“Guess which fruit is the specialty in Yi-Lan and the peel is more delicious than its flesh?” The answer is kumquat. Lanyang Plain has favorable natural conditions, especially the moisture and rain, for the growth of kumquat. Kumquat is rich in nutrition-- eating 6 kumquats means having the vitamin needed for a day. December through February is the prime time to taste the kumquats. Come to Yi-Lan and enjoy the country fun, smell the fragrance in the nature and savor the local delicacies!
Kumquat Flavors Only Available in Certain Season
Kumquats are not dates; its original name is golden citrus or golden tangerine. To promote eating local produce, enjoying what is in season and taking leisure trips, Mr. Xi-chi You, the president of Mt. Pillow Leisure Farm in Yuanshan District, Yi-Lan as well as the owner of Da-jiao-xi Farm, showed us in person to the producing region where the kumquats bring us a golden view, the efforts of the whole year by the hard working farmers. The fresh kumquat is oval, sized like a quail egg, and the ripe one is golden yellow. The greatest feature is the rind as well as the flesh are edible .
Kumquat usually tastes sour; to help us distinguish the source of the mouthfeel, Mr. You separated the rind and the flesh and invited us to try. Such an alternative eating helped us tell the flavors of the sweet peel and juicy flesh, and we just can’t have enough the mouth puckering sensations. Popping the whole fruit in the mouth can quench the thirst, and nourish the throat for better voice. How sweet a life it is!
“Some may have a tingling feeling that is because of the volatile oils that are prominent in the rinds. The oils make one feel spicy and tingling. Generally, the food processing destroys the oils in the rinds with salts.” Following the farm owner to have a tour, we not only experienced fruit picking, but also knew more about kumquats. There are also DIY kumquat courses available in the farm, for the visitors to enjoy the fun!
The Outstanding Leisure Farm in Promoting Leisure Travel
Mr. You said, farmers used to be reluctant to visitors’ fruit picking because the visitors may harm the fruit trees. Through learning courses, communication and instructions on touring visitors so that the visitors learn to take good care of the earth, farmers now offer visitors to experience the fun of fruit picking. With many parties’ efforts in running the business, Mt. Pillow Leisure Farm is evaluated by the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan as an “Outstanding Leisure Farm Area”, with the kumquats, peaches and plums, not just for fruit picking, but also the specialty souvenirs.
Coming to the producing region, visitors also go to the farm to experience picking asides from direct shopping, they will hear the stories of fruit trees in the farm. A new fun is having the dining table in the fruit garden where travellers can enjoy the delicious and healthy cuisines made of local food materials in the alfresco atmosphere. In recent years, there are domestic and foreign travellers coming to enjoy, and that substantially increases the farmers’ income and enhances the value of leisure industry.
Handmade Fermented Bean Curd and Roasted Chicken
On the interview day around lunch time, we saw a group of heavy motorcycle riders racing through; then we went into a handmade soy sauce specialty store, we saw urns filling with soy sauce of various vintages. The store follows the traditional way- natural sunbathing- to make the soy sauce, and uses the natural mountain spring water for the handmade soy sauce. They also developed products such as fermented pineapple bean curd. Asides from soy sauce, the signature roasted chicken is really popular among the diners.
The restaurant roasts the chicken with fermented bean curd in the iron barrels, when the chicken skin turned bronze, the chicken legs and wings are stripped off, together with sweet potatoes, pumpkins, fermented bean curds or lettuces and it is a dish ready to serve. The skin of the roasted chicken is crispy and crunchy and the meat is juicy. Fill the sliced roasted chicken into the lettuce, and dip some sauce of the fermented bean curd before tasting, what a taste no one can resist! The set menu includes a roasted whole chicken (together with sweet potatoes, pumpkins, lettuces and breads), mushroom & chicken soup and Japanese salad, good for 4-5 people. Price NT$1,200. It takes some time to roast the chicken so we recommend to make a reservation to save time.
Scenic Spot on the Way: Watching Dragon Stele
The beautiful Watching Dragon Stele is within the Mt. Pillow Leisure Farm Area. It becomes popular because an idol drama was filmed here, and attracts waves of tourists. The walking paths surrounding the lake in Watching Dragon Stele can be so poetic because of the color-changing bald cypress. In addition, we recommend the hiking path leading to the mountain peak, since the view along the way is wonderful and watching from the higher place, there is the red zigzag bridge in the green lake, tourists will definitely enjoy the view and the breeze that make people relaxing and happy.
Kumquat Souvenir, Best Buy in Yi-lan
If the outdoor activities are not enough, visitors can also go have afternoon tea or make pickled kumquat with children in AGRIOZ. AGRIOZ prepares the kumquat tea, pickled kumquat and handmade kumquat cookies for visitors to taste and buy. The environment is comfortable and beautiful that avid photo takers shouldn’t miss AGRIOZ! Wondering where to go on the weekend? Welcome to Yuanshan in Yi-lan for a stress relieving trip and enjoy kumquats!
Add: Next to No. 54, Pocheng Rd., Yuanshan Township, Yi-lan County (entry next to Hushan Elementary School) Coordination: E121°41'56" ( 121.6989) N 24°46'35" ( 24.7765)
