Ba-wan

Ba-wan is a snack food, consisting of a 6-8 diameter disk-shaped translucent dough filled with a savory stuffing and served with a sweet and savory sauce. The stuffing varies widely according to different regions in Taiwan, but usually consists of a mixture of pork, bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushrooms. Changhua-style ba-wan is considered to be the "standard" ''ba-wan'' as it is the most famous and most widely imitated of all styles of ''ba-wan''.

The term "ba-wan" is a non-standard romanization of the pronunciation of "肉圓", as well as "" . In Lukang, ''ba-wan'' are known as "bah-h?e" because they take on a block-like shape as embodied in the shape of 回.

The gelatinous dough is made of a combination of corn starch, sweet potato starch, and rice flour, which gives it its chewy, sticky, and gelatinous texture and a greyish translucent hue. ''Ba-wan'' are initially cooked by steaming; however, they may also be served after being to give them a "skin" or gently ed in oil to heat them without drying them out.

History

It is believed that ''ba-wan'' were first prepared in the township of Taiwan by a student by the name Fàn Wànjū as food for disaster relief during the late Qing dynasty , when the Beidou region was struck by heavy floods. Since then, ''ba-wan'' had spread to different regions of Taiwan and is now considered by many as a national food.