Many people have heard about Wenchang chicken of Hainan. Hainan is also known for its Jiaji duck from Qionghai county.
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Jiaji duck 加积鸭 is a breed of Moscovy duck brought from abroad to Jiaji a couple of hundred years ago (during the Qing dynasty). Hence, Jiaji duck is also called 番鸭 or "foreign duck". Moscovy ducks are native to South America.
Haha 😆 we went to Qionghai for a hyperlocal Jiaji duck experience 🕺
邮电新村嘉积鸭美味园 restaurant has white cut Wenchang chicken, Jiaji duck and goose. My first impression was the Jiaji duck is a surprisingly big bird.
We were here when most people were finishing up their dinner or had eaten and left.
We ordered quite a lot of food for four people 😬
Going straight to the duck. The Hainanese like to do their poultry white cut 白切 i.e. boiled, poached or steamed, be it chicken, duck, or goose.
Actually, I like white cut too as it is the best way to enjoy the bird's freshness and quality.
(Oh... the Hainanese do their pork white cut too.)
The duck was cut and served in large chunks and thick slices with no dressing i.e. the same way as Hainanese white cut chicken and goose.
The duck breast, my favourite part of ducks, was sliced thick.
I love duck with thick fatty skin - Jiaji duck's fat and skin is thicker than pig skin 💪 The duck meat was chewy though moist. The thigh meat is more tender than breast meat. The skin and meat don't have a strong gamey taste, just a slight natural sweetness.
The dipping sauce they use here was quite sharply sour and spicy from calamansi, chopped garlic, ginger and chili pepper in the duck stock and fat.
I love the oil rice which is made by boiling rice in duck stock and fat. The oil rice has a slight savoury sweet taste that complemented the white cut duck perfectly.
Side dish of pork intestines stir fried with preserved vegetables, savoury sauce and oil.
Marvellous savoury sweetness in the soft crunchy intestine and preserved vegetable.
The restaurants we went to during this Hainan trip all can churn out delicious stir fried dishes with rich wok hei.
Yam stem stewed with clams. Easy to like blend of savoury sweet flavours with crunchy juicy yam stems and fresh clams.
I am really proud of our performance - we cleaned up everything. It helped that the food was so delicious 😋
Jiaji duck is one of Hainan's four signature dishes (which includes Wenchang chicken, Dongshan lamb, Hele crab) - boxes you have to tick if you are a visiting foodie.
If you are used to tender duck, then Jiaji duck will feel quite chewy for you. If you don't like too much gaminess, then Jiaji duck is for you as it is less gamey than other fat ducks e.g. Irish or Canadian ducks. Personally, I enjoy gaminess in ducks more.
Written by Tony Boey on 4 Jun 2023
🎗 Opinions in this blog are all my own as no restaurant or stall paid money to be featured
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