard to find elsewhere
- Coin prices and solid portions make a true Yuanlin breakfast
Complaints
- Takeaway only, with nowhere to sit
- Limited batches mean latecomers often miss out
Summarized from the common views of bloggers, media and diners; not direct quotes.
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Location
彰化縣員林市民生路76號Directions ↗
Sources
This page is compiled from the articles below and rewritten in our own words. Hours and prices change, so check before you go.
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