Top-value New Year’s Eve dishes: Lao Xie Zhen Buddha’s Delight sells over 10,000 portions

Ding Hao’s Lao Xie Zhen Seafood Street Black Sea Cucumber Buddha’s Delight features carefully selected premium sea cucumber, pig’s trotters, pork ribs, and other rich ingredients, paired with a specially prepared Taiwanese-style broth. Each portion weighs 1639g and is available for store pickup at 558 NTD. (Provided by Ding Hao)

From now until February 4th, Ding Hao Supermarket has launched the second wave of pre-orders for New Year’s Eve dishes. According to last year’s pre-order sales, the top 10 best-selling dishes were all classic New Year’s staples such as Buddha’s Delight and chicken stews—health-focused hot pot dishes. This year, hundreds of New Year’s Eve dish options have an average price under 500 NTD. During the pre-order period, get 8% off when you choose any 2 items, or 12% off when you pick any 5 items. It is estimated that this will drive over a 20% increase in sales performance.

Last year’s champion New Year’s dish, “Lao Xie Zhen Seafood Street Black Sea Cucumber Buddha’s Delight,” sold over 10,000 portions. This year, in addition to continuing the collaboration with Lao Xie Zhen, Ding Hao is also working with renowned shops such as Yi Xiang Zhai at Taipei’s Nanmen Market and Chong Hua Zhai in Taichung to offer a variety of classic New Year’s dishes including Buddha’s Delight, chicken stews, Jade Moist Lotus Cake, and Honey-Glazed Bilateral Dishes.

As Buddha’s Delight is the most festive dish of the season, this year Ding Hao has curated multiple high-value-for-money Buddha’s Delight options, including Yi Ya Ju’s “Treasure-Filled Fortune Buddha’s Delight” and Jia Jia’s “Premium Abalone and Black Sea Cucumber Buddha’s Delight.” The supermarket also expects continued growth in New Year’s meal sets, so besides launching several 6-dish combo packages, they’ve also added 10-dish combo packages.

Among them, the “Jia Jia Ten-Fold Luck Combo Set” includes best-selling New Year’s dishes such as Premium Dongpo Pork, Aged Shaoxing Drunken Chicken, and Energizing Black Garlic Stewed Chicken. Suitable for 10 people, the average cost per person is less than 300 NTD. The “Five Blessings Reunion Combo” from “Taiwanese Cuisine Little King” Wen Guo Zhi’s New Year’s menu includes Sakura Shrimp Rice Cake, Premium Seafood Pot, Prosperous Sealed Pork, Drunken Shrimp, and Ginseng Chicken. The Prosperous Sealed Pork is rich but not greasy, with flavorful sauce that melts in your mouth. The full set is available for store pickup at 2488 NTD.

For smaller families, the Yi Ya Ju “Pilot’s True Skill Banquet Dish” combo for 5–6 people is recommended. It includes Sweet and Sour Cod, Cabbage Stew, Garlic Chicken, and Sakura Shrimp Rice Cake, available for store pickup at 2390 NTD. The “Fortune and Blessing New Year’s Dish Set” from Red Bean Restaurant, a Taipei Michelin-recommended eatery, features selected dishes such as Tomato Sauce Prawns, Prosperous Dongpo Pork, Auspicious Chestnut Chicken, Auspicious Reunion Rice Cake, Imperial Buddha’s Delight, Hangzhou Duck Pot, and “Heart Too Soft.” Originally priced at 3280 NTD, the home delivery price is 2680 NTD. Pre-ordering comes with a free 250 NTD dried scallop taro radish cake.

For vegetarians, the top pick is the “Four Dishes and One Soup” Vegetarian New Year’s Combo from Lao Lin Ji—the only vegetarian specialty store at Nanmen Market. It includes Braised Vegetarian Sea Cucumber, Dry-Fried Green Beans, Soy-Braised Eggplant, Ten-Spice Vegetable, and Mini Buddha’s Delight.