LA restaurant owner reflects on viral fame of Taiwanese rice balls

LA restaurant owner reflects on viral fame of Taiwanese rice balls

2026-06-24

Purple rice balls filled with pork floss and fried dough sticks are an everyday food in Taiwan. But they recently became popular in Los Angeles, thanks to some viral videos of influencers trying the breakfast favorite. The sudden fame has resulted in booming business for the restaurant. Operated by a family of Taiwanese immigrants, they’re known for offering authentic Taiwanese flavors. Now they easily sell over 300 rice balls in a week.

This influencer’s face was pure bliss as he took his first bite of an enormous purple rice ball. It may be common to Taiwanese, but it’s new to Americans.

Influencer
Based in US
The egg and the sausage, it was only US$10.25. You can get them even cheaper if you don’t add anything else in there.

The purple rice balls at this Taiwanese breakfast shop in Los Angeles have gone viral. The owner, Jason, is a second-generation Taiwanese-American.

Jason
Restaurant owner
We sell out by 11 a.m. There’s a constant stream of customers coming just to get the rice balls. I had no clue what was happening. After two, three, four days of it, some of my friends and family told me it went viral on TikTok and Instagram. We had no idea.

These massive 590g rice balls sell for US$7.50, or about NT$238, with the option to add additional fillings. Jason used to sell at most 60 to 70 in a regular workweek, but since it went viral in April, that’s turned into over 300.

Jason
Restaurant owner
We were the first to sell Taiwanese breakfast food here in LA. When my parents opened the shop in 1978, they didn’t even know how to make fried dough sticks. It’s so funny. Right after taking them out of the oil, they started sagging like this.

Aside from rice balls, they also serve sticky rice dumplings, salty soy milk, and other Taiwanese snacks like guabao, steamed buns, and gelatinous meatballs. The family often travels back to Taiwan for culinary inspiration.

Jason
Restaurant owner
Our radish cakes also sell well. Every once in a while, we hear some older customers saying it really tastes like it does in Taiwan and it makes them happy.

Jason allows people to customize their rice ball and guabao orders. But he has a word to say about the price.

Jason
Restaurant owner
The rice balls are huge with lots inside. There’s egg, pickles, sausage… And the minimum wage here is US$16.90. You just can’t compare with Taiwan.

These authentic flavors are taking LA by storm, introducing more people to the charms of a classic Taiwanese breakfast.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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#breakfast #riceball #fantuan #Taiwanesebreakfast #LA #viral #TaiwanUS #foodtrends #TikTok

獨家受訪! "紫米飯糰"洛杉磯爆紅台式早餐店老闆:太意外

2026-06-24

紫米飯包進肉鬆、酥脆油條，是台灣人再熟悉不過的飯糰，近期這好滋味，在美國洛杉磯爆紅，許多美食網紅紛紛拍片分享，也讓老闆忙不過來，這家由台灣移民家庭經營的早餐店，靠著道地的台灣味闖出名號，如今一個禮拜，飯糰可以賣超過300顆。

一口咬下滿臉幸福，你沒看錯，讓美國美食網紅瘋狂洗版的，是台灣人最熟悉的紫米飯糰。

[[國外美食網紅]]
“加雞蛋、香腸，只要10.25美元，也可以更便宜，如果你不加其他東西”

洛杉磯這間台式早餐店，店裡招牌紫米飯糰，最近爆紅，而老闆Jason是台灣移民第二代。

[[美國台式早餐店業者 Jason]]
“早上11點就賣完了，就是特別多人一直進來要買紫米飯糰，我也不知道，就過了差不多兩三四天，我有些朋友和親戚就說，紫米飯糰在TikTok，Instagram那些(爆紅)，我們都不知道”

重達590克的紫米飯糰，要價7.5美金，約新台幣238元，還可以再加購配料，原本平日一到五，最多賣60-70個飯糰，今年四月爆紅後，變成賣超過三百顆。

[[美國台式早餐店業者 Jason]]
“我們在洛杉磯的話，真的是第一個就是做台灣早餐的，我爸媽1978年開的時候，他們也不知道要怎麼做油條，他們特別好笑，就是炸出來油條，一下子出來就是(軟掉)。

台式早餐店不只有飯糰、肉粽、鹹豆漿，許多台灣小吃，像是刈包、饅頭、肉圓都有，一家人也常回台灣取經。

[[美國台式早餐店業者 Jason]]
“我們的蘿蔔糕也賣很好，偶爾會聽到老人家，他們就說這真的就是台灣味，這樣吃了很開心”

老闆Jason把飯糰、刈包改成客製化模式，但關於價格他有話要說。

[[美國台式早餐店業者 Jason]]
“(飯糰)這麼大顆，加很多東西在裡面，有加蛋有加酸菜有加香腸，基本工資是16塊9美金，不能這樣(跟台灣)比啦”

道地台灣味爆紅，也讓更多外國人知道，台式早餐的魅力。

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Look closely and you’ll see that on this short 100-m stretch of a four-lane road there are at least hundreds of yellow bollards, looking like lollipops stuck in the road.

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They are set up on Lane 207 of Section 2 of Wujie Road, Yilan, a four-lane road. Owing to its width, motorcyclists frequently make illegal U-turns and even cars are often illegally parked on the road. Therefore an enormous number of yellow bollards were installed, acting as a barrier to prevent traffic violations. A similar scene can be observed on County Road 139 in Changhua, a winding mountain road that is lined densely with yellow bollards interspersed with warning posts.

At the densest locations, there’s one bollard roughly at every meter. Some netizens commented that it triggers trypophobia. Or is it a test for motorcyclists and truck drivers?

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We believe women possess outstanding capabilities and perform exceptionally well in the military. Upon finishing their active service and discharging, I believe they should likewise undergo reservist training. As for amending the law, it is currently under review.

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A temple in Yilan dedicated to the Sacred Founding Duke of Zhangzhou had never once removed the deity’s statue in 12 years. The statue was starting to show cracks on the face, so the temple decided to have it repaired. When the deity’s robe was removed for cleaning, the temple manager was shocked to find that the god’s beard had become longer.

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