Take the ferry from Gushan and five minutes later you step onto Cijin. Turn left out of the ferry exit and you're on Cijin Old Street. Oil pops in woks all along the strip, the air layered with frying oil, sea breeze, and sweet sauce. A child holds a golden-fried stick and bites in with a light crunch — this is the marlin fish cake Cijin residents have grown up eating.
What is Marlin Fish Cake?
Marlin fish cake is a Taiwanese-style tian bu la / black wheel (oden) made primarily from marlin paste. Marlin is low in fat, white-fleshed, and naturally springy when ground into paste, shaped into rounds or flat pieces, and either deep-fried into "fried fish cake" or simmered in an oden hot pot as "simmered fish cake." Served with a drizzle of Taiwanese sweet sauce, a little chili sauce, and a scatter of scallion or cilantro — one bite is sweet, salty, and fishy all at once, the defining flavor of this port-side snack.
Cijin sits beside Qianzhen and Xingda fishing harbors, where marlin is an important near-shore catch. Fishing families traditionally ground the less presentable or broken pieces of marlin into paste to make fish cakes, tian bu la, and fish balls — and from this came "marlin fish cake" as a local specialty. Kaohsiung Tourism (the Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau) lists marlin fish cake as one of the representative snacks of Cijin and Kaohsiung; a cluster of old fish cake shops and stalls lines Cijin Old Street, making it a category-tour kind of eat.
How to eat it like a local
Local knowledge
Objective credentials (filtered for sponsored content)
- Kaohsiung Tourism (official) lists marlin fish cake as one of the representative snacks of Cijin and Kaohsiung.
- Cijin's proximity to Qianzhen and Xingda fishing harbors makes marlin processing a historically grounded local industry.
- This guide covers "Cijin Marlin Fish Cake" as a category. Multiple stalls along Old Street each have their own character — sampling from several is recommended.
Practical tips
- Take the ferry from Gushan Ferry Terminal — about 5 minutes to Cijin. You can bring a scooter on the ferry or explore on foot.
- Cijin Old Street gets crowded on weekends; the alleys are narrow, so watch for electric scooters and motorcycles.
- Combine with Cijin Lighthouse, the Star Tunnel, the Rainbow Church, and the beach for a half-day itinerary.
Information compiled from the Michelin Guide, Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau, and a large body of public reviews, filtered for sponsored content. Photos to be replaced with channel-original material after Dio's on-site shoot.