Taitung Vocational Student Wins Best Creativity Award at California Raisin Baking Competition
Weng Siyu, a first-year student in the Food and Beverage Technology Department at Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School in Taitung, won the Best Creativity Award at the '2026 California Raisin National Creative Sustainable Baking Competition' held on May 16 at Jinwen University of Science and Technology. Her winning entries, including 'Hakka Lei Cha Egg Tart', creatively combined California raisins with local Taitung tea leaves and Hakka culture.
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- 📰 Published: June 6, 2026 at 15:00
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(Central News Agency reporter Lu Taicheng, Taitung County, 6th) Weng Siyu, a student at Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School in Taitung, skillfully combined California raisins with Taitung tea leaves and Hakka culture to create food items such as egg tarts, winning the Best Creativity Award at the National Creative Sustainable Baking Competition.
At the '2026 California Raisin National Creative Sustainable Baking Competition' held on May 16 at Jinwen University of Science and Technology, Weng Siyu, a first-year student in the Food and Beverage Technology Department at Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School in Taitung, stood out with her works 'Hakka Lei Grape Rhyme Egg Tart', 'Hakka Tea Fruit Discourse', and 'Double Rhyme Pastry', winning the Best Creativity Award. The works cleverly combined California raisins with local characteristic elements.
Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School announced via a press release on the 6th that among Weng Siyu's award-winning works, the 'Hakka Lei Grape Rhyme Egg Tart' was inspired by the traditional Hakka beverage Lei Cha. It uses local ingredients and incorporates fresh milk from friendly dairy farms in Taiwan to create the egg tart filling. She specifically chose cage-free eggs to reduce ecological damage and protect the living environment of animals.
This egg tart presents the unique aroma of Lei Cha in a Taiwanese style, cleverly blending the sweet and sour taste of California raisins, allowing one to savor a rich Hakka flavor.
Another work, 'Hakka Tea Fruit Discourse', uses locally and sustainably grown green tea leaves from Taitung, grinding them into a powder and mixing it into a white bean paste filling to create a dense, sweet, and fragrant Taiwanese Hakka Lei Cha filling. Using a grape jam filling made from California raisins, it creates a unique flavor combination, showcasing her creativity and ingenuity.
Through the school, Weng Siyu stated that her creative philosophy was to combine Hakka culture with modern baking techniques, emphasizing a cultural style of frugality and food appreciation. Her works are not only delicious but also align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger), conveying the meaning of not wasting ingredients.
Weng Siyu said that this competition was not only a technical challenge but also taught her how to adjust herself under pressure and accumulate experience. From preparation to the actual competition, she encountered many difficulties, but also gained significant growth and rewards.
She also mentioned that traveling from Taitung to Taipei for the competition was difficult due to hard-to-book train tickets and the arduous commute, which taught her how to plan her time and schedule in advance. Additionally, the cost of the competition was a pressure, from material procurement to accommodation and meals during the trip, requiring a significant amount of money, giving her a deeper understanding of the effort and preparation required behind participating in a competition. She thanked her advisor, Teacher Huang Wanxuan, for her guidance on technique and the direction of the works, which enabled her to successfully complete her creations and stand on the competition stage. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1150606
At the '2026 California Raisin National Creative Sustainable Baking Competition' held on May 16 at Jinwen University of Science and Technology, Weng Siyu, a first-year student in the Food and Beverage Technology Department at Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School in Taitung, stood out with her works 'Hakka Lei Grape Rhyme Egg Tart', 'Hakka Tea Fruit Discourse', and 'Double Rhyme Pastry', winning the Best Creativity Award. The works cleverly combined California raisins with local characteristic elements.
Kung Tung Senior Industrial Vocational School announced via a press release on the 6th that among Weng Siyu's award-winning works, the 'Hakka Lei Grape Rhyme Egg Tart' was inspired by the traditional Hakka beverage Lei Cha. It uses local ingredients and incorporates fresh milk from friendly dairy farms in Taiwan to create the egg tart filling. She specifically chose cage-free eggs to reduce ecological damage and protect the living environment of animals.
This egg tart presents the unique aroma of Lei Cha in a Taiwanese style, cleverly blending the sweet and sour taste of California raisins, allowing one to savor a rich Hakka flavor.
Another work, 'Hakka Tea Fruit Discourse', uses locally and sustainably grown green tea leaves from Taitung, grinding them into a powder and mixing it into a white bean paste filling to create a dense, sweet, and fragrant Taiwanese Hakka Lei Cha filling. Using a grape jam filling made from California raisins, it creates a unique flavor combination, showcasing her creativity and ingenuity.
Through the school, Weng Siyu stated that her creative philosophy was to combine Hakka culture with modern baking techniques, emphasizing a cultural style of frugality and food appreciation. Her works are not only delicious but also align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger), conveying the meaning of not wasting ingredients.
Weng Siyu said that this competition was not only a technical challenge but also taught her how to adjust herself under pressure and accumulate experience. From preparation to the actual competition, she encountered many difficulties, but also gained significant growth and rewards.
She also mentioned that traveling from Taitung to Taipei for the competition was difficult due to hard-to-book train tickets and the arduous commute, which taught her how to plan her time and schedule in advance. Additionally, the cost of the competition was a pressure, from material procurement to accommodation and meals during the trip, requiring a significant amount of money, giving her a deeper understanding of the effort and preparation required behind participating in a competition. She thanked her advisor, Teacher Huang Wanxuan, for her guidance on technique and the direction of the works, which enabled her to successfully complete her creations and stand on the competition stage. (Editor: Zhang Mingkun) 1150606