Walking through Longtan's Sankeng Old Street, you often catch the steam rising when a bamboo lid is lifted in an alley — that's a freshly steamed batch of Hakka vegetable rice dumplings (cai bao). Plump white rice-flour skin encases a salty, aromatic filling of dried shredded radish and pork. One warm bite delivers a springy skin and a juicy, savory center — the most unassuming and most-missed rice snack from Taoyuan's Hakka countryside.
What are Hakka Vegetable Rice Dumplings
Hakka Vegetable Rice Dumplings (cai bao) are also called "pig-basket rice cakes" (zhu long ban) because their shape resembles the old bamboo crates once used to carry pigs. The skin is made from japonica rice ground into a slurry, pressed to remove water, and kneaded into a rice dough — chewy and springy with a rice fragrance. The filling is a savory mix of dried shredded radish (cai fu si), ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, and red shallots sautéed until aromatic. Each piece is roughly palm-sized. After steaming they turn plump and white, and when placed on a layer of shell ginger or bamboo leaves the added leaf fragrance is unmistakable. Among Hakka rice foods, cai bao stands alongside flat rice noodles, glutinous rice balls, and mugwort rice cakes as a representative treat, commonly appearing at festivals, Hakka village markets, and traditional rice-food shops.
Why Taoyuan? Longtan, Yangmei, and Xinwu in Taoyuan are Hakka township strongholds with deep rice-food traditions. Cai bao, along with niu wen shui, mugwort rice cakes, and leavened rice cakes, are common everyday snacks. Sankeng Old Street is one of Longtan's oldest Hakka community settlements; shops like Sanjiao Dian Hakka Cai Bao and A Qiu Yi's niu wen shui have continued traditional methods there. This is a collector's-item Taoyuan snack; the experience of the Hakka rice-food culture cluster is the main draw.
How to Eat It the Local Way
Local Knowledge
Verified Credentials (ads filtered)
- Hakka Vegetable Rice Dumplings (pig-basket rice cakes) are a traditional Hakka rice-food treat, listed alongside niu wen shui, mugwort rice cakes, and leavened rice cakes as common foods of southern and northern Hakka communities.
- Sankeng Old Street is a key Longtan Hakka township, with shops like Sanjiao Dian Hakka Cai Bao and A Qiu Yi's niu wen shui continuing traditional methods.
- The Taoyuan City Hakka Affairs Office has listed Hakka rice-food treats as a recommended cultural experience item in Hakka townships.
Practical Tips
- Sankeng Old Street is compact with shops concentrated in a small area. Walking is the best way to explore; parking is very difficult on weekends.
- Cai bao are best freshly steamed. Vacuum-frozen versions taken home lose some flavor; eating on-site is the recommended approach.
- Hakka rice-food snacks are largely handmade. Popular shops often sell out by afternoon on weekends. Aim to arrive in the morning.
Information compiled from Michelin Guide, Taoyuan City Government Tourism Bureau, and large-scale public reviews; sponsored content has been filtered out. Photos will be replaced with channel-exclusive material after Dio's on-site shoot.