Food Offerings to Deities

Red turtle cakes hold an equal status with meat offerings on the altar. While meat offerings are considered non-vegetarian, red turtle cakes are vegetarian. In fact, they are not red but somewhat transparent white, with the ingredients of the filling slightly visible. Once the turtle-shell pattern are molded to the surface and stamped with peach-red color, they become red turtle cakes.

With over 300 temples in Lukang, the beliefs of the people are diverse, and religious rituals and superstitions constitute an unchangeable custom. People find solace in the occasional climax of ordinary life, comforting their minds and bodies after a year of hard work.
While ordinary people typically eat vegetables for their meals, they spare no expense when preparing food offerings to the deities, often arranging sumptuous banquets.

Despite Lukang's close to the ocean, heavy military defense during the martial law period isolated people from the sea. Turtles, aquatic creatures that should have been unfamiliar to everyone, became a daily food for Lukang residents. Of course, this turtle is not a real turtle; Lukang residents simply use it as a symbol of auspiciousness, longevity, and good fortune in worship, gift-giving, and consumption.

During various festivals, elaborate celebrations are incomplete without red turtle cakes. Whether it's worshipping gods, giving thanks, fulfilling vows, praying for rain, holding temple inaugurations, or celebrating birthdays, weddings, or the full moon, turtles are a recurrent theme. They are exchanged as gifts, serving as tokens of emotional connection.
Red turtle cakes, used both as offerings to the divine and as tokens of joy among people, represent genuine emotions. Lukang residents elevate this common food item from a mere culinary delight to a spiritual experience by blending the abstract and the concrete.