Taoyuan names 36 winners in Hakka food guide, with Dazui Gu taking top honors

Taoyuan has unveiled the 36 eateries selected for its second Hakka Star-rated Food Recommendations, with traditional Hakka rice-based dishes as this year’s theme.

Dazui Gu Traditional Desserts won the highest five-star honor for specialties including mi-sieve noodles shaved ice and niuwenshui, a traditional Hakka dish. Meilan Grandma Hakka Rice Cake Shop and Triangle Hakka Stuffed Rice Cake received four stars, while 33 other businesses earned between one and three stars.

Ten judges from entertainment, culinary and food-blogging backgrounds visited the establishments and assessed them in person. The selection included restaurants as well as small neighborhood food shops serving dishes such as niuwenshui, ban tiao rice noodles and ci ba, a sticky rice dessert similar to mochi.

Taoyuan Deputy Mayor Su Jun-bin said the city has about 900,000 Hakka residents, the largest Hakka population among Taiwan’s municipalities. He said Hakka food culture runs deeply through Taoyuan and influences the city’s roughly 2.36 million residents.

The city government began developing the rating program more than two years ago. It said professional judges and secret customers would visit shops and use food as a way to introduce residents to Taoyuan’s Hakka culture. The government plans to cooperate with Vanung University on nutritious school-lunch menus featuring Hakka rice dishes, bringing the cuisine into food and farming education. The full list appears on the Taoyuan Hakka Travel website.

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Hakka food culture is deeply rooted in Taoyuan, and all 2.36 million residents of the city have been influenced by Hakka cuisine.