Lukang ox tongue cakes
Their name comes from the shape, long and flat like a tongue, not from any meat: in the old port town of Lukang, Changhua, these pastries are pressed on hot griddles along the lanes near Tianhou Temple and handed out warm in paper bags. Lukang's style is thicker and chewier than the cracker-crisp Yilan version, with a crisp, blistered shell and a sticky brown-sugar centre that pulls like soft toffee. Bakeries there use lard, so this vegetarian recipe uses vegetable shortening in the pastry and a little butter in the filling. A frequent mishap is rolling the filled dough with heavy hands, which bursts the skin and lets the syrup scorch in the pan. Chef's tip: cook them over a low heat and be patient; slow griddling lets the centre turn molten before the outside darkens.





