Taichung’s Hidden Gem: “Street Vendor-Style Traditional Rice Balls” with Weekend Limited Editions!

▲ Taichung Street Vendor Rice Balls – Li Fan Wan. (Photo / Sourced fromFoodie Big Belly’s “Li Fan Wan”Facebook Page, same below)

By Reporter Lee Chia-Ying / Compiled Report

Mysterious street vendor snacks always catch the eye, making people stop and take a second look—afraid they might miss out on a legendary hidden delicacy. Near Qianmei in Taichung, you can often spot a young man riding a bicycle-turned-mobile food cart, selling creatively revamped traditional rice balls. Depending on the flavor, the packaging features unique designs, including one called the “Panda Rice Ball” adorned with an adorable panda face that’s almost too cute to unwrap.

▲ The panda cheese flavor comes in adorable panda-patterned packaging.

The members of Li Fan Wan are two young men who often get mistaken for brothers due to their similar looks, but they’re actually good friends. Both have loved eating rice balls since childhood and hold fond memories of them. Their motivation for starting the business was simply to chase their dream, so before selling rice balls, they first fulfilled their dream of cycling around Taiwan and sampling local foods, as well as obtaining a Chinese cuisine license to add even more meaning to their venture.“Do what you love, and make it even more meaningful.”After completing their island-wide cycling trip, they began selling street vendor-style rice balls.

▲ Traditional rice ball.

▲ Black meat sauce rice ball.

Li Fan Wan currently offers five flavors:Classic Rice Ball, Panda Cheese, Black Meat Sauce, Satay Dried Bonito, and Curry Meat Brick, with the curry meat brick being a weekend-limited flavor. The most unique flavor is the black meat sauce, where century eggs are boiled in hot water before being stir-fried with pork, eliminating the typical eggy smell and adding a richer meaty taste—truly special. Additionally, the southern-style satay dried bonito combines shredded dried bonito and satay sauce perfectly, delivering a bold and flavorful bite with every mouthful.

Besides reinventing traditional rice balls, they also add a little secret to the cooking process: adding green tea to the water when boiling the rice. This keeps the rice balls fragrant even when cooled, prevents the grains from hardening, and even the marinated eggs are cooked with a specially prepared herbal packet.

▲ Li Fan Wan has gained quite a following on many local Taichung social media platforms and is highly popular.

Li Fan Wan mainly operates as a breakfast vendor on weekdays, starting at 8 AM, and their rice balls often sell out in under an hour—super popular. Therefore, they later introduced a pre-order service via messaging apps so customers don’t miss out. On weekends, they sell at Qianmei Eslite Songdo from 4 PM. With their cute, Japanese-inspired aesthetic packaging, the rice balls have sparked an Instagram check-in trend, making them a beloved Taichung-themed creative snack.

Li Fan Wan Business Hours & Locations:

Weekdays: Tues/Thurs – Cathay Public Welfare Building (at the intersection of Gongyi Rd. and Dasheng St.), Wed/Fri – Behind Longbang Twin Towers in the park area
Weekends: Sat/Sun – Qianmei Eslite Songdo
* Closed on Mondays; for detailed hours and locations, please refer to their official Facebook page.