REEL-Celebrating Lunar New Year the Hakka Way

TaiwanPlus News

On the majority of Lunar New Year tables in Taiwan, you probably won’t find chicken with kumquat sauce or duck with pickled mustard greens. However, for the Hakka, an ethnic minority comprising nearly 20% of Taiwan’s population, these are signature dishes.   On a Hakka Lunar New Year table, you’ll notice a distinct theme: sour and bold, earthy flavors. From pickled mustard greens to kumquat sauces, these preserved ingredients tell the story of Hakka Taiwanese people’s culture and language.

Transcript

00:01This is chicken with kumquat sauce, and this is pickled mustard green duck.

00:10More than just holiday staples, these dishes represent the history of Taiwan's haka minority.

00:16Take the chicken, which is served with kumquat sauce. This classic sauce is rooted in a long

00:22tradition of food preservation techniques. Historically, the haka have settled in mountainous

00:28or less fertile regions, requiring them to salt and ferment food to get through hard times.

00:34Fickled mustard greens are an excellent example of this tradition.

01:00Haka people make up about 20% of Taiwan's population. In Hualong village in Xinzhu, almost everyone in the village

01:08is haka.

01:15But why these dishes? They go back to haka language and culture.

01:37So how do you say Happy New Year in the haka language?

01:40Si Nian kwa leo.

01:43Si Nian kwa leo.

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