China Airlines Launches New In-Flight Meals Featuring Taiwanese Home Flavors, Aroma of Hometown in the Sky

By MOOK Travel Life Network, reported and compiled by Chen Guanxin

 

During a long flight, enjoying authentic Taiwanese cuisine can surely create more wonderful memories. To offer a richer in-flight dining experience, China Airlines has pioneered a collaboration with four renowned Taiwanese chefs—Shih Jian-fa, Chen Zhao-lin, Chang He-jin, and Kuo Hung-che—from February 2013, introducing brand-new Chinese set meals. Whether it’s three-cup chicken leg rice, Shilu meat noodles, pork liver with taro cake, or pumpkin rice noodles, passengers flying on transoceanic routes to North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as regional routes to Mainland China and Northeast Asia in economy class, will have the chance to savor these home-style Taiwanese delicacies crafted by the four master chefs.

To promote local Taiwanese ingredients and culinary culture, China Airlines has collaborated with the four renowned food chefs, using locally sourced ingredients such as tender ginger from Yilan, pumpkin from Hualien, rice noodles from Hsinchu, mushrooms from Nantou, sweet potatoes from Chiayi, and sakura shrimp from Donggang to create a rich array of in-flight delicacies. Combined with the expertise of China Pacific Catering Services, they have overcome the challenges of reheating at high altitudes, allowing the rich flavors of Taiwan to soar at 30,000 feet. This not only satisfies the homesickness of Taiwanese travelers but also gives international passengers the opportunity to taste authentic Taiwanese cuisine.

 

The four renowned chefs have designed private high-altitude dishes full of homely flavors for China Airlines. These include Shih Jian-fa’s aromatic three-cup chicken leg rice and soft, chewy pork trotter with peanut rice; Chen Zhao-lin, who introduced Yilan street food to the skies for the first time, offering Shilu meat noodles and braised pork liver rice with rich yet not greasy flavors; Chang He-jin, using the familiar “sea chicken” to create pumpkin rice noodles and highly nutritious autumn fish with sweet potato rice; and Kuo Hung-che, providing Taiwan’s famous pork liver with taro cake, as well as his mother’s signature dish—satay mushroom chicken breast rice. Each dish is a beloved traditional Taiwanese classic.