aeeble

According to the oral history of Changhua County, in 1940 (the 15th year of the Shōwa era), the grandfather of today’s Cheng Changhua Meatball heirs Yang Ya-lan and Yang Ya-chu—Yang Yung-hsiang—lost his father while still young. With many brothers at home and the family’s livelihood at stake, his mother discussed the matter with him, the eldest son, and resolved to apprentice him to an old master in Lukang to learn the craft of the traditional snack pork mush (pronounced in the Lukang style). After completing the arduous apprenticeship, he finally won the old master’s praise and permission, allowing Yang Yung-hsiang and his mother, Hsu Shui-tao, to begin peddling their wares through the streets—thus inaugurating the four-generation legacy of Changhua meatballs. Spanning 82 years and four generations, Cheng Changhua Meatball is now run by the fourth-generation daughter, her husband, and her mother. What the fourth generation has inherited is not only the traditional old-time flavor but also the earnest, down-to-earth spirit of their forebears. Even as times change and traditional snacks decline, they embody the distinctive Taiwanese spirit of innovation and adaptation. Building on a recipe refined for more than eighty years, they continue to develop new techniques and create fresh, delicious experiences for the meatball.