Angchow Duck

A favourite village scene would be a small pond with hundreds of white ducks (serati) pecking on the soft mud and making a lot of noise.

And when a loud,long,melodious,call of "Di, di, di, di...." comes out as if of no where, I would have that tug in my heart. Home coming was just so full of these very homely calls. Abd all the ducks would rush to my aunt, knowing that chopped vegetables mixed with left over rice would be thrown on the cemented drier grounds for their feeding time!!

A great Foochow dish then was the angchow duck. Ducks were plentiful in the lower reaches of the Rejang River. And that was because Foochows loved to eat ducks before the western doctors advised against eating of red meat.

My uncle would have about 20 to 40 ducks each batch. And every year he could have three batches of ducks. So the income from these ducks would be quite good, as ducks do grow to enormous sizes of 4 kg!!

Thus at a banquet, when ducks were served they were usually very filling indeed. It was a very much appreciated dish because of the value of ducks at that time.

Angchow is the lees or the sediments from the making of Foochow red wine.

Ingredients

1 3 - 4 kg whole duck
6 Tbsp red wine residue (angchow)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp sugar
l knob of ginger (to taste),sliced finely
2 Tbsp cooking oil

Method
1. Clean the duck well. Cut open the stomach side of the duck and flatten the bird with a Chinese chopper.
2. Marinade the duck with 2 Tbsp of the red wine residue, and salt for about one hour.
3. Heat the oil in the wok and place the duck skin side down first. Shallow fry the duck for about 5 minutes and turn over for another five minutes. Dish up.
3. Use the oil to fry the ginger until brown. Add the red wine residue and sugar. Stir well until heated through and oil floats on top.
4. Use the fried angchow sauce to cover the duck and steam the duck in a steamer for about 40 minutes to 1 hour.

This is one of the most traditional Foochow recipes. It is feared that this dish may one day disappear from community as the Foochows become more trendy and sophisticated.