Minqing Wet Market : Ducks

 We Foochows have a great love for ducks and especially the red faced or serati breeds. They are called Chuong Huan, or full foreign ducks.

In Nang Chong, many families rear Chuong Huan, partly for food and especially for gifts. Every visit my grand mother or aunts made in the olden days would include a gift of a chuong huan for the host. It was a most welcome gift from down river.

The Foochows called all the areas below Sibu "down river" and the areas above it "upriver". There were more than 30 villages down river in those days.

The main mode of transport was the river motor launch.

Whenever a passenger came on board with a duck in hand, immediately an acquaintance would ask, " Staying over night with your daughter?"

That was the greeting which was warm and knowing. 

And the reply would be immediate, " A few days."

When I visited Minqing Wet Market with my friends, we only took photos of everything displayed.

The ducks grown by Minqing farmers are huge, around 4 to 5 kgs even.

The Minqing people would call all mature ducks, "Gau jui" or eough water. These ducks would be easy to slaughter, without any down (small features) and the meat would be fragrant and tasty.

We did not know what was waiting for us at lunch. Our guide, Mr. Wong took us to  roadside restaurants of some size for something good. Sometimes we were hosted by some contacts  and the meal was sumptuous.

That particular day, we had a special pre ordered banquet, which included Duck Rice, and to our surprise, the restaurant indeed served Duck Rice, like chicken rice in Malaysia.

The cooked or steamed rice came out in a large platter, in good slices,  and a few other vegetable and meat dishes. And the hot steaming rice was served in duck soup! It smelled heavenly. One could order mien sien instead of rice.

It was a unique experience.

This specialty restaurant served duck rice at only RM5.00 for walk in diners.

We were told that Duck Rice could come in two flavours, the plain and the herbal duck.

I at once thought of my Ngie Mah who would have loved to be with us, and enjoying such a sumptuous lunch.