Keelung Souvenirs with a Strong "Harbor" Flavor: Enjoy Chicken Cage Cake and Seaweed Crisps with Seafood

Reporter Zhu t?幔?ㄌ獗ǖ技/p>

When it comes to Keelung souvenirs, many people immediately think of the pineapple cakes from Li Hu Pastry Shop. However, as a harbor city, Keelung actually offers many unique local specialties, such as Chicken Cage Cake with fillings made of shredded bonito and sakura shrimp, which delivers both the aroma of pastry and the scent of seafood. Additionally, when Terry Gou, the chairman of Foxconn, hosted his wedding banquet, he specifically chose Keelung’s rice crackers as desserts. If you visit Keelung, don’t miss out on this “pilgrimage.”

Located on An Yi Road in Keelung City, “Jia Xin Nougat” is easy to miss. The shop isn’t big, but once you step inside, you can smell the sweet aroma of nougat and pastries, and you can even catch a glimpse of the baking room from the entrance. What sets this place apart from typical pastry shops is the owner’s commitment to using locally sourced Keelung ingredients, blending tradition with innovation. Currently, the hottest item is the seaweed rice egg roll, where the owner bakes and crushes rice, then mixes it with egg roll ingredients and seaweed. It has fewer calories than traditional egg rolls and is finished with a sprinkle of chili powder for flavor. There’s also the seaweed-inspired pineapple cake variation, where seaweed is added to the winter melon filling of pineapple cakes, resulting in a less overly sweet taste and a pleasant combination of seaweed and winter melon flavors.

% The environmentally conscious store doesn’t look very big, but the layers inside are actually quite rich. The owner’s daughter is also often seen helping out in the shop. (Photo / Reporter Zhu t?嵘悌

There’s also the Chicken Cage Cake made with sakura shrimp and shredded bonito, a unique Keelung delicacy created by the owner. The owner explained: “I believe Keelung should have its own iconic food. Being located in a harbor area, I incorporated ocean elements, so I developed Chicken Cage Cakes in flavors like sakura shrimp, shredded bonito, and squid, all about the size of a palm. The newest flavor, anchovy, came about because my wife and I often enjoy a drink after work, and I thought, what if there was an anchovy-flavored Chicken Cage Cake? That’s how we came up with it. We even jokingly call it the ‘truth cake.’”

% The owner personally demonstrates making the freshly baked treats. (Photo / Reporter Zhu t?嵘悖?峦纪?

The rice crackers specified by Terry Gou for his wedding are from Keelung!“Quan Li Rice Crackers” was originally a traditional bakery in Keelung, but it switched to specializing in rice crackers all because the grandfather wanted to please his little grandson who loved rice crackers. Wanting his grandson to eat healthily, the grandfather began researching different ingredients and toppings, setting aside commercial considerations. To make it convenient for his grandson, he miniaturized the traditional large rice crackers into palm-sized rounds. Thinking his grandson was afraid of getting burned, he specially made a chilled rice cracker, and even pioneered the first frozen rice cracker in the country.

% The different layers inside can be turned into various celebratory gifts, specially designed and developed by the young owner.

Quan Li Rice Crackers offers over 20 flavors of rice crackers. Due to the traditional custom of “giving rice crackers for a good marriage,” they’ve also developed wedding banquet gift boxes. The most distinctive is the “V Layered Gift Box” developed by their eldest son, which contains multiple layers, combining traditional wedding gifts and rice cracker combinations. The owner mentioned that they didn’t want weddings to only consist of white dresses and churches—there are actually many meaningful traditions in weddings—so they combined cultural creativity with tradition to bring something new and unique.

% The nearby area also offers a self-guided walking route due to the concentration of pastry shops.