The Ministry of Justice last month published a map showing 22 locations where mooncakes made by inmates at Changhua Prison can be purchased ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mooncakes are traditional snacks of the holiday, which this year is on Monday. The Iron Window (鐵窗牌月餅) mooncakes made by the prisoners have two flavors: red bean with egg yolk and mung bean.
“Each mooncake is the result of an inmate learning a new skill as they seek to be rehabilitated and start a new life upon returning to society,” the ministry wrote on Instagram on Sept. 6.
Photo: Chen Kuan-bei, Taipei Times
Changhua Prison officials said that by noon on Aug. 28, the day that online orders began, 70,000 packages had been ordered.
The sales Web site went down for a while, with one person saying they had called 600 times and could not get through, so he filed a complaint with the ministry, the prison said.
Inmates were expected to make 100,000 mooncakes this year, it said.
Photo: Chen Kuan-bei, Taipei Times
“The Iron Window mooncakes are very popular, but there is a limit on how many people make them,” Changhua Prison deputy warden Cheng Che-cheng (鄭哲成) said, adding: “The bakery can only produce 500 per day.”
A gift box of 10 red bean with egg yolk mooncakes costs NT$410, up NT$10 from last year,” Cheng said.
“When we decided to make mooncakes, it was not for the profit, but to give inmates a chance to learn through bakery,” he said.
An inmate surnamed Huang (黃), who is serving a 15-year sentence, said he did not know anything about baking before being incarcerated.
“I have learned how to bake many things and I will get more training,” Huang said. “When I have completed my sentence, I will get a job as a pastry chef and maybe open a shop.”
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