Taiwan Today

Homegrown chefs are rediscovering the flavors of Taiwan’s past.

Honglaikoh restaurant in western Taipei City was once one of the capital’s busiest eateries, attracting customers of all ages to dine on its collection of classic Taiwan dishes. Its famous kitchen closed for the final time in 1955, but its legacy is now inspiring the country’s latest generation of chefs looking to bring Taiwan cuisine into the global culinary spotlight. Mountain and Sea House (MSH), a fine dining restaurant in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District, is doing just that by adapting classic dishes from the Honglaikoh menu and serving them with a modern touch.

Leo Tsai (蔡瑞郎‬), executive chef at MSH, has studied intensively under former Honglaikoh cook Huang De-hsing (黃德興‬). “I had the chance to really improve my culinary skills working under such a legendary figure,” Tsai said. “But more than anything, for me, it was about building a link to our culinary past.”

In April 2019, MSH was awarded one star by the Michelin Guide for the quality of its food. Other establishments in Taipei to be recognized by the world famous restaurant handbook include two-star Raw and Tairroir, which both serve modern dishes based on local favorites as part of a new generation that Tsai describes as the “renaissance of Taiwanese cuisine.”

Culinary Legacy

Food culture in Taiwan also has much to offer beyond the haute cuisine of Michelin-starred restaurants. Tsai, who grew up in western Taiwan’s Yunlin County, said that during the 1980s restaurants emphasized service speed and value for money, in keeping with the fast-paced lifestyle that accompanied the country’s economic boom. Now, he believes people are more willing to slow down and appreciate the time spent preparing a meal.

This trend is embodied by the popularity of MSH’s crispy roast chicken, Tsai said. Adapted from a 1930s Honglaikoh menu item, the meat requires a lengthy marination using fermented bean curd, shredded bamboo shoots and sauerkraut. “We follow the same old culinary methodology with modern presentation,” he added.

According to Tsai, the secret to re-creating the flavors of Taiwan’s past is using fresh, local ingredients. Chicken prepared by the restaurant comes from native species raised outdoors on poultry farms in Yunlin and the central county of Changhua, while the eatery’s pork is supplied by the region’s hog farms, which rear Taiwan black pigs. Its seafood is bought from the markets of the northern port city of Keelung and outlying Penghu County.

This includes dried shrimp used for making fried rice noodles, a popular local dish. MSH’s version also features mushrooms cultivated on wood chips, as practiced by Taiwan’s indigenous mountain communities, as well as ailanthus-like prickly ash, an aromatic plant known as “tana” by the Amis and Bunun tribes.

MSH is far from the only establishment to put the cuisines of Taiwan’s aboriginal peoples firmly on the menu. Launched in 2006, Badasan Restaurant in New Taipei City’s Bali District, headed by chef Chang Ko-chin (張克勤), is using millennia-old food preparation practices combined with traditional ingredients and techniques. The establishment is named after the Atayal word for “face tattoo,” although Chang takes inspiration from across the spectrum of local aboriginal culture. Among other things, Chang has learned from the botanical knowledge of the Amis people, who mostly live in the lowland areas of eastern Taiwan.

Plants lie at the heart of Taiwan’s indigenous cuisines, including cereals such as millet and spices like mountain pepper. These are combined to great effect at Badasan in dishes including Paiwan millet and Atayal bamboo rice. Another special is made using flying fish based on a recipe from the Tao people of Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, in southeastern Taiwan’s Taitung County. The fish is soaked in plum juice and liquor before being smoke baked. “The innovative elements of aboriginal food are particularly alluring,” Chang said.

Connecting People

Last year, Chang visited Australia, Fiji and New Zealand as part of an international tour organized by the Cabinet-level Overseas Community Affairs Council to show off Taiwan cuisine in 20 different countries and territories. Such campaigns have proven a winning promotional tool for not only indigenous food but also that of the Hakka people, Taiwan’s second largest ethnic group. Jerry Chiu (邱寶郎‬), one of the country’s most famous Hakka chefs, has starred in numerous similar events.

A native of Emei Township in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County, Chiu has also helped the Cabinet-level Hakka Affairs Council establish a certification system for Hakka restaurants, now with 26 recognized eateries clustered mostly in the heartlands of Hsinchu and neighboring Taoyuan City as well as Miaoli County in northern Taiwan. “Proprietors who earn approval are encouraged to tell the story of the Hakka people through their food,” Chiu said.

Typical Hakka cuisine is known for its use of preserved items and less popular cuts of meat including offal. “It reflects a nose-to-tail philosophy that prioritizes not letting anything go to waste,” Chiu said. Energy dense foods such as fatty meats are also common, he added, continuing the theme of maximizing available resources to make the most of every meal.

In partnership with Taipei-based Colima Media Technology Co., which arranges TV and online cooking demonstrations, Chiu helps bring the joys of Hakka food to a new generation. “It’s great to promote our way of life and reach into the homes of people from all different backgrounds,” he said.

According to Chiu, food has the ability to unite the country’s various ethnic groups. For example, aquatic animals were once rarely found on Hakka menus, but exchanges with the country’s dominant Holo ethnic group gradually changed tastes and provided culinary inspiration. One ingredient in particular, dried squid, has become a staple for Hakka stir fries, added to the traditional ingredients of cured pork, dried bean curd, garlic, celery and scallion.

The story behind each dish is fascinating yet often little understood by anyone besides food historians, Chiu said, adding that we can learn much about the development of humans and the lived environment by looking at ethnic and regional cuisines. MSH’s Tsai is in full agreement. “Time often obscures what was once common knowledge,” he said. “But food is a constant reminder of who we are—and how we got here.”

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw