JUTE Economy, Specialty Soup, and Jute Bags for Rice and Sugar (Kew London Inspired I)





One of the Taiwan items I was shown recently on a Herbarium Library  (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) visit proved to be something significant - about a Jute economy in Taichung area began in Qing and encouraged mass-production during Japanese administrative rule of Taiwan. 

This piece of information, in fact, solved a puzzle about a Only-In-Taichung Young Jute Soup I had on a Wufeng Lin Family visit where we were treated local delicacies including a very special soup 麻芛(mua-inn)湯.

A well established Jute economy in Taichung was showcased at Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 and along with several other Japan-Formosa items were sent to Kew to be archived.

It appears to me - young jute soup (traditionally served with sweet potato) in Taichung was a food byproduct 100 years ago preserved to present day. The taste - unimpressive but for the background story worth it.

So WHO ELSE in Taiwan is known for Jute ‘cuisine’ - The Amis.
Amis word for jute is ‘muwa’ which in my opinion likely a loan word from Taiwanese ‘ mua-inn’ or Mandarin ‘ma-wei’.  Pangcah (Amis) author 吳雪月dedicated a section on muwa soup in her Wild Greens book.

UPDATE
May 25

I sent this article to the Prominent Wufeng Lin host who introduced and treated us the Taichung-only Young Jute soup in 2019. He told me Lin Hsien-tang  林獻堂, his forbear, played a significant role on establishing 臺灣製麻株式會社 Taiwan Jute (Hemp) Textile Corporation in 1905. The first Jute weaving machines in Taiwan were made by this Corporation.

“Jute sources from Taichung supplied the high local demand of jute bags for rice and sugar” Lin explained.

The Kew Collection, therefore, one of the first  'manufactured' jute bags in Taichung for rice and sugar  – showcased Japanese colonial achievement on Taiwan at Japanese-British Exhibition in 1910.








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