Ask Mr. Know-It-All: What are Chinese pressed preserved ducks?

Dear Mr. Know-It-All,
What are those glistening squashed birds I see hanging up in the market? How on earth do you eat them? – Ducked If I Know

Ah, the venerable Chinese pressed preserved duck, or 臘鴨 (lap ap): a winter specialty that’s mostly fallen out of favor in a healthier world. You’ll see them hanging up in the colder months, alongside the more common preserved pork and liver sausages.

(Irene Lee via Flickr)

This isn’t the pressed duck of fine French cuisine that’s also known as canard au sang, “duck in blood.” For that recipe, a duck is strangled (to retain the blood inside the duck, of course) and roasted. Then the bird is carved and the carcass goes into an ornate press, which compresses the blood and marrow into a thick, rich sauce. And they say only Hongkongers will eat anything.

So, what goes into making a Chinese preserved duck? Time, mostly. The duck is partially deboned, seasoned with spices and wine, salted, and then pressed flat by hand. After that it’s skewered and air-dried for a few days. Simple enough, but the salt, the fat and the drying all combine to keep the meat from spoiling.

But is it delicious? Absolutely, and it’s incredibly easy to cook. Try it yourself: Prep a serving of rice in a rice cooker and put a piece of the duck on top. As the rice cooks, the duck steams and the flavor-packed fat renders out of the bird, soaking into the rice beneath. When the rice is done, take out the duck, chop it up and serve with your oily, fragrant rice.