Turkey Isn’t At all times the Star of Thanksgiving—Duck Is, Too

As Thanksgiving approaches, households are shopping for out oversize turkeys to organize for that particular Thursday night time dinner. Everyone knows what comes subsequent: If not achieved proper, slices of underwhelming, presumably dry hen, adopted by weeks of poultry-centric leftovers. Blargh. When turkey is all folks know, consuming different vacation proteins could also be an eye-opening expertise. However for a lot of Houston’s Asian inhabitants, duck has all the time been the protein of alternative.

In line with Johnny Cheung, proprietor of Katy’s Hong Kong Meals Road, consuming duck is culturally important for Asian populations, particularly Chinese language communities. “Culturally, turkeys aren’t like a dominant protein that [we] had,” he explains. “It’s one thing that’s new to us.” 

Cheung, who was born and raised in Hong Kong, says that to keep up the normal Thanksgiving really feel, Asian households should go for poultry—duck or goose—as the primary occasion for the vacation, however goose farms are few and much between, and wild geese don’t all the time style nice, Cheung says. Geese, nonetheless, with their greater fats content material, taste, and flexibility, are a a lot better and extra handy choice.

At Hong Kong Meals Road, duck reigns supreme. The restaurant sources high-quality birds from Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, a generational Pennsylvania farm specializing in entire Pekin geese, a breed originating in China. 

The Cantonese restaurant has traditionally doled out its regular poultry choices. (Longtime followers on the earlier location on Bellaire Boulevard would deliver turkeys for the restaurant to marinate and roast.) However throughout Thanksgiving, geese are in greater demand. Dishes like Hong Kong–fashion roasted duck and a show-stopping platter of Beijing duck, generally often known as Peking duck, are ordered by almost each desk. Vacation meals have gotten so chaotic that Cheung has applied a reservation-only system for Thanksgiving eating.

It’s simple to see why: Beijing duck is a extra “premium” dish. Whereas Chinese language barbecue roasted geese are marinated from the within, with spices positioned contained in the duck’s cavity, Beijing duck is all in regards to the crispy pores and skin. At Hong Kong Meals Road, geese are prepped and first positioned in a walk-in cooler with a fan, which helps dry them out and dehydrate the pores and skin. Moreover, Cheung says cooks on the restaurant add a combination of sugar, vinegar, starch, and water solely to the pores and skin, which additional aids dehydration and provides the pores and skin a pleasant sheen. A dry duck with glazed pores and skin ensures crispiness throughout roasting, he notes.

After it’s cooked, the duck is carved, with the chef separating the meaty items from the crunchy pores and skin. Served alongside pancakes, cucumbers, spring onions, and hoisin sauce, the duck is prepared for a correct Thanksgiving meal. (Professional tip: Make sure to save the carcass to boil for duck bone soup!) Compose your duck pancakes like fajitas: Add meat and pores and skin to the pancakes. Add a smattering of sauce and greens. Then, roll up like a taco and eat.

As for house cooks seeking to make their very own duck, Cheung says method with warning: “I don’t advocate it,” he says with a chuckle. “The trouble and the labor that’s required won’t be price it.” 

For the adventurous (and insistent) house chef, Cheung suggests buying an $80 Beijing duck equipment from Joe Jurgielewicz & Son, which comes full with all the required substances, together with an entire duck, hoisin sauce, and bao. And, although not fairly Beijing duck, this roasted orange and ginger duck recipe from The New York Occasions is a crowd-pleaser and simple to comply with. (Make sure to save the fats renderings—possible an entire jarful, relying on the duck—for duck fats potatoes.)

For any of us turkey-haters not chef-inclined, reservations or to-go orders at a neighborhood restaurant ought to suffice. Favorites from the Houstonia crew embrace: