Chishang Lunch Box 池上便当
Chishang Lunch Box is featured among the local specialties of Taiwan.
Chishang Lunch Box (池上便当) is a railway meal from Chishang Township (池上鄉) in Taitung County (臺東縣), also called Chishang Fanbao (池上飯包). Its traditional hallmarks are Chishang rice, a wooden box and a dry style of meal.
Ingredients
The traditional assortment includes fried salted pork, braised pork, sausage slices and a braised egg. Burou (卜肉) adds another pork preparation: thin strips are marinated, dipped in egg batter and fried. Pickled yellow radish, dried radish and pickled young ginger accompany the meat, together with stir-fried cabbage and crisp dried bonito.
The association with Chishang rice does not mean that every box uses rice grown in the township. Chinese Wikipedia notes that many makers buy rice from the wider Hualien-Taitung region (花東), especially Fuli Township (富里鄉), or from elsewhere.
Where it comes from
In 1940, Li Yuedian (李約典) and Lin Laifu (林來富) began selling sweet-potato cakes on the Chishang station platform. After the war, they switched to rice balls made with Chishang rice and wrapped in shell-ginger leaves. Their son's railway job helped them bring the rice balls onto trains to sell.
When their daughter-in-law Li Chen Yun (李陳雲) took over, she changed the rice balls into boxed meals, taking account of slow trains and journey times. Wooden-sheet boxes replaced the leaf packaging in 1962. Other local producers followed, and the lunch-box trade later spread beyond Chishang.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-26. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- A Chishang boxed meal with fried chicken, rice, and vegetables from a Chishang, Taitung eatery. · 池上飯包，台东县池上乡的招牌铁路便当，内有炸鸡腿、米饭与配菜。Photo: Sinchen.Lin · CC BY 2.0 · taken 2016-09-03Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
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