LOCAL FOOD GUIDE

Hualien Sweet Potato Cakes 花莲薯

Hualian Shu

Hualien Sweet Potato Cakes is featured among the local specialties of Taiwan.

AI illustration: A wooden tray of pale steamed glutinous rice cakes cut into tidy soft blocks.
AI illustration · AI 示意图(仅供参考,非实拍)AI-generated visual reference; not a restaurant photograph. AI 示意图,仅供参考,非实拍。

Hualien Sweet Potato Cakes (花莲薯) are a sweet specialty of Hualien (花蓮), also known as xianziyu (餡子芋). They are made by processing sweet potatoes into cakes.

How it is made

The potatoes are first steamed, peeled and mashed. The mixture is shaped, brushed with egg and baked.

Ingredients

Sweet-potato selection has changed over time. A 1992 Hualien agricultural bulletin records the use of Tainong 17 (臺農十七號) and the promotion of Tainong 68 (臺農六十八號) for these cakes. It describes the latter potato as attractive in colour, soft and low in fibre.

The same bulletin describes improvements to baking during Japanese rule, including attention to moisture content and baking time to lengthen keeping time.

Sources & reading

Written from the linked sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer on 2026-09-30. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.