Hongmian Jiaji Duck
Ingredients:
- 1 whole duck (approximately 1250 grams)
- 500 grams dark soy sauce
- 400 grams choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage)
- 60 grams shrimp paste
- 25 grams crab roe
- 3 grams MSG (monosodium glutamate)
- 0.1 grams pepper
- 5 grams dark soy sauce
- 15 grams Shaoxing wine
- 23 grams wet cornstarch
- 75 grams broth
- 100 grams light chicken broth
- 0.5 grams sesame oil
- 80 grams peanut oil
- 25 grams rendered duck fat
Cooking Method:
- Shape the shrimp paste into 12 balls, each weighing about 5 grams, and place them in a bowl. Divide the crab roe into 12 portions and place each on top of a shrimp ball. Steam over high heat for about 3 minutes until cooked.
- Grease 12 flower-shaped molds with 10 grams of peanut oil each. Add 15 grams of beaten egg white to each mold, then place a cooked shrimp paste ball in the center. Steam over low heat for about 2 minutes until set. Remove from molds after cooling, gently removing with hands to form “flower cups”.
- Pour the rendered duck juice over the duck. Steam the duck over low heat until hot, remove, strain the original juice, and set aside. Turn the duck upside down on a long plate, stretch its head and neck straight, and arrange it in a duck shape.
- Heat a wok over medium heat, add 20 grams of peanut oil, add choy sum and 2 grams of salt, 100 grams of light chicken broth, stir-fry until 90% cooked, then drain in a colander. Return the wok to heat, add 10 grams of peanut oil, choy sum, cornstarch mixture, and stir-fry until thickened. Remove and place around the duck. Return the wok to heat, add 25 grams of peanut oil, pour in Shaoxing wine, add rendered duck juice, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, pepper, and 2.5 grams of MSG, mix with 15 grams of wet cornstarch, add 25 grams of peanut oil, mix well, and pour over the duck. Place 9 flower cups on the choy sum edge and 3 on the duck breast.
- Clean the wok, place over medium heat, add 15 grams of peanut oil, add 75 grams of broth, mix 3 grams of wet cornstarch, add 10 grams of peanut oil and sesame oil, mix well, and pour over the duck.
Key Techniques:
“Baochai Hong Duck”: Slaughter 1 duck (about 1250 grams), discard the lungs, esophagus, and trachea, cut off the wing tips, leaving the top two sections. Use your fingers to pull the duck tongue to one side, cut off one-third of the duck mouth with a knife. Use the back of the knife to break the four-column bones, cut off the tail, cut the spine in the center with a knife (about 2 cm long), and spread the duck body evenly with 25 grams of dark soy sauce.
Heat the wok over high heat, add 1500 grams of peanut oil and heat to 80% hot, gently put the duck into the pan (chest down) and fry until dark red. Immediately turn over and fry again until the entire duck turns dark red (about 1 minute for the whole fried duck), then pour it into a sieve to drain the oil.
Place a bamboo rod at the bottom of the wok, place the cleaned duck, add 2.5 grams of dried tangerine peel, 1 gram of star anise, 2 grams of salt, 2 grams of MSG, 6 grams of ginger slices, 3 spring onions, 20 grams of Shaoxing wine, and an appropriate amount of boiling water. After pouring on a small stove, add 10 grams of dark soy sauce, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour and 15 minutes until the duck meat is tender (the time depends on the tenderness of the duck meat). Remove and place on a plate (breast down), open the back from tail to neck, remove the spine, four-column bones, brain bones, lock throat bones, neck bones (leave the original neck skin connected to the duck head), and use the remaining bones except the lock throat bone and breast bone for other purposes. Place the bone in the duck cavity from the back, then transfer the duck to another bowl (breast up).
Flavor Characteristics:
“Hongmian Jiaji Duck” was created by Guangzhou restaurants in the 1950s. Its name is cleverly conceived: Hongmianhua (Red Cotton Flower) is a symbol of Guangzhou City, and there is also a vigorous red cotton tree outside Guangzhou restaurants as a landmark. Jiaji is a town in Hainan known for its duck production, originally part of Guangdong Province. When this dish was first created, Jiaji ducks were used, which effectively represents the origin of the dish. Since its introduction, this dish has been highly praised by food connoisseurs.
