Da Yuan Mochi

Review

Da Yuan Bakery is tucked away at No. 6, Lane 129, Minsheng Road in Changhua City, right beside the Changyi City God Temple. It has been around for more than 50 years and is often called Da Yuan Mochi online. The shop originally made traditional banquet pastries; savoury mochi was a common banquet treat in the 1960s and 70s, and as banquets faded it became one of Changhua's signature souvenirs instead. The lane is narrow and the sign low-key, so it is easy to walk past; use navigation.

The mochi skin is made from ground Zhuoshui River glutinous rice and is fragrant and chewy. The signature savoury mochi is rolled in coconut powder and filled with stir-fried lean pork, bamboo shoot and carrot, salty-sweet and not greasy, a bit like a savoury tangyuan. Sweet options include red bean, a fine, smooth paste with thin skin and plenty of filling, and peanut, coated in peanut powder and filled with crushed peanuts and fine sugar. There are also limited flavours (vegetarian shiitake, sesame, mung bean) plus taro pastries, radish pastries, pineapple cakes and egg yolk pastries.

Diners most often recommend the pork, peanut and taro pastry, and many buy a mix of savoury and sweet. Some find the red bean too sweet and each piece small. A 2026 blogger put single mochi at about NT$12 and the 20-piece assorted box (pork, peanut, red bean) at a little over NT$200; an earlier article listed six egg yolk pastries at NT$230 and six pineapple cakes at NT$210. Check current prices in store.

It is takeaway only, with no seating. The mochi contains no preservatives and keeps only about two days, so eat it soon; egg yolk pastries last about a week. Sources disagree on hours (opening 08:30, closing variously at 20:00, 21:00 or 21:30), so confirm before you go. The lane is too narrow for cars; it is about a 10-minute walk from Changhua Station. Weekends and the run-up to Mid-Autumn and Lunar New Year are busy, and limited flavours go early.

It suits anyone wanting a box of something distinctly Changhua that is not just another sweet. First-timers can grab the 20-piece assorted box to try all three flavours; savoury mochi is chewiest on the day. Pay a visit to the City God Temple next door, then carry on to Gu Yue Guan or the cold ba-wan shop.