Sibu Tales : 8 Treasure Duck

One of my memorable Foochow dishes of Sibu is the 8 treasure duck 八宝鸭. It would be a dish that I would look forward to whenever I was invited to a Chinese wedding in Sibu in the olden days.
Nowadays I still look forward to eating this special duck in Sibu. Some how I would never have a chance to eat it in Miri and it would be a bit too much of a challenge to make one all by myself.

Furthermore, this dish is not often on the banquet menu in Miri or elsewhere because people nowadays are very health conscious and don't actually like to eat duck.



The duck is first marinated, fried, stuffed with 8 different ingredients (hence, the "treasures" or "jewels" of the dish) before it's steamed or braised till soft and falling off the bone. Absolutely DELICIOUS. The stuffing of 8 treasures or jewels would be dried scallops, Chinese ham, gingko nuts, dried prawns, Chinese sausages, chestnuts, shitake mushrooms, and dried longans. However the stuffing can be anything a chef can think of.

It must be noted that the duck is usually marinated with five spice powder, pepper, a bit of sugar and soy sauce or any kind of marinade you would like to have. It need not be absolutely Fujian flavours. Besides it really depends on what kind of kitchen equipment you have as the duck can be baked or steamed or may be even microwaved! A good 8 treasure duck is so tasty and aromatic that most diners will find it memorable.

And you don't really have to debone the duck, because the bones add more flavour to the dish.

Duck is a special food for the Foochows. And I suppose to be able to serve duck whenever visitors came to visit was a big deal during my grandmother's time. My Third Uncle, Pang Sing, could do this dish very well. And the huge Chinese kuali was a must have to steam the duck until the flesh could be torn apart by chopsticks.

Living by the river side in Nang Chong, and having ponds for water storage, fish rearing, and getting water for pig sty washing, were such a great way to live.