Redefine Your Taste Buds – The Regent Taipei Unveils Italian-Inspired Chinese New Year Cuisine

▲A Tour of Taiwan – Italian-Style Appetizer Platter, where Antonello incorporates a variety of local Taiwanese fruits and vegetables.

Reported and photographed by Huang Shiyuan, Taipei

Following Chef Ragni Matteo’s guest appearance at The Regent Taipei for the Christmas and New Year’s Eve feast, the hotel continues its international culinary collaboration in early 2016 by inviting Executive Chef Antonello De Murtas from RELAIS SANT’UFFIZIO in Italy. He presents the “Italian-Inspired Chinese New Year Gastronomic Feast,” blending authentic Italian cooking techniques with locally sourced Taiwanese ingredients to interpret classic Chinese New Year flavors through an Italian lens — such as using uniquely Taiwanese produce for Italian-style antipasto pickles, or simmering traditional Italian stews with long-year greens and Jinhua ham. These offerings redefine the taste experience. Wang Fuli, Executive Chef of The Regent Taipei’s Yunxuan Western Restaurant, noted that many ingredients used in this feast were handpicked by him and Chef Antonello during market visits, while seafood for fried dishes was sourced entirely from Penghu.


▲Long-Year Greens, Jinhua Ham, and Scallops.

The first dish, “A Tour of Taiwan,” is essentially a classic Italian antipasto platter. Antonello features a wide selection of local Taiwanese produce such as chayote, starfruit beans, green beans, bok choy, baby corn, okra, fern shoots, bamboo shoot leaves, white mushrooms, and {J white bamboo shoots. These are marinated and seasoned with Italian olive oil, lemon, and vinegar. Additionally, the Italian-style fried seafood uses oysters, shrimp, and squid from Penghu, coated in a crispy batter of coarse cornmeal before frying.

“Long-Year Greens, Jinhua Ham, and Scallops” — long-year greens symbolize longevity and enduring prosperity. However, the long-year greens here (leaf mustard) are prepared differently: first sautéed with ginger, garlic, chicken stock, and onions, then blended into a purée and simmered into a thick soup, served with Jinhua ham and pan-seared scallops. All are common ingredients in Taiwanese New Year dishes, yet reimagined into a completely new and delicious fusion.


▲Oven-Roasted Sea Fish with Shaoxing Angel Hair Pasta.

“Oven-Roasted Sea Fish with Shaoxing Angel Hair Pasta” replaces the typical Italian white wine in pasta dishes with Shaoxing wine, drizzled over the roasted fish to enhance its rich aroma, and pairs it with traditional Taiwanese vermicelli in place of angel hair pasta, resulting in a uniquely flavorful combination.

▲Italian Roast Suckling Pig, Eight-Treasure Rice, and Roasted Fortune Pockets.

“Italian Roast Suckling Pig, Eight-Treasure Rice, and Roasted Fortune Pockets” features a main course of traditional suckling pig from Italy’s Sardinia region. Additionally, Chef Wang Fuli shares his specially selected eight-ingredient eight-treasure rice. Meanwhile, a puff pastry bread is stuffed with potatoes, bacon, and spices, its plump shape resembling a “fortune pocket” — a symbol of good fortune.

▲Cannoli Pastry Rolls.

“Cannoli Pastry Rolls” originate from a beloved sweet treat in Sicily, the southernmost region of Italy. Antonello ingeniously uses the thin soybean skin that forms when soy milk cools, dries it, and then fries it into crispy pastry rolls. Traditionally filled with sheep’s milk ricotta, Antonello substitutes it with purple sweet potato, banana, and butter filling. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, richly flavored, and distinctly infused with Taiwanese characteristics, these offer a unique take on Italian pastries.



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