The "iron eggs" of Tamsui have to be soaked until they are shrunken and hard, while Hsinchu meatballs are made up of the odds and ends of many types of meat. These things all reveal the sparing, frugal lifestyle that took shape under the pioneering character of the early residents of Taiwan.
淡水鐵蛋好端端的，要滷得又小又硬；新竹貢丸原是以零雜肉混成，這些都顯示出台灣人民移墾性格下，形成的儉省生活方式。