A local bakery’s sought-after traditional pastries are still made by hand a century after the business opened.
Right across the street from the 360-year-old Kaiji Matsu Temple in the southern city of Tainan stands Jiulaifa Bakery. Established in 1875 as a sugar shop, it later started to make traditional pastries as offerings for religious rites in temples and homes.
Jiulaifa’s business model has seen some updating as its online platform and social media profile have joined forces with the brick-and-mortar shop to broadcast its reputation far afield. However, the handmade pastries have remained largely unchanged in the century or so since the shop first opened its doors. The recipes, flavors and preparation methods have been passed down through the generations at the family shop.
Now run by the fifth generation of the He family, Jiulaifa has around one hundred different types of pastry. Their most famous product is a round puffy bun made of brown sugar and flour. From these simple ingredients the skill and care in baking produces a globe shape that is empty inside with a layer of crystallized brown sugar on the bottom. Traditionally these brown sugar pastries are used as a nourishing supplement for mothers after giving birth. As they have a hollow center, a hole is made in the tops, eggs are cracked into them and then they are fried with sesame oil and ginger as a strengthening snack. These puffball-like pastries can be tailor-made for special occasions by stamping specially designed patterns on the top. Recently, for example, they were stamped with “Tainan 400” as part of warmup celebrations for the city’s upcoming 400th anniversary in 2024.
—by Jim Hwang
Pastries are made from flour and brown sugar and then stamped with a traditional red mark.
Members of the He family combine their cumulative years of experience and skill to turn the simple ingredients into Jiulaifa’s most famous snack.
Brown sugar cakes fresh out of the oven
The family shop makes a variety of products for festivals, religious rituals and family occasions like birthdays and weddings.