The new Yilan New Year cuisine blends tradition with innovation

The “River Pond Duck Breast Roll” offered by Shangri-La’s Winter River Resort & Spa is made with premium smoked duck breast from Wujie in Yilan, paired with prawns from Nanfang’ao, asparagus, and peaches—blending the mountain and sea flavors of Yilan. Meanwhile, Shangri-La Leisure Farm, also part of the Shangri-La group, crafted the “Duck-Auspicious Roll,” which resembles the shape of a jade ruyi. It features locally grown Chinese cabbage wrapped around minced Wujie village muscovy duck, duck eggs, and Sanxing scallions. Another auspicious dish named “Yilan Reunion” incorporates a full range of seasonal Yilan ingredients such as Lanyang string hearts, kumquats, Dongshan rice, red dates, Matsusaka pork, and bitter melon—offering a taste of all that Lanyang has to offer in one dish.

Yilan Du Xiao Yue Restaurant, a local fine-dining establishment with a heritage worthy of national banquets, drew inspiration from the idea of “reinterpreting classic dishes and globalizing traditional flavors.” It transforms grandmother’s home-style recipes into fashionable New Year dishes. One standout is the “Three Generations with Pickled Mustard Chicken,” which combines hand-pickled old-style mustard greens made by grandmothers with fresh local radish. Evergreen Laurel Hotel takes traditional Yilan flavors and gives them a borderless fusion twist. For example, their “Sweet Double Happiness New Year Cake Gift Box” reimagines homemade red bean rice cakes from childhood by infusing them with rich coconut milk. Even the familiar brown sugar rice cake is enhanced with nut bits, giving the traditional Yilan rice cake an elegant, pastry-like flavor.