Red bean cakes are a popular and common snack in Taiwan. However, the latest best seller coming out of Southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County has a rather unusual origin.
Crowds are shuffling along at a local festival in Wandan Township in Southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County. The red bean cakes at a food stand here have proven to be very popular -- with over 1,000 cakes sold in two days.
Each cake has a smiley face imprinted on it. The vendor says these cakes are designed to cheer up buyers.
These happy snacks have an unusual origin: they are all made by prison inmates from the Pingtung County Detention Center. The prison partnered with a local agriculture association to teach these inmates professional skills that will help them reintegrate with society upon their release.