A roadside vendor in his 50s sells puffed rice treats to customers in the Da’an neighborhood in Taipei. Remarkably, he has been in the same business for some two or three decades, making the traditional Taiwanese sweet also known as mi xiang for large numbers of local consumers.
As a mobile operator, he may set up his cart in any given location across Taipei throughout the week, depending on the locality and time of day. In Da’an, he is typically found on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 9:00 pm.
Puffed rice snacks are made in a dramatic fashion that sometimes draws crowds. The merchant places rice and other grains into a rotating steel pressure chamber heated with gas over an open flame until the kernels are ready to pop. Before opening the well-worn furnace, he yells “pow!” to warn pedestrians of the impending explosion. The quick release of pressure thrusts the kernels into an elongated wire mesh basket in a large cloud of steam.
He shakes the popped grain into an oversized silver bowl and stirs it with hot maltose syrup so that it can be formed into a mold. Using a large metal roller, he then flattens the sticky mixture on a wooden tray and deftly cuts it into even rectangles with a knife and measuring stick. To finish, he stacks the cooling cakes into a pile and packages them in plastic bags for sale.
Roadside vendors usually sell puffed rice kernels loose and in large rectangular blocks for between NT$60 and NT$180. The snack is available in a variety of flavors, including plain, sesame, brown rice, and peanut. While some people may consider these bland, for others they are sure to evoke a taste of nostalgia for a simpler past.