2025 Taste of Indigenous Cuisines: The Journey to Tribal Villages Inviting You to Step into Tribal Villages and Savor the Local Flavors Preserved in Their Culinary Traditions
Celebrating the 8th anniversary — come collect the delicious memories of life through indigenous food.
The East Longitudinal Valley National Scenic Area Administration, Tourism Administration, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (hereinafter referred to as the Valley Administration) has been hosting the East Longitudinal Valley Festival – Taste of Indigenous Cuisines: The Journey to Tribal Villages for the eighth year. This year's festival is themed with "Preservation," inviting visitors to step into tribal communities, experience and participate firsthand, and learn about the wisdom of food preservation in tribal life. Through participation, guests also take part in preserving indigenous culinary culture.
Director Hsu Tsung-Min of the Valley Administration stated that the annual East Longitudinal Valley Festival features a new theme each year: "Telling a story with a table of food" in 2018, "Traditional songs and the dining table" in 2019, "Nostalgic tastes in cherished memories" in 2020, "Tribal brews" in 2022, "Myths and legends" in 2023, "Healing" in 2024, and now “Preservation” in 2025. Each theme has left lasting impressions on participants, while inspiring participating tribal partners to delve deeper into their cultural roots — presenting fresh and surprising results year after year.
This year’s East Longitudinal Valley Festival – Taste of Indigenous Cuisines: The Journey to Tribal Villages features five tribal communities and five sessions. Each session centers on the traditional food preservation methods of the respective tribe — such as pickling, smoking, drying, and fermenting — revealing their life stories and culinary memories. Beyond continuing ancestral crafts and cultural heritage, the event also seeks to reinterpret traditional preservation methods through modern cooking techniques. Participants not only get to savor the unique flavors of indigenous cuisines but also learn diverse food preservation methods that they can take home to share with family and friends, extending the experience.
Learn about tribal wisdom, innovation, and heritage through food preservation
The Truku Cyakang Community in Hualien, inspired by the ancestral memories of hunters smoking pork for preservation, presents the Tree Hole Dining Table Under the Moonlight. In the past, hunters smoked meat to extend its shelf life and stored it under the three-rock stove to share with others — an act that embodies the spirit of mutual support. The tribal dinner features creative dishes such as a delightful pork offal soup and smoked pork, along with a colorful natural dipping sauce made from local ingredients. Guests can also try their hand at making smoked meat — a perfect keepsake from the journey.
The Footprints in the Rice Field Dining Table Under the Moonlight organized by the Ceroh Community highlights sun-drying as a method, showcasing the conventional wisdom in seed preservation. The featured lala soup (a soup made from pigeon peas and peanuts) symbolizes the tribal spirit of mutual help and hospitality, serving as the heart of the Ceroh dining experience. Guests can also enjoy a bean-and-rice painting activity and taste the Amis lala soup alongside a wide variety of wild vegetables.
Hunter's Wild Dining Table Under the Moonlight organized by the Sanungung Community in Taitung themed around pickling. Here, visitors hear fun childhood stories about pickled mustard greens, then join local Bunun hunters along forest trails to learn tales of hunting, resourcefulness, and mountain skills — such as smoking game to lighten its weight, preserve it longer, and share with family. Guests will make their own pickled mustard greens, sample mustard green dishes and smoked game, and “pickle” their own memories in Sanungung.
The Bunun Kamcing Tribe also centers its Millet Swing Dining Table Under the Moonlight around pickling.Using their unique fermented millet bran pickling methods, the tribe preserves a variety of vegetables, introducing visitors to the Bunun culture, which places millet at the heart of daily life. What was once discarded as waste — millet bran — is now given new value through this creative preservation technique. This is not only about preserving millet itself, but also about extending tribal culture into the modern era.
Kalokapuk Tribe chose the theme of brewing and draws inspiration from the Amis tradition of rice wine brewing. After brewing, the pressed lees can be transformed into a sweet drink, or a flavorful shio-koji by adding salt — a creative and practical preservation method. At the Harvest Barn Dining Table Under the Moonlight, guests can make their own shio-koji and enjoy distinctive dishes made with it, while learning the inspiring story of Payang, who returned to Chishang to start a new restaurant business.
Director Hsu Tsung-Min further stated that, tickets to the 2025 Taste of Indigenous Cuisines: The Journey to Tribal Villages events can now be purchased. The first event, Hunter's Wild Dining Table Under the Moonlight, will be held at the Sanungung Community on October 25, and the finale, Footprints in the Rice Field Dining Table Under the Moonlight, will be at the Ceroh Community on November 22. To echo this year’s theme of Preservation, the event has collaborated with Zenzhou to launch a special merchandise item — the Beeswax Food Wrap — printed with patterns of traditional tribal foods such as millet, red glutinous rice, corn, pickling jars, millet wine, and banana rice. This eco-friendly wrap can be used for covering or wrapping food. In addition to standard tickets, this year’s event also offers discounted double admission tickets and accommodation packages in collaboration with local lodging providers. For more information, please check the event’s official website and Facebook page for the latest updates.
