Chang Yu Shou Wangtzu

From our archives, Compass Magazine,  May 2000.

This is an unusual “Hole in the Wall” article because, instead of a small eatery, I’m reviewing a food stand. The first time I tried the food at this place occurred when a friend brought it to my house. I was told that it was somewhere on Ching Cheng Road, but not specifically where it was, so I spent about a week trying to locate it. The flavors were so good that I persevered and finally located it.

The name of the place is only in Chinese so I’ve provided a photograph to help you recognize it. Also, instead of a menu of different items, this place serves only one item–“Chang Yu Shou Wangtzu”–which are delicious fried, ball-shaped pastries which are filled with octopus and vegetables.

Doesn’t sound so good? Try it, you’ll like it. There are six pastries in an order, which is served with mayonaise and wasabe (very spicy Japanese green horse radish sauce). Single orders are NT$35 each, or you can order three boxes for NT$100. The boxes are kind of cool-looking and the pastries are filling enough that one box is almost a full meal.

Watching the girl make them is quite entertaining as there is a real art to getting these pastries so that they not only look correct, but also keep their stuffing inside. I personally like the stand on the end of the well-known “European cafe street” or “Tea Shop Row” (Ching Ming 1rst St.), mostly because it’s a smaller operation and you don’t have to fight all the shoppers that accumulate at the other location, in the Feng Chia University Market. However, the one at Feng Chia is actually a “hole in the wall” eatery, versus a food cart, and they are open every night. (During rains, the Tea Shop Row one may close).

But, no matter which one you go to, the quality is good and the convenience of grabbing a healthy, hot snack on the street is certainly a novelty.