Yilan Yaoshang (Sugarcane-smoked Duck) | Yilan Signature Dish

Step into a Yilan traditional market and you will often see rows of whole ducks — pressed flat and glazed to a deep caramel color — hanging at the stalls. That is yaoshang. Sliced thin and dressed with garlic-vinegar and garlic shoots, each piece reveals amber-hued meat and semi-translucent fat, releasing a simultaneous hit of salt, sweetness, and sugarcane smoke. This is the cold platter that families across the Lanyang Plain set out at every holiday and celebration.

What is Yaoshang?

Yaoshang is Yilan's traditional cured duck. The process begins by butterflying the duck flat and rubbing it with salt to cure it, then slowly smoking it over burning sugarcane so that the sugar from the cane caramelizes onto the duck skin, creating a distinctive savory-sweet char. The finished yaoshang has very low moisture content and a firm texture. It is eaten cold in thin slices, typically accompanied by garlic shoots, white vinegar, and a little sugar. It works equally well as a drinking snack, a side dish with rice, or a banquet cold course.

Yilan's abundant paddy fields meant that farming households commonly kept ducks. The Council of Agriculture's Food and Agriculture Education Platform identifies yaoshang as a Yilan specialty originating in the Wujie Xiafu area during the Japanese colonial period, and lists it as one of the folk-named Lanyang Four Treasures (yaoshang, dang-gan, preserved fruits, and gaozha). In earlier times, without refrigeration, salting and smoking extended shelf life; over time the preservation food became Yilan's signature flavor. Wujie, Lize, and Yilan City remain the areas with the highest concentration of old-established producers.

How to eat it like a local

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Slice it thin on the diagonalYaoshang is firm-textured, so cut it thinly across the grain at an angle for easy chewing. Thick slices will get stuck in your teeth and mask the layers of flavor.

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Garlic shoots and white vinegarThe classic local pairing is sliced garlic shoots tossed with white vinegar and a little sugar. The sweet-sour combination cuts through the richness. Green onions work too if garlic shoots are unavailable.

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Good over steamed rice as wellIts savory punch is strong enough to serve over hot white rice, with the duck fat melting in — a simple, satisfying bowl. Sliced yaoshang is also a staple cold dish at Taiwanese banquets.

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Vacuum pack for the journey homeThe best flavor is freshly sliced. For taking home, choose vacuum-sealed packs and refrigerate; they keep for about two weeks. Leaving them at room temperature too long causes the fat to seep out and the flavor to deteriorate.

Local knowledge

Verified sources (sponsored content filtered out)

The Council of Agriculture's Food and Agriculture Education Platform explicitly records yaoshang as a Yilan specialty, with sugarcane smoking as its defining technique.
Yaoshang, dang-gan, preserved fruits, and gaozha are collectively called the Lanyang Four Treasures and appear on Yilan County's official list of traditional food products.
Wujie Lize and Yilan City have several third-generation family producers; production is community-based rather than dominated by any single brand.

Visitor tips

Yaoshang is high in salt and quite salty in taste. Those who are sodium-sensitive should stick to a few slices rather than eating it as a main dish.
When buying loose yaoshang at the market, check the production date and storage conditions. In summer, it is best eaten the same day or refrigerated immediately.
Products labeled 'native duck' or 'Muscovy duck' cost more; the difference is mainly in texture and fat content. Choose based on your budget.

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.

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