We do not sell childhood, so what exactly are we selling?

That day, a middle-aged man in a blue shirt came to ask for directions. After telling him the way, I invited him to try the newly produced nougat crackers from Haoke Zhuang, filled with milk malt sugar. Seeing the smile on his face, I said: Sir, since you like them so much, let me take you to see the production process.

Fresh ingredients, we sell

The nougat crackers may look ordinary, but neither the ingredients nor the production process is simple. The pure white filling of every cracker contains the nutrition of fresh egg whites. Every egg white is cracked open on site, one by one, and we never use synthetic meringue or egg white powder.

Rigorous process, we sell

Temperature is the key factor that determines texture. When heating and dissolving the malt sugar of the milk malt filling, we tried many kinds of pots during the development stage so the malt sugar would be heated evenly, until we found the custom pot we were most satisfied with, which lets us truly control the heating temperature. Even with good tools, our staff still strictly oversee and control the temperature every time the malt sugar is boiled. If the temperature is too high, the filling becomes too hard; if too low, it becomes too soft. And when the filling is sandwiched into the scallion crackers, we insist on using air conditioning to control temperature and humidity in the processing environment. Nougat crackers whose texture is not good enough have no right to carry the "Haoke Zhuang" brand!

Golden ratio, also for sale

The weight ratio of filling to cracker also matters. The crispy, lightly salty taste of the nougat cracker's outer biscuit and the milk malt aroma of the filling can enhance each other without overpowering the other's fragrance. To ensure this "golden ratio," a dedicated person controls the weight of the filling during production, avoiding too much or too little milk malt filling being sandwiched in.

Food safety, of course we sell

Our nougat crackers are made only from flour, palm oil, scallions, salt, and yeast; the filling contains only fresh egg whites, milk powder, butter, malt, sugar, and salt. Absolutely no preservatives, firming agents, or other unnecessary additives. You can eat this extremely simple tea snack in its entirety.

But we do not sell childhood

The man said the nougat crackers reminded him of the sandwich biscuits filled with malt sugar from his childhood. As a child, climbing over the wall of the old family home was always hard work. In the afternoon, a vendor would often ride a bicycle carrying a wooden box, shaking a rattle made of wood and an empty can in his hand, clack-clack-clack, while calling out "malt, sugar, paste." The moment he heard it, before he could even climb the wall, he would shout from the other side, calling the vendor to stop and wait. Back then he had little pocket money and could only buy one or two to eat, and every day he would look forward to getting his allowance the next day to buy the sandwich biscuits.

Memory has not drifted far away; it is mixed into the flavors, constantly renewed. The malt sandwich biscuits of childhood, paired with milk, give this old-fashioned tea snack a new way to be enjoyed.

Every nougat cracker comes individually wrapped, which is not only hygienic but also means that even if you do not finish the whole box, the rest will not lose freshness because it has been opened. The scallion crackers may remind you of the emerald green moss on the stone wall of your old home. The rich milk aroma takes you back to the mornings of your school days, when you always drank a glass-bottle milk, and the moment you opened the thick paper cap, the milky fragrance rushed to your nose. One bite of the scallion cracker, and the crisp crunch, ka, zi, reminds you of the sound of snapping a branch while sneaking mangoes from a neighbor.

But this unique childhood memory cannot be sealed and sold.

Manufacturer: Haoke Zhuang Restaurant, Zhenji Enterprise Co.

Service hotline: 07-685-1666; 0975-250-950 (Zhong Yunzhen)

Official website: www.happyhakka.tw

We sell many things, but there are just a few we insist on not selling