When older Yilan residents talk about New Year gifts, dang-gan is the crown jewel. An entire pork liver leaf is cured with salt, stone-pressed, marinated in soy sauce, and sun-dried for more than a month until it becomes a deep-brown, firm block. Sliced razor-thin, each piece is almost translucent. Savory and sweet in the same mouthful, with a satisfying chew — a time-honored pleasure alongside tea or spirits, and the quietest member of the Lanyang Four Treasures.
What is Dang-gan?
Dang-gan is Yilan's traditional processed pork liver. A whole fresh liver is rubbed with salt and pressed under stone weights to expel moisture, then submerged in a soy-sauce seasoning brine, and finally sun-dried and air-cured for weeks or even over a month, allowing the liver to dehydrate and absorb flavor evenly throughout. The finished product is deep in color, with a texture somewhere between liver and cured meat. It is eaten cold in thin slices — savory up front, with a gentle sweet finish — and was historically a premium gift for banquets and the New Year holiday season.
The National Cultural Memory Bank documents the traditional dang-gan process (salt-rub, stone-press, soy-sauce brine, and weeks of sun-drying), and lists it as a traditional Yilan food, grouped with yaoshang, preserved fruits, and gaozha under the name Lanyang Four Treasures. San Yuan Hang in Jiaoxi has been producing dang-gan since 1936 and is one of the county's representative established producers. Yilan County Farmers' Association and related township associations have long listed dang-gan among local specialty souvenirs. It is a traditional craft that is on the verge of disappearing, kept alive by a small number of dedicated families.
How to eat it like a local
Local knowledge
Verified sources (sponsored content filtered out)
- The National Cultural Memory Bank records the Yilan dang-gan production process — a clear entry in an official government cultural data platform.
- Dang-gan, yaoshang, preserved fruits, and gaozha are collectively called the Lanyang Four Treasures and appear on Yilan County's official list of traditional food products.
- San Yuan Hang in Jiaoxi has been producing dang-gan since 1936, one of the county's representative established producers with nearly ninety years of craft continuity.
Visitor tips
- Dang-gan is extremely high in salt. Those with blood pressure or gout concerns should enjoy just a few slices rather than eating it in quantity.
- Authentic handcrafted dang-gan is produced in limited quantities and is priced accordingly. Versions that are unusually cheap or mass-produced may not follow the traditional method.
- Handcrafted dang-gan is mainly produced during the cool and dry winter months. What you find outside that season is typically refrigerated stock from a previous batch — pay attention to storage conditions.
Information compiled from the Yilan County Government's Bureau of Commerce and Tourism, local township farmers' associations, and large-scale public reviews. Sponsored listings have been filtered out. Photos will be replaced with channel-exclusive footage after Dio's on-site shoot.