Michelin-star Taipei restaurant revives flavors of Taiwan’s past

2020/06/08

Mountain and Sea House, a fine dining restaurant in Taipei City’s Zhongzheng District, is adapting traditional Taiwan dishes and serving them with a modern touch. In April 2019, MSH was awarded one star by the Michelin Guide for the quality of its food. Executive Chef Leo Tsai considers this recognition as proof of a “renaissance in Taiwanese cuisine.”

Tsai has studied intensively under former cooks from Honglaikoh, once one of Taipei’s busiest eateries. Its famous kitchen closed for the final time in 1955, but its legacy is now inspiring a new generation of chefs looking to bring Taiwan cuisine into the global culinary spotlight.

A native of western Taiwan’s Yunlin County, Tsai learnt his trade during the 1980s, when 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 but with a modern presentation,” he added.

According to Tsai, the secret to recreating 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. 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.

 Each dish has its own story tied to Taiwan’s history. “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.”

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)