Stumbled upon Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Cake (a.k.a. Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake) when we were exploring the neighbourhood where our hotel was located in. Thought we could only get these 胡椒餅 (pepper cakes) from their stall at Raohe Street Night Market so it was a pleasant surprise to see this outlet near us. We had planned to visit the night market during the second leg of our Taipei trip after returning from Hualien and Taichung. Didn’t have to wait till then to get a taste of this well-known snack!
How to get to Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Cake
This Fuzhou Shizu Pepper Cake outlet is located at the cross-junction of Chongqing South Road and Kaifeng Street in Zhongzheng District. It’s just a 2-3 minute walk (180m) from Taipei Main Station Exit Z10. Very unlikely to miss that red shopfront facade.
What is a Pepper Cake
Pepper cake is a savoury type of Chinese pastry (shaped like a bun) that originated in Fuzhou, the capital of China’s Fujian province. The buns are baked in a cylindrical clay oven that is similar to a tandoor oven by stacking them vertically along the sides.
Street food featured on MICHELIN Guide
Yep, this pepper cake has been featured on the MICHELIN Guide as a recommended street food in Taipei!
Even though I was given a pepper cake that was sitting on top of the oven, it was still warm when handed over to me.
The crust was thin, crispy but a little hard (cracker-like). It had fragrant sesame seeds on top.
The filling was made with minced pork that was nicely seasoned (not salty) and was quite moist too. Tasted peppery but not too overpowering.
Overall, not bad. Wasn’t amazing but if you’ve never had a street snack like this, it is definitely worth trying.