While Taiwan's wheat self-sufficiency rate once peaked at 15%, small-scale farmers operating in Taiwan's premium-priced farmland simply cannot compete with the mechanized farming operations of major wheat-producing nations. Today, more than 80% of Taiwan's flour supply originates from the United States.

Producing Shaoxing and Kaoliang From Domestic Wheat

Tainan's Syuejia District has cultivated wheat for over two decades, establishing it as a distinctive local cash crop that once earned the area the moniker "Golden Legend." Together with Daya in Taichung City and Dacheng Township in Changhua County, Syuejia formed Taiwan's wheat-producing trio. However, yields have been steadily declining year after year. Today, Taiwan's domestic wheat production operates on a minimal scale through contract farming arrangements, with the grain primarily destined for the distillation of Shaoxing and Kaoliang.

Historically, wheat originated in the Middle East and, following domestication, spread widely throughout Europe and other regions as a temperate, long-day crop. Taiwan's subtropical location would seem to make it an unlikely candidate for wheat cultivation, yet historical records show that early settlers brought wheat seeds to the island as far back as the Qing Dynasty period. Later, during the Japanese colonial era, the colonial government developed a cultivation method that took advantage of the autumn and winter seasons following rice harvest to grow wheat. Remarkably, this system produced wheat of superior quality compared to that grown in mainland Japan.

Following the end of World War II in 1945, the Nationalist government continued the wheat cultivation practices established during the Japanese colonial period while simultaneously receiving substantial wheat aid from the United States. The government also launched a vigorous campaign to promote wheat-based foods throughout Taiwan, marking a pivotal moment in Taiwan's culinary evolution. Various Chinese-style noodles and Western-style breads, all made from wheat flour, began entering Taiwanese households for the first time, becoming an integral component of the Taiwanese table. This created the flour-dependent food culture that Taiwan maintains today.