Memories are kept in food. That’s why people take pleasure in visiting those shops that preserve the memory of taste buds. In hot water or soybean milk, with some sugar added, soaking cake swells. In the days when the modern food industry hadn’t kicked off in Taiwan, eating soaking cake with drinks was a common practice across Taiwan, encompassed by all walks of life from each corner in this island. Today, however, as snacks become rife, only a handful of shops, like Huwei Bakery for instance, faithfully preserve what it was like.

After more than 30 years in the bakery business, Liu Ming-ton decided to start his own shop with his brother. They chose the pastry of their childhood as the main product. The brothers believed in the idea of organic food. Thus, they decided to use only organic products as ingredients and decline to use all chemical and artificial additives. This has become one of the features that make Huwei stand out from its contemporaries.

In Taiwan, there are various additives commonly used in food, including preservatives, bactericides, anti-oxidants, bleaching agents, coloring agents, fragrances, emulsifiers, and seasonings. Additives affect the way food tastes as well as the way food looks. As a matter of fact, in former times when the use of additives was a common practice in the industry, Liu’s decision to not use them in his products angered many in the industry.

However, after years of experiments, he finally achieved a balance between traditional flavor and health. Traditionally, pastry in Taiwan was made with lard, white oil and butter to create a rich texture. All those agents make the pastry more crisp and fragrant. But they also make the pastry become fattening. In addition, butter, white oil and trans-fat have now been considered detrimental to health. As consumerism becomes popular in Taiwan, many pastry manufacturers use butter imported from abroad. The pastry thus becomes less crispy, but healthier. Huwei is one of the pioneers in healthier baking. Even though Mr. Liu didn’t see rewards in the early phases of the business, he continued to promote his ideas and later he gradually won recognition from consumers. Without the help of artificial additives, pastry in Huwei has a shorter storage life. But after years of promotion, people have begun to identify with the concept of organic food, and Liu’s effort finally paid off.

In addition to soaking cake, Huwei offers various traditional Taiwanese pastries, including Fuyuan cake, butter crispy pastry, vegetarian curry cake, vegetarian bean paste cake and traditional bridal cake. Also, Huwei is famous for its nougat, seasoned millet porridge and its unique pollen cake that employs high quality pollen.