On the ridge above the Kuskus community in Mudan Township, fierce seasonal winds known as lo-shan-feng blow straight through. After the 2009 disaster, the entire community relocated to this new site. Safety improved, but the move cost them their original farmland. The soil here is poor red clay, and the fierce katabatic winds make traditional crops difficult to grow, forcing residents to rethink not only how they produced food, but what they ate and how they ate it.

Driven by the Community Development Association, Kuskus turned to an understory economy. Log-cultivated shiitake mushrooms became its core industry. Residents select ring-cupped oak, Formosan sweetgum, and Castanopsis indica—woods well suited to fungal growth. They stack the logs along the forest floor, letting the mushrooms develop naturally with the humidity and seasons. The method avoids large-scale land clearing or stripping the undergrowth, preserving the forest's structure and soil. It also lets the mushrooms absorb the scent of the woods, giving them a firm, springy texture. On the community table, the mushrooms are often simmered into soup with free-range chicken or stir-fried with red quinoa, forming an everyday dish that pairs the fragrance of the forest with the texture of grain.

Red Quinoa, Paired with Honey, Also Goes into Desserts

Formosan red quinoa (Chenopodium formosanum, Taiwan's native red quinoa) supplies the community's source of starch. As one of Taiwan's traditional indigenous crops, it adapts readily, growing even in poor soil. The community has worked it into rice dishes, desserts, and experimental brews, pairing it with mushrooms and wild greens to gradually build a flavor profile distinct to Kuskus. Honey from understory beekeeping has also become a key part of the visitor experience and a popular souvenir, often used in red quinoa desserts or in the community's signature teas.

These ingredients serve as more than just a source of income—they are also a way of sustaining culture. The Paiwan people have long migrated according to terrain and available resources, and now, in this new ridge-top setting, the understory economy lets the community recalibrate its relationship with the land. Visitors to Kuskus can explore the ruins of slate-stone houses and the area's historical landscape, and through ecotourism, also experience the process of log-cultivated shiitake farming and sample home-style dishes made with mushrooms, red quinoa, and other forest ingredients.

The transformation in Kuskus is not simply an industrial upgrade. It is a reorganization of daily life and the table, built outward from the forest. As strong winds continue to sweep the ridge, the community has chosen not to fight nature, but to cultivate, slowly, beneath the trees—new flavors, and new possibilities.

☛ Kuskus Community has been selected as one of the Ministry of Culture's inaugural 100 Culture Bases.