The wild flavors of Lishan's paddy fields, brought from the fields to the table
If serving dishes from the forest represents a way of life in the satoyama environment, in which people and the natural environment are used sustainably, then serving dishes from the rice paddy is its most fitting interpretation. The "ingredients" produced in water terraces are by no means limited to rice alone. From the very beginning, when the membership-based conservation work was first promoted, Auntie Shu's table of good food showed us just how abundant this great market of the water terrace is[Note 1]. Perhaps because of the high standards set at the outset, the successive head chefs in the production team's activities all racked their brains, working hard to bring out the old-time flavors remembered from the past, or trying to make use of the materials in the rice paddy to develop new dishes. Under this healthy competition, the ones who probably benefit are all of you partners (and of course the editor who has eaten at every one of these places), as well as the waistlines that have grown ever wider because of it!
But stir-fried paddy field snails are definitely a hidden delicious dish. Although paddy field snails are recorded during both farming and ecological surveys, gathering a whole basin of paddy field snails on purpose absolutely requires time and drive, and one cannot help but admire Sister-in-law Xiao's get-up-and-go.
No matter which dish the head chef brings out, we are always amazed by the chef's skill and creativity. After every meal, some partner always asks whether there will be a chance to eat it again next time. But you have to know that "limited quantity" and "limited time" are cruel; these seasonal or limited-quantity ingredients are here today and gone tomorrow, and so we begin to look forward to spring, summer, autumn and winter, asking whether the bamboo shoots have come up yet. We also taste every bite carefully, and it tastes especially flavorful - not only because it is limited, but also because before picking it, I know that frog eggs have tangled around it and diving beetles have swum past it! As long as the environment is still here and the environment has not been ruined, we can keep savoring it. It is just that: "Sorry! Next time, come early!".
[Note 1] For more of Auntie Shu's secrets for serving dishes, please see "One of Auntie Shu's banquet tables–the wild vegetable market"