Jadeite Cabbage With Insects

Taiwan’s National Palace Museum is stocked with breathtaking treasures from China’s imperial. Its arguably greatest attraction is a small statuette, shaped like a bok choy cabbage. While it may seem pedestrian at a glance, a closer look reveals that the cabbage is actually carved from a single piece of green-and-white jade, lending a surprisingly realistic look. A delicately carved locust and katydid (a type of cricket) are perched elegantly on its leaves, to boot. Its artistry, unusual subject, and the fact that it likely belonged to a Qing-dynasty consort give the cabbage massively popular appeal, making it one of the most-viewed objects at the museum.

Walking the several floors of the sprawling museum would make anyone hungry, and the museum’s on-site fine-dining restaurant, the Silks Palace, offers a most unusual banquet: “The National Palace Museum Imperial Treasures Feast” is modeled after the famous objects on display. It includes a pork version of the museum’s famed meat-shaped jasper stone, and fruit arranged in an ice container carved to look like one of China’s ancient bronze cauldrons, the Mao-Kung Ting.

But the showstopper is undoubtedly the “Jadeite Cabbage with Insects.” Made from a tiny, tender bok choy and braised with meat broth, the cabbage is arranged upright in a large spoon to resemble its jade counterpart. In place of crickets, Silk Palace’s rendition artfully substitutes shrimp.