If you drive from Taitung City, you can enjoy spectacular ocean view all the way northbound on Provincial Highway 11 until you reach ChengGong Township Farmer’s Association Restaurant at the 107.5km point.Rice planting was the dominant livelihood in Chenggong area along the east coast. Due to rural exodus, the town’s farmers’ association obtained help from the Ministry of Agriculture to turn an old barn into a restaurant that specializes in simple set meals made from local ingredients and cooked by local women. Besides simple set meals, it also features gac fruit hotpot in a variety of soup base, which is a big favorite among its customers when paired with its seafood platter, which includes dolphinfish caught at the town’s Hsin-kang Fishing Harbor and local seawater-raised Vannamei prawns.
Introduction
The gac fruit is a species of plant in the melon and cucumber family, and is a perennial tendril climber. Native to Taiwan’s eastern mountains, it is a traditional food of the indigenous people. It is called “wooden soft-shelled turtle fruit” in Taiwan because it is shaped like a soft-shelled turtle and has skin that resembles wood.
After the transfer of cultivation technique for native gac fruit from the Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, Chenggong Township Farmers’ Association started growing “Taitung No.1” gac widely. The gac fruit may be eaten ripe or unripe, and its leaves are also edible. The unripe gac is a common dish in indigenous restaurants; it is often cooked in soup or stir-fried, tastes similar to bitter gourd and has a refreshing and subtly sweet flavor. Ripe gac has a bright red-orange skin, elongated shape, clearer segments, and both its flesh and false aril are edible.
Leveraging the beautiful natural resources and diverse agricultural produce of Chenggong Township, ChengGong Township Farmer’s Association Restaurant’s healthy dishes and local agricultural recreation development add value to local food tours and agricultural/forestry/fishery/animal products.
Using gac fruit as an ingredient, ChengGong Township Farmer’s Association Restaurant has developed a diverse array of dishes, hoping to make the east coast “home of the gac fruit”. To increase its business revenue, the restaurant offers experiential activities, such as “Gac Play House”, which allows participants to learn about gac fruit, taste gac fruit products and make gac nougat biscuits. Recommended specialty dishes at the restaurant are “gac fruit seafood hotpot” and “dolphinfish fillet set meal”. Its “braised dried dolphinfish minced pork rice” is also not to be missed. Originating from the fishing village in Green Island, the braised dish of dried dolphinfish and pork belly has a unique taste highly praised by tourists. It even won silver prize in the “Most Memorable Taste” competition organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2023.
Through its agrifood education, creating source of revenue for the local agricultural and fishery industry with its dishes, and promoting the development of agricultural products, ChengGong Township Farmer’s Association Restaurant has demonstrated remarkable accomplishment in its sustainability efforts.
Features of Agricultural Tourism
Vegetable
Visitors can purchase fresh mushrooms on-site at SenLon farm, and also buy various dried mushrooms produced on the farm, including shiitake mushrooms, coral mushrooms, abalone mushrooms, Lingzhi mushrooms, Brazilian mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and enoki mushrooms. Mushroom cakes can be enjoyed as snacks, made from whichever mushrooms are abundant at the time, which are typically wine cap mushrooms in summer and possibly white jade mushrooms in winter.
The diversity of seasonal mushrooms is a major feature of SenLon Farm. Visitors can book guided tours of the mushroom sheds or experience making mushroom air-tight packs, which can be taken home to observe the life cycle of fungi. Additionally, SenLon uses their own home-grown mushrooms in their cuisine, offering various vegetarian set meals including Brazilian mushroom risotto, nourishing pumpkin hot pot, Brazilian mushroom hot pot, as well as Lingzhi coffee and wood ear mushroom milk, allowing visitors to see, touch mushrooms, and savor the flavor of mushrooms.
Information
TEL
+886-3-958 8852
Address
No. 139-2, Meishan Rd., Chenggong Township, Taitung County 961001, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
