HAKKA

As one representative feature of Hakka culture in Taiwan, cuisine became a central element in the rejuvenation of Hakka culture. Each Hakka occasion has its special dishes, including ciba rice cakes in earlier times and lei (“pounded”) tea more recently, both of which combine delicious flavor with activity, thus encouraging people to participate in Hakka culture.

Hakka cuisine is traditionally characterized by the three principles of “salt, fragrance, and fat.” While these are the features of Hakka festivities, daily cuisine tends to be simple and plain, sometimes barely filling the stomach, a characteristic that is rarely seen by non-Hakka people. Cuisine has also changed over recent years to keep up with social and lifestyle changes, and a taste of traditional Hakka flavors has become a popular reason for an excursion following introduction of Taiwan’s two-day weekend. The main characteristics of Hakka cuisine include retention of the ingredients’ inherent flavors, use of special spices and dipping sauces, and unique pickled vegetables. Most importantly, local cuisine with special home-style flavor (also known as “mom’s cooking”) can be found in each township or even in each village, making it worthwhile to seek out local Hakka cuisine in out-of-the-way places.

In addition to developing contemporary cuisine from Hakka traditions, elements of cooking from all parts of China have been co-opted since Taiwan’s retrocession in 1945. This has led to development of numerous urban delicacies that have caught the attention of the food and drink market. Hakka moving from Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli to metropolitan Taipei improved the northern Chinese wheat-based cuisines, creating, for example, Yonghe soya milk. In recent years, this has become an urban delicacy both at home and abroad. Hakka cuisine both traces its traditional roots and absorbs nutrition to create new opportunities, while also opening its arms to features from a wide variety of places. It thereby masters the taste buds of people today and adds its unpretentious style to the ranks of Taiwan’s culinary creativity.