臺灣自清代沿襲漢人社會的飲食文化以來,糕餅文化即呈現出豐富性、多元性,如代表日常使用者有綠豆糕、年糕,代表節慶使用者如紅龜粿、月餅。時經日治時期,源自日本民間流行的甜點「今川燒」引進本地後,該甜點非但沒有遭受到本土甜點的排擠,甚至臺灣光復後,還繼續演變成日後眾所熟知的車輪餅、紅豆餅。尤有甚者此產品還因原料紅豆產地的地緣關係,使得在地化「萬丹紅豆餅」名號,聲名遠播。對此,本研究進行探討日本今川燒如何在殖民期間的臺灣,經由適應過程,進而為當時社會所選擇、採用,最後再衍生成在地化的紅豆餅。研究方法取徑上,本研究藉由歷史文獻分析、紅豆原料產地田野調查,及觀察並紀錄涉及紅豆節慶的活動與展演,來詮釋「紅豆餅」的文化背景與發展歷程。研究結果為,臺灣在地的「紅豆餅」確實歷經過時代變遷的軌跡,反映出適應與認同,展現了族群間飲食文化的融合,及本土創新的社會背景。期待透過本研究對紅豆餅的歷史觀察與詮釋,能為我傳統小吃的文化傳承,提供、分享學術研究經驗。
Since the Qing Dynasty, Taiwan has inherited the Han-Chinese food culture, priding itself on a wealth of pastries and cakes, such as green bean cake, rice cake, turtle shell-shaped cake and moon cake. During the Japanese colonial period, "Imagawayaki", a popular dessert in Japan, was introduced to not only the Japanese community, but also to the local, which was found in the latter well survived and even more sustained amid the local rich snack culture. It is even after the Taiwan Restoration that Imagawayaki was further developed and named by the general as the so-called “wheel cake” and “red beans cake”, and among the product titles, "Wan-dan Red Bean Cake" is most recognized due mainly to Wan-dan of Ping-tung being the home of red bean production in Taiwan. Based on the historical development of the red bean cakes, the thesis thus first focused on the colonial period to explore how Japanese Imagawayaki in Taiwan was passed down through a subtle process of taste adaptation by the locals and secondly, how the survived product was localized and even more prefixed with the iconic place title of Wan-dan. To investigate and interpret the development of the famed Red Bean Cake in Taiwan, the study adopted an analysis of historical documents, an 18-month-long field study, as well as an in-depth observation on a local red-bean-themed festival. It is found in this study the Red Bean Cake has experienced historical and geographical trajectories and has also reflected a cultural adaptation and identity in the milieu of hybridized society.