Autumn's Bounty Meinong's White Jade Raddish 秋季限定 美濃白玉蘿蔔
Autumn's Bounty
Meinong's White Jade Raddish
◎English written by Lin Yi-chun
◎Photos by Yang Chan-hua, Chang Wen-cheng, Hou Ya-ting
November is Meinong's month for harvesting local crops. One of these local favorites is the White Jade Radish that has over taken tobacco as the region's primary crop. White Jade Radish usually peaks during the last two months of the year and people now flock to Meinong to enjoy this wonderful winter vegetable.
Zhong Yalun is Meinong Famer's Association Director of Marketing and states he has witnessed the decline of tobacco farms. However, there are now over 270 hectares dedicated to the harvest of White Jade Radish, which costs only 10 NT per Taiwanese catty (600 grams). White Jade Radish is thought to be a good replacement for tobacco as it allows for fields to be utilized once again after the rice harvest. White Jade Radish only take 45 days to grow and only one week between the first batches going to market and the last ones being plucked from the earth.
White Jade Radishes may seem meager compared to regular sized radishes, with has a finer, silkier texture and an elegant fragrance. Meinong's soil is also not too dense and has the right balance of dryness and moisture to produce the perfect White Jade Radish. The perfectly white, almost translucent vegetable also doesn't need to be peeled before they are cooked. However, they must be thoroughly washed.
In 2006, Meinong Farmer's Association was encouraged by the popularity of the vegetable and created the White Jade Radish Festival. The success was overwhelming and has been running annually ever since. This year's festival included an open radish field in front of the Hakka Cultural Center. Visitors got to experience the radish harvest first hand and gave children the opportunity to pull their own radishes. There was also an open banquet with delicious dishes featuring the radish as the main ingredient. It was estimated the banquet had approximately one thousand in attendance. The festival is an exciting event so come on out this year and enjoy the best radish cuisine Meinong has to offer.
秋季限定 美濃白玉蘿蔔
◎文／侯雅婷 ◎攝影／楊蟬華、張紋誠、侯雅婷
11月的美濃，空氣中洋溢著豐收的喜悅，每年的11～12月是美濃白玉蘿蔔產期，田裏的白玉蘿蔔小小心心的探出頭來，露出一截白白的蘿蔔，宣告著：新鮮的白玉蘿蔔來囉！
美濃區農會推廣股股長鍾雅倫說，許多種植白玉蘿蔔的農戶，在美濃菸葉種植面積驟減，農戶們在稻作節束後的秋冬季節會種些生長期短的作物，而白玉蘿蔔即是「作小冬」的作物之一。
這幾年美濃區農戶作小冬之際，越來越多人選擇栽種「小蘿蔔」，白玉蘿蔔從播種，發芽、成長到收成約需45天，別小看小蘿蔔的身形較一般蘿蔔細小，小蘿蔔是特殊品種，而美濃土壤鬆且乾燥又能保水，恰好有最適合白玉蘿蔔的生長環境，白玉蘿蔔吃起來口感相當細緻、綿密，還有淡淡的蘿蔔香氣，且美濃的小蘿蔔特色是料理時不須削皮，只需在烹煮前把表皮清洗乾淨，小蘿蔔就像是從土裡長出來的白玉一樣，贏得「白玉蘿蔔」的美名。美濃區白玉蘿蔔種植面積超過270公頃，儼然成為美濃冬季主力蔬菜，加上白玉蘿蔔盛產時每台斤約10元左右，往往吸引民眾來嚐鮮。
從2006年起，美濃區農會舉辦「白玉蘿蔔季」獲得廣大回響，農會觀察到愈來愈多年輕的爸爸媽媽帶著小朋友一起體驗拔蘿蔔的樂趣，而且通常參加過一次的民眾明年都還會再回美濃拔蘿蔔喔。2010年除了在美濃客家文物館前面的廣場開放蘿蔔田讓民眾體驗動手拔蘿蔔的樂趣，還有千人辦桌活動，讓民眾也能一同品嚐蘿蔔大餐。
從市面上開始出現蘿蔔到最後一批蘿蔔，約莫3個禮拜，是名符其實的「秋季限定」的美濃農產品。如果您錯過了2010年的美濃白蘿蔔，今年一定要造訪美濃，享受在太陽暖暖照耀著，微風輕拂每片肥美的蘿蔔葉，尋找每個探出頭的白蘿蔔身影，體驗動手拔蘿蔔的樂趣，再細細品嚐最鮮美的白玉蘿蔔料理。