At the table
Hold gently over a plate or napkin and break off small pieces; the thin shell crumbles easily. Eat the plain baked cake as it is.
Contains wheat. The representative butter recipe contains milk; check the fat used if avoiding dairy. The egg-filled fried version adds egg and sesame oil.
White-sugar and other flavors exist. Some makers use butter, others plant oil. A separate serving style adds an egg through a hole and fries the cake with sesame oil and ginger.
GET TO KNOW THE DISH
What goes into it?
Explore some key ingredients below. Preparations may use additional seasonings and ingredients.
White-sugar and other flavors exist. Some makers use butter, others plant oil. A separate serving style adds an egg through a hole and fries the cake with sesame oil and ginger.
Typical ingredients
In some versions
Recipes vary by restaurant.
How does it taste?
Toasted wheat with caramel-like dark-sugar sweetness.
- Chili heat
- Texture
- A fragile, crisp shell around an airy hollow, with a slightly sticky sugar layer at the bottom.
- How it’s made
- Wheat dough encloses a sugar filling and is baked until it puffs into a hollow shell. The dough fat varies by producer.
White-sugar and other flavors exist. Some makers use butter, others plant oil. A separate serving style adds an egg through a hole and fries the cake with sesame oil and ginger.
A CONNECTION TO PLACE
Origin & regional roots
Associated with Taiwan.
About this regional connection
Taiwan: Tainan/Anping hollow puffed sugar pastry.
Ask if they have it first
请问你们有台南椪饼吗？
Do you have this item?
A LITTLE SOMETHING TO READ
Story & history
A hollow cake with a local tradition
In Anping, these cakes have been used as temple offerings and gifts. The egg-filled, sesame-oil-fried version is associated with older postpartum food customs.