Jiaji Duck 加积鸭

Where it comes from

The Hainan provincial government describes Jiaji Duck as reputed to be one of Hainan's "four famous dishes" (四大名菜). It is commonly called "fanya" (番鸭), the Chinese name for the Muscovy duck, and is a breed brought in from abroad by overseas Hainanese and first raised in Jiaji. Another account has it that Hainanese abroad introduced it from Malaysia about 300 years ago. The best-known birds were those raised by a family named Ding on Jiaxiang Street (加祥街) in Jiaji.

The duck has a big belly, a red crown, yellow webbed feet and black-and-white plumage, and weighs seven to eight jin (about 3.5 to 4 kg). Hainan Daily reports that Qionghai families often put a plate of it on the table for the New Year's Eve reunion dinner, and that the white-cut version is the one most often seen there.

How it is made

Rearing is part of the dish. Ducklings are first fed small freshwater fish and shrimp, earthworms or cockroaches. At about two months, when their first feathers come in, they are penned in small enclosures to limit their movement and force-fed small balls of cooked rice mixed with rice bran; after 20 days they are ready as meat ducks.

The duck is eaten white-cut (白斩 or 白切), pressed and dried as a flat duck (板鸭), or roasted, but locals mostly choose white-cut. For it, the dressed duck is dipped in water seasoned with salt, ginger and crushed garlic once the water reaches 80°C. It is then poached slowly at a bare simmer until just cooked, when the body is springy and a chopstick pushed into the top of the leg draws no blood. It is left to cool naturally, chopped and reassembled on the plate in the shape of a whole duck. The dip is made by pouring hot duck broth over minced garlic and ginger, squeezing in sour mandarin juice (酸桔汁) and adding salt, sugar and chilli sauce, so it is sour, salty, sweet and hot at once.

Flavour and texture

The meat is thick, the skin white, smooth and crisp, with a thin layer of fat between skin and flesh that gives the cooked duck its sweetness. The bird has a broad breast, thin skin, soft bones, tender meat and little fat, so it eats rich without being greasy.

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