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- Panel 1-2 “Misanga to ecaw, awaay ko raraw”: How to Regain Amis Food Sovereignty via Koji and Fermentation /Yi-tze Lee
Panel 1-2 “Misanga to ecaw, awaay ko raraw”: How to Regain Amis Food Sovereignty via Koji and Fermentation /Yi-tze Lee
Yi-tze Lee
Associate Professor and Director, National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), Taiwan
Indigenous Amis people of Taiwan use the saying “Misanga to ecaw, awaay ko raraw” (making rice leaven will ease conflict) to fight against the outdated law of alcohol monopoly. Facing the pressure of food hygiene regulation, home-made alcohol for ritual purposes has been stigmatized and banned by the government from the Japanese colonial period up to now. This paper explores how the Amis people utilize fermented food and koji products as a strategy to reclaim tradition and resistance. In the context of modern Amis’ activism, the search for koji/brewer’s leaven plants and the cultivation of traditional rice varieties have become the act of regaining food sovereignty.
Amis people focus on materials mainly derived from two methods: fermentation (misa'epah) and pickling (bacilahan). Fermented ‘sauces’ are known as ‘distiller’s grain’ (Ecaw), and pickled ‘sauces’ are made with salt (cilah). However, within the Amis cuisine, these materials are used to complement food and achieve desirable tastes in rituals and ceremonial gathering. Using the conflict example mentioned above, this paper will first discuss the use of fermented food in Amis’ ritual activities, and then the transition from finding koji plants to environmental protection and most recently to highlight local tourism. Finally, this paper aims to show how the Amis uses koji and fermentation as the means of indigenous resistance and regaining food sovereignty in contemporary Taiwan.
Keywords: Fermentation, Koji, Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Associate Professor and Director, National Dong Hwa University (NDHU), Taiwan
Indigenous Amis people of Taiwan use the saying “Misanga to ecaw, awaay ko raraw” (making rice leaven will ease conflict) to fight against the outdated law of alcohol monopoly. Facing the pressure of food hygiene regulation, home-made alcohol for ritual purposes has been stigmatized and banned by the government from the Japanese colonial period up to now. This paper explores how the Amis people utilize fermented food and koji products as a strategy to reclaim tradition and resistance. In the context of modern Amis’ activism, the search for koji/brewer’s leaven plants and the cultivation of traditional rice varieties have become the act of regaining food sovereignty.
Amis people focus on materials mainly derived from two methods: fermentation (misa'epah) and pickling (bacilahan). Fermented ‘sauces’ are known as ‘distiller’s grain’ (Ecaw), and pickled ‘sauces’ are made with salt (cilah). However, within the Amis cuisine, these materials are used to complement food and achieve desirable tastes in rituals and ceremonial gathering. Using the conflict example mentioned above, this paper will first discuss the use of fermented food in Amis’ ritual activities, and then the transition from finding koji plants to environmental protection and most recently to highlight local tourism. Finally, this paper aims to show how the Amis uses koji and fermentation as the means of indigenous resistance and regaining food sovereignty in contemporary Taiwan.
Keywords: Fermentation, Koji, Indigenous Food Sovereignty