Happiness Kitchen

「A haven of appetizing fermented food」

When you walk into Happiness Kitchen at Xingchang village of Donghe Township, you can see the wall in orange, a bright, bold color commonly seen in tropical area, and a variety of pickled and fermented food made by the owners Chi and Tien and placed in bottles on the bar table. Living in a small seaside town, Chi and Tien know a lot about changes of natural environment and ingredients in different seasons, including plum, pineapple, winter gourd, bamboo shoot, fragrant manjack, and roselle. The restaurant offers dishes made with seasonal fresh ingredients and the chefs use the ingredients not used for cooking to make delicious pickled and fermented food. They are enthusiastic about experimenting with pickling and fermentation methods. With hand-made rice bran and bean bran, the pickled and fermented food gradually give off more fragrance and develop multiple flavors as the small micro-organism works magic over time. When the restaurant is open, the chef Tien would buy food ingredients at Chenggong Harbor. When it is closed, she would carefully take care of the vegetable garden next to the restaurant, observe growth of aspergillus and try the food at different stages of fermentation. For Chi and Tien, happiness means making a living doing what they love in their own pace in their everyday life and sharing gourmet food with visitors who love home food.