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Thursday, May 07, 2009

Chuong Wang or Serati (muscovy duck)


A Serati in Miri Poultry Market. Very well constructed cage...He is a real "jailbird".

This is a great dish for special occasions( photo from http://www.cuisine.nz.co). You can get a good Muscovy(chuong wang or serati with the red face) in the market and have it dressed properly for a few extra ringgit. Take home and do a simple Pak Lo (Teochiew style). The secret is in the lam keong (galangal). If you want a bigger bird you buy the male/drake as in the photo below.






You need a duck to make a Loo Ark? Soy Sauce braised duck? You need a duck for soup with kiam chye?

Then you need a red faced Serati or Chuong Wang Hiing. A male Muscovy which will weigh in at about 4 kg. That should be around 50 ringgit after dessing. Muscovy ducks are good as meat birds and they are rather tasty to our taste buds.
According to Dr. Dennis P. Smith )www.countryhatchery.net ) "During the more than 40 years that we have been in business, I must confess that we have bred and hatched some pretty interesting fowls. However, absolutely none can compare with the uniqueness, the adaptability, the pure pleasure, and the usefulness of the Muscovy duck."

Native to South America, their original name was "Musco duck" because they ate so many mosquitos. The Russian Muscovites were one of the first to import them to their country. Being very hardy, Muscovies are still roaming wild in the South American jungles today. Even here in North America, several states, such as Florida and Georgia, have wild Muscovies. These "wild" Muscovies are responsible for eating literally millions of pests every year. Were it not for them, these states would undoubtedly have more millions of "pests" that like to dine on people.


Mature drakes (males) will weigh anywhere from 12 to 15 pounds, while the females (ducks) actually weigh from 8 to 10 pounds. The females are much smaller than the males. Both sexes have what is known as a "caruncle" on their head.

Muscovy eggs are delicious and are used in many dishes prepared by individuals or by famous cooks. Their taste is rich and they are considered a delicacy. And Muscovy meat is one of the healthiest meats on the market today, being 98% or greater fat free. Many people say that the breast meat of a Muscovy is hard to tell from a Sirloin steak. Famous chefs know this and use Muscovy meat in a number of ways. They have become experienced at cutting and preparing the meat for various delicacies. It is even ground up and used as hamburger in a variety of dishes.

Muscovies love to eat flies, maggots, mosquitos, mosquito larva, slugs, bugs of all sorts, black widow spiders, the brown fiddleback spider and any thing else that creeps and crawls. As a matter of fact, they will search in, under, around and through places to find these tasty morsels. They will even eat ants and destroy ant dens. The Heifer Project Exchange of Africa quotes a development worker in Togo reporting that the local people were not bothered by flies because their Muscovy ducks killed them all. They even slaughtered some ducks, opened the crops, and found that the Muscovies had their crops filled with dead flies. The organization ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) has reported the same findings. In addition, a Canadian study of fly controls with dairy goats found that Muscovies caught 30 times more houseflies than commercial flytraps, baits or flypaper. The ducks also ate spilled feed and the flies that were in the feed, along with any maggots that happened to be there. In addition, Muscovies love roaches and eat them like candy.

The best "incubator," however, is a Muscovy duck hen. She will lay anywhere from 8-15 eggs and set. (Sometimes more.) Many times, she will hatch every egg. And, she will do this three or four times a year, depending on your climate. In addition, she is one of the best mothers of all.

Many people like to have the Muscovies on their lake or pond. The Muscovies will eat a lot of the algae and weeds. What about their dropping? While it is true that the Muscovy duck, just like other creatures, will "go" when the pain hit, their droppings are a natural part of the ecosystem and are easily biodegrade.


Muscovies like to breed with other muscovies. However, if you have a single muscovy male or female, he or she will breed with whatever duck is available. These ducklings are called "mules" because they are sterile and cannot produce offspring. Many people will deliberately cross Muscovies with a Mallard duck and get a Moulard. They use this duck for meat.(buang wang)

Source : www.countryhatchery.net

6 memories:

Superman said...

I like roasted duck. No matter what duck will do as long as the skin is crispy. Hehe.

Ensurai said...

The muscovies are good for braising and soup. Pekin Duck is good for roasting. Water duck or chai ark is good for medicinal preparation.
Crispy is a special skill! Wishing you lots of ducks with great crispy skin...yum yum

Just a Little Kindness said...

A long time ago my sister and I were asked by my grandmother to catch a serati for dinner. We caught one and starting slaughtering it. As kids we did not recognize that the one we caught was too immature. We were so frightened by the amount of feathers we had to pluck!!! In the end my grandmother took the not so old duck (actually only a duckling) and skinned it...So she added a lot of kiam chay and carrots. We had soup and very little meat. After that incident I never wanted to kill a duck for dinner any more....My grandmother went cluck cluck every time any one mentioned duck! Part of growing up....Smile.

I Am Sarawakiana said...

This is an amazing story of young children growing up!!

Allen said...

What an interesting blog you have on Foochow! When I was a kid in Fuzhou, I was given the task to raise little ducks like those in your blog every summer. I have been trying to describe them to my kids who were born in the States, but they dont get it. A few years ago we were on vacation on Grand Bahamas Island when we spotted some Chuong Wang ducks. We took pictures of them and I explained it to my kids about these ducks. I have been living in the States now. I don't have much Foochow culture in me, but after reading so much negative as well as positive description of Foochownese. I realized maybe my savvy business acuteman did come from my upbringing. More power to the Foochow (or Fuzhou) folks.

I Am Sarawakiana said...

Dear Allen

Where ever you are I am sure your ancestors must have passed on something good to you!!

May be the Foochow Force be with you as it is with me!

Cheers.

 

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