Braised duck is traditionally a dish that is cooked via
the teochew’s style of cooking. It is
formally known as 卤味 which is
known as one of the braised varieties. It is a dish where one could spend up to
hours in the kitchen from the plucking of the feathers to the braising of the
duck.
When I cooked this dish myself, I would prefer that the
braise sauce to be more on the sweet side as my family prefers it to be sweet.
Having said that, this is the first time I have the opportunity to review on
Teochew Ah Mah Braised Duck to compare the difference between my own homecooked
and outside one as I seldom consume braised duck out of homecooked food.
Teochew Ah Mah Braised Duck’s braise sauce is slightly more
salty as compared to my homecooked one. Having said that, there are many
differences in individual’s preferences in the taste bud. The meat gives a
meaty feel when upon the first bite. I loved to put the braise sauce on my rice
and mix it with his chilli sauce which is sedap aka delicious.
Learning from the stall owner, Mr Ong that the Teochew
would either braised it on the sweet or the salty side. It is not a definition
that the duck has to braise it on the sweet side only. He said that he had
learned his recipe from his grandmother just like me learning from my mom who
has learnt from my grandmother. However, I found that his braised duck is slightly
more fragrant than mine when I cooked. I wonder what ingredient did he add in.
He actually recommend me to try a lot of his other dishes like
the duck noodles, duck kway chup, braised pig trotters, pig tail with peanuts ,another
of my favourite which is the preserved vegetables and many more others the next
time round when I visit his stall.
Duck noodles |
Duck Leg Kway Tiao |
My favourite-perserved vegetables |
Braised peanuts with pig tail
I was still amazed by his braised duck ..so the only thing
to pack back was his braised duck for my parents to taste. My parents were like ‘hmm..this braised duck
is not too bad’ after all I reheated the braised duck the next day… the duck
meat was not too stiff and difficult to bite.
Before I forget, Mr Ong said how to know if the braised
duck is nice to eat is based on 2 factors. The two factors are there could not
be a funny kind of smell on the duck and there should not be any msg in the
cooking of the braised duck.
There goes another
dish for the traditional food which is being struck off my list to learn for
cooking. If you are keen to bring your old folks to try out the traditional
braised duck , you might want to bring them to blk 504 bishan street 11 to try
out Mr Ong’s Teochew Ah Mah Braised Duck from 2nd of May onwards.