Dining Snippets in Yilan, Taiwan: Jesse and Ken x Onion Farm x Cherry Valley Duck
This week’s special edition of Dining Snippets zeroes in on Yilan, a Taiwan county mainly known for its hot and cold springs, and made famous by its lush farms filled with rows of tasty scallions/green onions.
JESSE AND KEN
Upon landing in Taoyuan airport at the break of dawn, we immediately set out to Yilan County, where we intended to spend the night. As we all slept like logs inside our tour van, our amazingly kind and patient guide/driver, Xiao Huang, decided that it was high time to break our fast and wake us up by warming our tummies. We ended up parking right smack at the corner of a busy interaction across the street from Jesse and Ken.
Jesse and Ken is a breakfast restaurant which offers a variety of sandwiches and hamburgers. Just a warning though, expect zero English in its menu and from their staff despite its Western-sounding name. It’s best to be armed with a basic vocabulary of Mandarin or Hokkien; or ask your guide to take care of the ordering business just as we did.
BEEF SANDWICH (TWD 80) and COFFEE (TWD 50)
My family opted for two variants of their sandwiches, the Beef (TWD 80) and the Chicken (TWD 60). Each order comes with two hefty pair of panini halves. The Beef turned out to be a huge beef patty layered with slices of lettuce, fresh tomato cubes, and mustard. This was pretty okay; but you would regret ordering this once you taste its Chicken variant. Armed with crunchy skin, insanely juicy meat, and a sweet tangy glaze, the Chicken variant definitely came to win. Their sandwiches do not come with a cup of coffee, but make sure to have one! Apart from being a perfect companion (and disguise) while people watching, their coffee doesn’t only have an amazing aroma, it tastes exquisite too.
DUCK PUFF PASTRY (TWD 40)
An interesting addition to your breakfast would be its Duck Puff Pastry. These may seem like egg rolls at first glance, but it’s actually a delicate puff pastry roll with a thin slice of barbecued duck inside each roll. Light and tasty, it's a nice dish for sharing.
Date of Visit: December 31, 2016 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua, Jem Chua, and Xiao Huang
ONION FARM IN SANXING TOWNSHIP
Native to Yilan are green onions or scallions so do try to squeeze in a visit to one of its farms as these usually provide various exposure activities ranging from planting and harvesting the crop, cooking your own scallion pancake, and the like.
In this particular onion farm, the experience of making your own scallion pancake comes at a cost of TWD 100/pax. Each student will be given his own set of ingredients and tools needed to follow the demonstration.
The whole experience will only take less than an hour; but it’s definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. Kneading the pancake and flattening it is tricky business!
If you’re not happy with your scallion pancake, or if you wish to skip the lesson and jump to eating, there are vendors nearby selling cooked pancakes already. While you’re at it, the Sausage with Scallion delicacy being sold alongside it is also a must-try!
Date of Visit: December 31, 2016 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua, Jem Chua, and Xiao Huang
CHERRY VALLEY DUCK
The highlight of our trip in Yilan would definitely be our Cherry Valley Duck experience; and we wouldn’t have known about this if our tour guide didn’t recommend it to us. Cherry Valley Duck isn’t really the easiest thing to research about via Google or Tripadvisor. These two platforms would direct you to hotels serving Cherry Duck, but not this particular restaurant. Thankfully, it has a Facebook presence and a distinct logo for easy reference.
FOURTH WAY: ROAST CHERRY DUCK
The Cherry Duck can be likened to the Peking Duck; however, its meat tastes sweeter and is juicier. While we’re accustomed to a maximum of three-ways for our Peking Duck, the restaurant prides in serving the Cherry Duck in five ways: Duck Sushi, Traditional Duck Wrap, Minced Duck, Roast Duck Slices, and Duck Soup.
FIRST WAY: DUCK SUSHI
The Duck Sushi was definitely a sight to behold. Each sushi piece is topped with a gorgeous slice of crunchy duck skin with a teasingly thin layer of meat. It definitely was the perfect start to this feast!
SECOND WAY: TRADITIONAL DUCK WRAP
As part of their service, the restaurant servers would already prepare the duck wraps on your behalf. Similar with the Peking Duck, you may spruce each wrap up with some sticks of leeks and cucumbers, or a drizzle of hoisin sauce.
THIRD WAY: MINCED DUCK WITH LETTUCE
FIFTH WAY: DUCK SOUP
Expect less duck meat for the third and fifth way as the restaurant aims to maximize serving most of the duck in the fourth way. Regardless of this, the Minced Duck was delicious, and provided a crunchier and drier alternative to the saucy dishes of the course meal. On the other hand, the light and refreshing clear Duck Soup helps reduce the ‘umay’ feeling you get from devouring the indulgent fourth way.
FRIED PRAWN BALLS
SQUID AND SNOW PEAS
Apart from these, the course set also boasts of unbelievably fresh vegetable and seafood dishes such as the addictive mayonnaise-coated Fried Prawn Balls (think Hot Prawn Salad without the fruit salad), the (tender) Squid and (crunchy) Snow Peas, and the delicious Mushrooms and Lettuce in Oyster Sauce. The best part is that the entire course set comes at an insanely reasonable price of TWD 3900! Definitely a must-try!
Date of Visit: December 31, 2016 with Wilson Chua, Lily Chua, Jared Chua, Jem Chua, and Xiao Huang
