Delicious enough to forget the taste of meat "vegetable market Veganproject creates with natural ingredients, blooming the charm of botanical cuisine."

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"it's so delicious that I forget the taste of the meat. If the cooking is right, the plants will be very delicious." The "vegetable Market" Vegan project, located in Taichung, is a restaurant with a pure plant diet. Eason, whose owner is also the head chef, walked into the kitchen from the art world and switched to natural ingredients. A mix of colorful ingredients, from homemade wheat hamburgers to hamburger steaks made from organic beetroot and organic brown rice, with friendly lettuce, dried pineapple, paste and mustard made from organic soybean milk, bloom the charm of botanical cuisine.

Beetroot mustard hamburger with roasted sweet potato fries: domestic wheat hamburger, organic beetroot and organic brown rice to make hamburger steak, friendly lettuce, self-baked golden pear dried, organic soybean milk made of paste and mustard, Basili and Yunlin organic sweet potato, cornmeal (photo _ Lin Yijun) health should start from prototype food, in order to learn chef, return to Taiwan from the United States.

Ten years ago, Eason studied art education in Taiwan and did a master's degree in community art at the Maryland Academy of Arts in 2014. at that time, he participated in a community diet program and found that the local art and music creation was very rich, but there were also many unhealthy children.

Eason recalled that local communities in the United States had a high proportion of hyperactive children because their parents were addicted to alcohol or drugs for a long time. "in addition, people in the community eat a lot of overprocessed food, such as fried chicken, cola and hamburgers, too little prototype food, parents eat unhealthily, and so do children."

After observing this phenomenon, Eason believes that food is very important to people's lives, so he wants to start with diet, but it is not a catering background. "I can't work in an American restaurant, either." So he dropped out of school and returned to Taiwan to begin his culinary practice.

He Junxin, founder of Vegan project, Eason (Photography / Lin Yijun) Italian cuisine: make the best use of the ingredients in the local season.

After Eason returned to Taiwan, he chose to work as an apprentice in an Italian restaurant. "European cuisine will use a lot of prototype food, which is very much in line with my desired direction." He also learned the spirit of using local ingredients from an Italian boss. "he came to Taiwan to open a shop and used Taiwan wheat flour to make pizza crust." As for choosing vegan cuisine, I was influenced by friends to pay attention to animal issues, and the way of learning was purely botanical. Later, I ate amazing vegan cuisine in Italian-style restaurants and determined the style.

In addition to the Italian restaurants in Taiwan, Eason also traveled to Italy in 2016 to intern at Soul Kitchen, the first vegan restaurant in Durin in northern Italy. He saw that chefs use local ingredients to make good dishes. "the ingredients are very fresh in the season, although they are not necessarily certified, but they are usually planted naturally, and the flavor is very distinct and unique."

Eason said that even if they are the same tomatoes, different regions and different farmers have different flavors, and it is admirable for chefs who can use natural and prototype ingredients to show flavor and food charm.

The sour seed bread (photo _ Lin Yijun) made from domestic wheat flour (Ole Mai) by Eason, the owner of Vegan project, came from the kitchen to the vegetable market and market and became a fan of farmers.

The ingredients in the vegetable market are all grown in organic, natural, non-toxic and other agricultural methods. Eason says that when he first opened the store, he would go to the vegetable market every day to look for vegetables, and then he would go to the Xingda organic farmer market to look for vegetables. Over time, he had a tacit understanding with the farmers, and the business was stable. The farmers would send or keep vegetables for themselves, and some of the ingredients would be bought from organic stores.

"these farmers love the land most, more than we all do." Eason found that organic, naturally non-toxic ingredients are far more flavorful than they were bought in the vegetable market at the beginning, and the same crops will have different tastes in different producing areas. Through interaction with farmers, he feels the hard work of farmers. "eat a meal, buy vegetables, cook vegetables for a few days at most, and farmers spend months growing vegetables, and they have to take care of them during that time."

In addition to common agricultural products, Eason also likes to look for special ingredients. He takes out a small fruit. "this is a thumb watermelon." Only the size of a thumb knuckles, the outer layer is indeed watermelon pattern, taste quite sweet, taste very crisp, this is the result of Eason treasure hunt in the market.

Eason, the Vegan project owner of the vegetable market, dug up treasure from the farmers and found the classic elements of the thumb watermelon (photo _ Lin Yijun) to be disassembled: pineapple cake, not pineapple cake, but tea to be dug with a spoon.

Compared with the amazing ingredients, Eason's cuisine is even more unique. "Today's dessert is pineapple cake." However, the dessert he served was completely different from pineapple cake, who had the same impression of mahjong inside and outside. At first glance, it would make people think it was French cuisine.

"the ingredients are pineapple cake's elements, but I took them apart and reassembled them." Eason pointed to the plate and explained that the jam brushed at the bottom was traditional pineapple cake inner filling, made of taro wax gourd and golden diamond pineapple, stacked with organic cashew nuts and pineapple stuffing, self-baked dried golden diamond Phoenix pear fruit, covered with domestic wheat biscuits, and finally decorated with self-grown orange mint, cream cakes made from hummus water and lantern fruits. "in addition to organic ingredients, do not waste as much as possible, and the boiled water of chickpeas can also be used."

Another dessert is soy milk black tea jelly. "people in Taichung know two things: Roche autumn tea and soy milk black tea." Eason distorts these elements. he adds soy milk black tea to freeze on cold days, spreads a layer of Roche autumn tea and marshmallows, and finally sprinkles a layer of honeysuckle.

Dessert pineapple cake, made of taro wax gourd and golden diamond pineapple jam, organic cashew nuts and pineapple stuffing, self-baked golden diamond pineapple fruit, domestic wheat biscuits, self-grown orange mint, hummus water cream cake and lantern fruit (photo _ Lin Yijun)

Eason recombines the classic local ingredients to show a different look, while the taste of the entrance is amazing: pineapple cake's slightly sour wax gourd pineapple sauce, cashew pineapple stuffing and dried pineapple fruit, served with biscuits, are smooth and multi-layered, while soy milk black tea jelly tastes the classic Taichung drinks with different tastes.

After dessert, the bread just came out of the oven. Eason used Ole wheat flour to make a thick sour bread. After biting it, you can not only smell the aroma of fresh domestic wheat, but also vaguely eat moxa grass. "Weeds are also part of the field, so some plants will be dried to use."