Natural farming method fragrant rice makes Shanghai food, Dongya chef works with small farmers to promote green Jiangsu and Zhejiang New year dishes.

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Dongya chef, who has been running for 18 years, is a pioneer of green catering in China. After her illness, founder Yu Bifang devoted herself to the study of healthy diet and changed her past eating habits by focusing on low temperature and sugar reduction. She personally traveled all over Taiwan to find good ingredients for food, insisted on not opening branches in order to maintain quality, and launched a limited number of green New year dishes this year. With local organic and friendly ingredients to make delicious and nutritious improved Shanghai Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine.

Dongya chef launches green New year dishes, which are cooked in a low-temperature, sugar-reduced way (photo _ Lin Yijun)

When you walk in from a low-key and simple store, the first thing you can see is colorful fruits and vegetables. "these are all brought back by going to the farmer's market or farm in person!" The person who spoke was Yu Bifang, the founder of Dongya Chef. She was generous and straightforward. She grew up in a family village in Taoyuan. Her mother from Fuzhou was her first cooking teacher. She and her sister were learning to cook in the kitchen at home.

When she grew up, she reported on food for 25 years in "my Love my Family" magazine, covering farms and specialty restaurants all over the country, tasting various delicacies, and her generous personality made everyone nicknamed her "Sister Yu".

Sister Yu visited the producing area of Chenopodium, Taitung Tai Mali, and on the right is the Reverend Dai of Lauran Workshop (photo courtesy of Dongya Chef). Life crisis has taken a turn for the better, from thick red sauce to low temperature sugar reduction.

In addition to reporting on delicious food, she used to run a Chinese restaurant, which focuses on traditional Shanghai Jiangsu and Zhejiang cuisine, which features "thick oil red sauce". Sister Yu explained: "the flavor and taste should be 'strong', cooking should put a lot of 'oil', the color should be 'red', and the seasoning should be a lot of 'sauce'. This is the traditional Shanghai and Zhejiang cuisine."

In the past, business in Chinese restaurants was very good. "although everyone said it was delicious, they felt that hot fried food was not good for their health." But nearly 20 years ago, Yu Bifang recalled, she suddenly encountered a series of debt reversals, which wiped out most of her property, plunging her into mental depression and turning her health red because of years of stress and aging.

"I don't want to take a bunch of medicine anymore. instead of spending money on medicine, I'd better study how to eat it well!" In order to restore her health, Yu Bifang devoted herself to healthy diet research, participated in various courses, and even enrolled in the natural diet course in the credit class of Taipei Medical University. She also came into contact with the "New starting Point healthy lifestyle NEWSTART" promoted by Taian Hospital.

"good food is the best medicine!" Yu Bifang brought the concept of diet into cuisine, changing the rich red sauce into low-temperature cooking and reducing sugar. She believes that low-temperature cooking can maintain the original state of the ingredients, nutrition and flavor are the best, while reducing sugar is a moderate diet to get the necessary nutrients. With the belief of dietotherapy, Dongya Chef was born in this way.

Tomato beef tendon, using self-made stewed fruit and vegetables, with a large number of onions, tomatoes and other vegetables boiled, half-gluten and half-meat brisket to eat soft, full of radish unique sweet aroma. (photography _ Lin Yijun) obsessed boss, scared chef

"my peers use the term 'obsessive' to describe me." In order to practice her concept, Yu Bifang did not hesitate to visit local farms and farmers' bazaars, looking for all kinds of organic and friendly ingredients. Where, when and how the ingredients in the store came from, and how they were planted. Now there is a steady stream of visitors, but Dongya's chef didn't have a smooth start.

At the beginning, in order to thoroughly implement the concept and reduce carbon, Dongya chef adjusted the menu to 50% vegetable cuisine, and the performance directly dropped by more than 30%. In order to maintain a sustainable business, Yu Bifang added meat to the menu again. "everything can't be done at once. If it doesn't last long, how can more people know these ideas?" She said firmly.

With the use of organic and friendly ingredients, the cost of each dish is nearly 40% of the price, and there are also difficulties in cooking. "in traditional Zhejiang cuisine, many ingredients are designated, and Taiwanese ingredients should be changed, cooked at a low temperature, reduced sugar and less oil, so as to scare off a bunch of cooks." She recalls that many chefs with professional background were unable to escape from the past cuisine model and left their jobs soon after they arrived at work because of maladjustment.

Investigate pig foot stewed peanuts, choose Yunlin good pig cultivated by eugenics, use green onion, ginger slices, star anise, sea salt and wine together with pig feet until soft through, then add soy sauce and sugar stew (photography _ Lin Yijun) for 18 years secret of long-distance running: buy vegetables in person, demonstrate cooking teaching, use seasonal and special ingredients

In order to strike a balance between concept and in-store finance, over the past 18 years, Yu Bifang has summed up three strategies: personal purchase, demonstration and training of talents, and flexible use of the current season's ingredients. Shopping ranges from vegetable markets to farmers' bazaars, and even drives to Yangmingshan to buy from small farmers. She believes that by buying in person, you can find the ingredients you really need and confirm the quality, without having to pay extra referral fees.

At present, the chefs in the restaurant are relatively young, and Sister Yu explains that young chefs are easier to communicate and more flexible than experienced cooks, so they personally demonstrate when developing new dishes and take the time to explain the details and concepts of each dish to the chef. Whole-food dishes that include low-temperature cooking and reduce waste. She believes that cultivating talent is the real sustainable way for restaurants.

In addition, the cost of food in the store is generally high, and under the framework of a fixed menu, Sister Yu uses the ingredients rich in the season to make changes, such as Xuelihong, which is rich in leafy vegetables in that season, sometimes with pine vegetables and sometimes with radish leaves, but looks the same; in the peak season of Luoshen flower, make Luoshen cauliflower. She believes that fresh ingredients and relatively affordable prices in this season can be used to reduce costs.

As she has visited local farms, Yu Bifang always sees special ingredients earlier than others. Red quinoa, tree grapes, tree tomatoes, and so on, which have sprung up in recent years, were discovered more than a decade ago and served during prime time. Now there are even farmers who go north on a high-speed railway and invite her to use them in cooking.