Belly button pastry
| Alternative names | Tōo-tsâi-piánn, navel cake, mung bean cake |
|---|---|
| Type | Pastry |
| Place of origin | Taiwan |
| Region or state | Miaoli County |
| Serving temperature | Cold |
| Main ingredients | Mung bean paste, sweet potato, flour |
| Belly button pastry | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 肚臍餅 | ||||||||||
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Belly button pastry (Chinese: 肚臍餅; Tongyong Pinyin: Dùcíbǐng; Tâi-lô: Tōo-tsâi-piánn) is a traditional pastry associated with the Hakka communities of Miaoli County, Taiwan. Made primarily from mung bean paste and sweet potato, it is regarded as a local specialty of Miaoli and is commonly eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival as a type of mooncake.[1]
The pastry takes its name from its appearance, which resembles a human navel. It is considered one of the best-known traditional baked goods of the Hakka settlements in Miaoli and has thus become part of the region's culinary identity and is frequently sold as a souvenir product for both foreign and domestic tourists.[2]
History
The origin of belly button pastry is uncertain, and several explanations have been proposed.
One account traces its development to the Japanese colonial period, when local Hakka families prepared pastries from ingredients available in their households to serve guests. Another explanation attributes the pastry to Japanese technicians working in the sugar industry, who adapted Wagashi from their hometown using local ingredients such as mung beans and sweet potatoes.[3]
Other traditions connect the pastry's shape to baby pacifiers made from carved sweet potatoes, while another story suggests that it originated from mung bean pastries whose filling was accidentally left exposed during production and subsequently became popular with customers.[4]
Local accounts generally place the emergence of the pastry in the early twentieth century.
Characteristics
Belly button pastries are typically filled with mung bean paste and sweet potato. Their distinctive feature is a small raised portion of filling visible on the top surface, which gives the pastry its name.
Variations
In recent decades, some bakeries in Miaoli have introduced smaller versions of the pastry. One example is the bite-sized Little Belly Button (小肚臍一口凸), developed as a souvenir product and marketed in gift packaging.[5]
See also
References
- ^ 彭健禮 (2022-09-10). "徐定禎訪百年餅店 允諾盤點苗栗特色美推廣深度觀光". Liberty Times (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2026-06-02.
- ^ "到苗栗就是要吃肚臍餅！高鐵苗、彰、雲３新站必買特產". ETtoday (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2015-10-14. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
- ^ 和菓子 (2025-10-01). "不只是月餅！苗栗肚臍餅如何成為客家庄的精神象徵？". foodnext.net (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2026-06-02.
- ^ "苗粟通霄百年餅行四代做餅～肚臍餅、古早味肉餅、福氣餅，新舊各有滋味！". Yahoo News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2022-08-01. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
- ^ 宋佩遙; 范修語 (2024-09-05). "可愛爆擊！「小肚臍一口凸」 傳承40年的好滋味". Hakka News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2026-06-02.