Gongliao Water Terraces' Hehe Eco-Rice: Invite the Brown Palm Civet to Share a Meal with You

After two years and two growing seasons, we can finally release ‘Hehe Rice’ to share with everyone.

Thanks to the generous help of Haishan Bakery last year, the rice gained a consumer-supported foothold beyond its ecological value alone; ‘Hehe Rice Crackers’ also won recognition this year in the New Taipei City Specialty Souvenir Competition.

But many friends have asked: why not sell the rice itself and return to the original taste of Hehe?

‘Hehe Rice’ grows in the mountains, without the abundant sunshine of the plains or even southern Hualien-Taitung, so the grains are not what you would call robust and plump, and it is hard to aim for a uniform, fully ripe harvest at the same time; we selected and bred varieties suited to the climate of the northeastern hills, so they adapt well and originally needed little disease management, and the threat of typhoons when the ears fill out in summer is also relatively low, but they simply do not have the pedigree of today’s main high-quality rice or the premium varieties introduced from Japan; saving our own seed has also preserved the genes of older red rice, which is richer in vitamins, but this nutritional diversity becomes a drawback under uniform quality-control standards. The long-standing standard in the consumer market for ‘high-quality rice,’ from colour and lustre to mouthfeel, has set the criteria for what consumers are supposed to accept as ‘good rice’ and ‘tasty,’ and that was the main reason we held back last year.

So what does ‘Hehe Rice’ actually taste like? Last year, the first year we tasted Uncle Liu’s rice, we were amazed by its sweetness and aroma, and ate Gongliao rice all winter long, which is why we cannot forget the gentle warmth of Gongliao yam with plain congee. At the late-summer aquatic environment knowledge workshop this year, the white rice at Uncle Shu’s house was quickly polished off, and its springy, chewy texture won high praise from the participants.

Not only is it naturally inferior in appearance to others, but the guardians who grow Hehe rice are also so open-hearted. I still remember last year, when Uncle Qiujin, before the harvest, suffered damage at the last moment from the night moths commonly seen in the damp mist, and we worried whether our insistence on using no pesticides had discouraged the old man; he only said quietly: ‘You cannot ask too much of Lord Heaven; what should be shared out must be shared out.’ This year, part of the field was given organic fertiliser on a trial basis, and the harvest again surpassed last year’s. When we congratulated the old man on tending it so well, the uncle again said shyly and calmly: ‘Ah, it is not that I tended it well; it is all Lord Heaven’s care.’

In the water-terrace environment, which is unfavourable for mechanical farming, the cost-benefit ratio is inherently low by the standards of modern efficiency, and the rice produced can hardly be competitive on the market; add to that such a calm attitude, and then a bunch of kids come along pestering us, saying they want to protect the ecological environment….. That is how ‘Hehe Rice’ came to be defined as something unique, definitely not the ordinary high-quality rice you know.

If you have ever marvelled at how water terraces can nurture such abundant life…

Then let us turn that feeling into support for the water terraces! Start by ordering Hehe Rice and Hehe Rice Crackers, join the mutual aid and mutual care of the environmental cooperative, support the farmers, and make a lasting commitment to protecting the water sources and the environment!

Produced by ‘Lihehe Little Granary’ Ordering Information