撰文：彭向雲、蔡佳蓁、郭美莉 編校：楊澤君（Gina Yang）
For several years there were only a small percentage of restaurants that served vegetarian food in this little town, Puli. This year is different, as an event called the 2020 Puli Mountain City Vegetarian and Healthy Life Festival which was conducted from 11/16 – 11/28. And, there was a total of six great chefs that introduced their vegetarian dishes in the event.
One of the chefs is the executive chef in the resort, and shared a part of his life journey. Liu Heng Hung or Chef Liu (劉恆宏) was born and raised in this town called Puli. His love for his hometown drove him into the great chef dream. In this very event, most of the ingredients are freshly picked from Puli. The spirit of his dishes is “eco-friendly” and “original”.
His wish is that everyone who enjoys his food can get a taste of Puli, the warm dishes and unique culture of the township. This series of vegetarian dishes are some of the best dishes that he has created, because Chef Liu insists that the core elements in the dish are all natural. Natural means that it is the fresh product of local agriculture without adding any artificial flavors. He created the dishes while thinking about the consumer’s health. He wanted everyone that enjoys his food to feel his sincerity, happiness, and his love for Puli. Out of the six dishes, the following two dishes were the most attractive with unique plating and flavors.
The first dish is Beauty Floral Rice Garden Salad. Its main ingredients are Puli bamboo shoots and rice balls, combined with arugula flowers. Another star in the dish is the sweet and sour sauce that is poured onto the water bamboo shoots and the caramelized rice balls. This dish was eye-catching, thanks to the art of plating. The plating was interesting with the water bamboo shoots standing tall as the main ingredient and colorful flower petals, vegetables, and let’s not forget the golden-brown rice balls. Its colorful and sweet-scented features surely attracted many people to try, and it really represents Chef Liu’s intention to highlight Puli’s agricultural
The second dish is Vanilla Panna Cotta. In this dish, Chef Liu wanted to represent the local farmer’s vanilla products as the main ingredient. For the final touch he added brown sugar at the bottom of the dish to increase the beauty and strong flavor. This dish is the dessert from the set of dishes created by Chef Liu.
The main ingredients are: dark-green seaweed, with white sugarcane, cashew and a few rose petals. With just five ingredients, it can create a beautiful color palette that entices everyone. The taste of warm, mild seaweed and vegetables, accompanied by tangy sugarcane make a delicious combination. This dish is very light and refreshing. It is also a very serious and satisfying dish.
The main ingredients are: bamboo shoots, white butter, mushroom, carrot, cucumber, potato and cheese. The food is in a triangular pizza shape. Inside it there are bamboo shoots, mushroom, carrot, cucumber, and potato that are cut into small pieces, then baked with cheese and white butter. This dish has a really interesting taste, as it is in between savory and sweet. On top of that, the texture is creamy, mushy and melts in the mouth. It is truly a very mouthwatering dish that is worth trying.
Pumpkin Fragrant Grain Rice is pumpkins with whole grain rice (black, brown, red, and white). What is unique is that the whole-grain rice in the pumpkins tastes like fried rice. A mixture of pumpkin and whole-grain rice together, makes the perfect blend of sweet and savory. It may even make the food taste better! The secret behind it is the San Xing leek oil and celery added to the rice. Besides this, the dish also has a refreshing color from the pea shoots on top of it.
Golden Vanilla Puff with Chinese Yam. The main ingredients of this dish are Chinese yam and puff. The small round things underneath the puffs are called Guli rice. The caviar is made from high-quality olive oil which is healthier. The Chinese yam is seasoned with oyster sauce. Served cold, the aroma of vanilla from these puffs is appetizing. The oyster sauce and cashews sprinkled on top made it even tastier. The sweetness of the puffs mixed with Chinese yam and oyster sauce makes the dish perfect. A tasty looking dish is particularly attractive to diners. Other than its taste, the arrangement and presentation of the food on the plate are also essential to entice customers. In this case, the vanilla golden puff served on top of the Guli rice adds aesthetic value. The dish also has a refreshing color from the water lotuslily on top.
