Trailblazing chef among the highlights of Vancouver's TaiwanFest 2026

Chef Ted Liao outside his Michelin Guide-recognized Monsoon restaurant in Taiwan. PHOTO BY CREDIT: COURTESY OF TAIWANFEST 2 /Submitted: Asea Growing up in the produce-rich Miaoli region of western Taiwan, chef Ted Liao learned all about Hakka cuisine in his family kitchen. With its emphasis on texture and allowing ingredients to speak for themselves, the Hakka cooking tradition is known for using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. Dishes such as taro and tapioca Abacus beads and sweet rice mochi are well-known. But meatless recipes are rare in the cooking tradition. At the helm of the Michelin-recognized restaurant Monsoon in Taiwan, Liao is on a mission to change that. “In Taiwan, there is no other way to say it than plant-based Hakka cuisine is something very weird,” said Liao. “The first few years, the question was always ‘No meat, what’s left?’ Today, people are understanding that I’m making dishes that reflect what is happening in the world, where a plant-based diet is the direction we have to go to heal the planet.” Liao will be in Vancouver leading Collective Island, a series of immersive workshops at TaiwanFest 2026. Admission can be booked at showpass.com. Incorporating Hakka kitchen staples, from dried daikon radish and preserved mustard greens to fermented tofu, Liao has become a national celebrity. Hosting the popular Hakka TV program A Meal And A Meet, he is bringing his message of sustainable, seasonal cooking to a global audience. Getting people to become more inclined to substitute a giant shiitake mushroom for a steak won’t happen overnight. It’s a fact that Liao, who became vegan two years ago, understands well. After 20 years spent as a chef butchering and cooking all manner of animals at restaurants from Australia to Taiwan, he came upon the realization that it was time to change both his and the restaurant’s menu. His husband initially thought he was crazy, and longtime customers quit dining at the restaurant. Michelin Chef Ted Liao leads workshops at TaiwanFest 2026. Courtesy of TaiwanFest 2026 PHOTO BY CREDIT: COURTESY OF TAIWANFEST 2 /Submitted: Asea “I came about the decision to become vegan because I love animals, and the more I learned about the diet’s benefits to the world, the more decided I was on the right track,” he said. “While we have Buddhist vegetarians all over Taiwan, it was still a huge change in Hakka cuisine. But the younger generation are very interested in both vegan and vegetarian diets, as well…