Where To Buy Organic Rice In Taiwan

+ a Yilan-centric list

I’m not the best at buying directly from small farms in Taiwan. Since becoming a full-time cookbook author and a mother, I mostly buy in bulk from Costco and Carrefour. It’s easier to meal plan and keep track of my expenses this way.

Taiwan, of course, has no shortage of gorgeous produce and local pantry staples.

Photo from my cookbook “Made in Taiwan.” By Yen Wei and Ryan Chen.

The best way to acquire farm-fresh products is to buy directly from the producers. But the problem is— as anyone who lives in Taiwan full-time can relate to—most Taiwanese websites are horrible and unintuitive, even for native Mandarin speakers. Or worse, you have to order off of LINE, which is an even clunkier experience. I often get roped into group ordering chats with hundreds of people, where all the ordering and fulfillment and petty neighborhood drama gets aired out in real time. My phone gets so bloated with notifications that I always end up leaving the groups out of annoyance.

Lately, I’ve been making a concerted effort to source from small producers—inconvenience be damned. Organic rice, in particular, is something I’ve been actively seeking out. Rice has been farmed in Taiwan for more than 5000 years and we have roughly 148 accessions. Organic rice makes up about 25% of Taiwan's total organic crop production, and most of that comes from small farms.

To me, freshly milled rice just hits differently. It has a distinct, warm mouthfeel and a toothsome texture to it. It’s also just so flavorful. Some are nuttier than others. We have varieties with taro-like aromas.

Here’s a short Yilan-centric list of where to buy organic rice and rice-related products. The recommendations on this list are courtesy of Joelle Chevier, a Chinese-to-English translator who lives in Yilan. Joelle also used to farm her own rice and is quite embedded within the rice-farming community in eastern Taiwan.

Admittedly, this list probably isn’t all that helpful for folks who don’t live in Taiwan (these are micro-producers and most of them only take direct bank transfers), but if you’re visiting or have family in Taiwan, consider reaching out.

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One of the biggest challenges in the rice farming trade is dealing with the golden apple snail, an invasive snail that feeds on young rice seedlings. Most farms spray the problem away. Organic farmers often have to resort to labor-intensive ways to get rid of the snails. I've heard stories of farmers waking up in the dead of night, headlamps on, to hand-pick the snails from their fields.

農田裡的科學 Science in the Field
These academics-turned-farmers are tackling the golden apple snail problem head-on with innovative methods, like transplanting older rice seedlings because they’re more resilient to snail damage and adjusting the timing of the sowing season. They have a Chinese & English digital zine where they chronicle their findings. They specialize in a Japonica variety (short-grain) called Kaoshiung 147 (高雄147), which has earthy, sweet notes. You can buy their rice here. They speak English.

田文社 Tain Bun Sia
Golden apple snails lay these really vibrant Pepto-Bismol pink eggs. This farmer makes art inspired by the snail eggs and she sells a premium Japonica variety called Tainan 16 台南16. Her store is here.

tain.bun.sia

A post shared by @tain.bun.sia

Thank You Rice
Thank You Rice is helmed by a Singaporean who is growing an indica (long-grain) variety specifically developed for organic farming. Joelle says: she “sun-dries a portion of her grain to sell at a higher price because she swears it tastes better.” There’s no online store, but just send a message via Facebook Messenger. She speaks English.

荃茗米
These guys sell organic rice and homemade brown rice cakes. I’m ordering this the moment I get back home to Taipei because my toddler is obsessed with rice cakes. Call or message them directly.

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Signed copies of my James Beard-nominated cookbook Made in Taiwan can be purchased at Book Larder or Kitchen Arts and Letters. Amazon is also currently having a 45% off sale.