Birds 47: Roast Goose

"The roasted goose from Hangzhou is a culinary joke, given that it is more or less raw. One's own cook could make it better at home." 燒鵝 杭州燒鵝為人所笑，以其生也。不如家廚自燒為妙。 Did people in Hangzhou make goose carpaccio or tataki? Although this preparation from Hangzhou sounds rather interesting, but we'll likely never know what it involved.

Birds 46: Yunlin Goose

"In Nizan's1 Yuan Dynasty work, the “Yunlin Compendium”, he recorded a recipe for preparing geese. Take a whole goose, clean it, rub the inside of the body cavity with three qian of salt, and stuff it with a large bundle of green onions2 such that the cavity is solidly filled. Cover the outside of the …

Birds 45: Braised Quail and Siskin

"Quail[1] from Liuhe[2] are the best. There are even some that have already been prepared. For siskin finch,[3] braise using Suzhou wine lees, honey, and wine until soft. Add the same seasonings used for braising sparrows to them. Inspector Shen of Suzhou makes a braised siskin with bones that melt in the mouth, but it's …

Birds 44: Braised Sparrows

"Take fifty sparrows and braise them in light soy sauce and sweet wine. When they are done, remove their feet, taking only the sparrows' meat from their breast and head, and put the collected meat into a dish with the cooking broth. Its flavours are incredibly sweet and delicate. Other birds such as magpies can …

Birds 43: Xu Duck (徐鴨)

"Get the largest fresh duck available. Make a solution from twelve liang of baihua liquor, one liang and two qian of unrefined grey salt,[1] and a soup bowl of boiled water, removing any residue and froth after dissolving everything, then apply this to the duck. Next replace the solution[2] and add seven rice bowls of …

Birds 42: Wild Duck Meatballs (野鴨團)

"Chop the wild duck breast finely, add pork fat and a small amount of starch. Form the mixture into balls,and boil them in chicken broth. It is even better to use the original duck's broth instead. The household of Kongqin from Daxing makes this exceptionally well." 野鴨團 細斬野鴨胸前肉，加豬油微縴，調揉成團，入雞湯滾之。或用本鴨湯亦佳。大興孔親家制之甚精。 Meatballs made from duck breasts cooked in …

Birds 41: Dry Steamed Duck (乾蒸鴨)

"This is the dry steamed duck made at the household of Hangzhou merchant He Xingju. Wash a fat duck and chop into eight chunks. Immerse the duck completely with sweet wine and autumn sauce in a porcelain jar and seal it well. Place everything directly in a dry pot to let “steam” over a low …

Birds 40: Hanged Soy-Braised Duck

"Stuff green onion into the duck body cavity, cover the duck well and braise it at high heat. Xu's store at Shuixi gate does this dish very well. This is a dish that cannot be made at home. There are yellow and black variations of this braised duck, of the two the yellow one is …

Birds 39: Broiled Duck (燒鴨)

"Take a young duck and mount it on a spit fork to broil. The cook employed by Examiner Ping makes this exceptionally well." 燒鴨 用雛鴨上叉燒之。馮觀察家廚最精。 I posit that the fork broiled or roasted duck described by Yuan Mei is probably like the modern Pipa duck (琵琶鴨), which is butterflied and flattened, then skewered on a …

Birds 38: Duck Breast (鴨脯)

"Use the breast from a fat duck and chop it into large square pieces. Simmer it in half a jin of wine, one cup of autumn sauce, bamboo shoots, shitake, and chopped green onions. Reduce the cooking liquid and serve." 鴨脯 用肥鴨，斬大方塊，用酒半斤、秋油一杯、筍、香蕈、蔥花悶之，收鹵起鍋。 Another braised duck recipe, except in this one the duck has been glazed …