Roast Duck

After breakfast in the morning, Xiaoguo began to prepare the ducks. She marinated the ducks with salt, five-spiced pepper and ginger slices.

After lunch, she placed the marinated ducks in hot water and blanched them for about 20 seconds. Then, the ducks were pat dry. Xiaoguo poured honey and rice vinegar into a bowl and stirred the mixture before brushing it onto the ducks. After that, the ducks were hung up to dry in a ventilated place. This process was repeated five times.

Her father had taught her this method of making roast duck. It was a taste that their entire family approved of.

Looking at Zhuang Zhuang, who had been jumping around her, Xiaoguo could feel a headache coming on. “Baby, can you promise me something?”

Zhuang Zhuang stopped and looked up at her. “Go on, Mother.”

“Can you stop for a while?”

Xiaoguo didn’t want to say that, but who could stop the overexcited Zhuang Zhuang?

“I can’t help it either.” Zhuang Zhuang gave an innocent look. He really couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t eat much during lunch because he was saving belly space for the roast duck tonight.

Xiaoguo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This child was becoming more and more like a foodie. But then again, with such a supportive fan at home, cooking has become more fun!

“Come on, little glutton. Go and bring me a rack with a hanging hook.”

“Okay…”

Zhuang Zhuang’s current source of joy was to run errands for Xiaoguo. As long as he ran fast enough, the ducks would be ready sooner!

Xiaoguo hung up the completely dried ducks using the special hooks that Zhuang Zhuang had brought over. The two ducks were placed neatly side by side.

She opened the door to the hot oven and pushed the charcoal aside. She put the ducks in and added a large plate below to prevent the duck fat from dripping into the oven.

Then, she quickly covered the oven up so that the heat would not dissipate.

After putting in the ducks, Xiaoguo returned to the kitchen to clean up the war zone. She washed up and arranged everything neatly.

Xiaoguo then kneaded a large piece of dough in a basin so that she can make some dough skin later. After the preparations were done, Xiaoguo returned to the house and waited for the roast duck to cook.

However, Zhuang Zhuang was reluctant to leave the oven. Xiaoguo called out to him a few times, but to no avail. She had no choice but to drag him back into the house.

It was such a cold day. He should be keeping warm in the house instead of staying out in the cold.

“Mother, I’ll go in later.”

“No way.”

Xiaoguo tried her best to pull him into the house, but Zhuang Zhuang kept backing away. She had to use all her strength to get him into the house, and she ended up with her whole back covered in sweat.

They played in the house for a while until the sky gradually turned dark. The duck was almost cooked by then. Xiaoguo returned to the kitchen and divided the dough into smaller pieces. She then rolled them into regular dumpling skin sizes. Oil was rubbed in the middle of each piece before they were stacked up. Every layer of flattened dough was brushed with a layer of oil before they were stacked over the previous piece. After stacking everything up, she rolled them out with a rolling pin and steamed them in the pot.

Then, she took the spring onions that Zhuang Zhuang had wrapped up. She cut the white portion of the stems into thin strips and laid them on a plate. These would be eaten with the roast duck later.

“Mother, is the roast duck ready?”

Zhuang Zhuang was already waiting at the side with a plate.

“Yes, let’s go.”

Xiaoguo arranged the last handful of spring onions and brought Zhuang Zhuang to get the roast duck.

As soon as the oven lid was lifted, the fragrance of the roasted duck wafted into their faces along with the hot steam. The two of them hid from the heat as they took in the unique fragrance of the roasted duck.

“Wow, Mother, this smells too good!”

Zhuang Zhuang was jumping around happily. Xiaoguo was also very happy. It seemed that the oven was very powerful.

Xiaoguo was wearing the oven gloves that she had made herself. She reached into the oven and carefully pulled out the iron rack that was used to hang the ducks. Two roasted ducks were glistening with oil as they were brought out of the oven. The skin was still sizzling from the heat. Zhuang Zhuang was dying to get a hand on the meat so that he could take a bite.

Xiaoguo brought out the ducks on the rack while Zhuang Zhuang ran in front to lift the curtain.

When she returned to the kitchen, Xiaoguo removed the ducks from the hooks and placed one roast duck on a plate that had been prepared beforehand. She then went to the steamer to get a stack of dough skin and placed them beside the duck.

“Zhuang Zhuang, can you make a trip?”

“Okay, Mother, you have to wait for me. You promised.”

Xiaoguo smiled. “No problem!”

When Zhuang Zhuang heard this, he brought the roast duck out.

When he arrived at Mrs. Yang’s house, Zhuang Zhuang could only knock on the door with his feet and head since his hands were full.

Fortunately, Mrs. Yang was watering in the courtyard, so she could hear the commotion. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have heard the knocking on the door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Mrs. Yang put down the basin and went to open the door. As soon as she opened the door, she could smell the fragrance. “Whoa!”

She quickly took the roasted duck that was about to fall from Zhuang Zhuang’s hands. The boy shook his arms and felt much more relaxed.

“Auntie, the roast duck has been delivered. I’ll make a move first.”

With that, Zhuang Zhuang ignored Mrs. Yang’s shouts and ran home quickly. He couldn’t stop thinking about the roast duck at home.

Mrs. Yang looked helplessly at the little guy who was leaving. Then, she lowered her head and smelled the fragrant roast duck.

She was wondering why Xiaoguo requested her to start dinner a little later tonight. Xiaoguo also instructed her to cut some onions beforehand. So it was for this reason.

Mrs. Yang couldn’t wait to bring the roast duck back to the house. She didn’t forget to call for her family to come out and eat.

When Zhuang Zhuang saw that Xiaoguo and the entire roast duck were waiting for him, he was overjoyed. He had run all the way back so that he could get back in time to watch his mother cut the duck.

“I’m going to start!”

With a knife in her hand, Xiaoguo cut off the duck’s head and neck and placed them on a plate under Zhuang Zhuang’s expectant gaze. Then, with her skillful cutting technique, she separated the meat from the bones and placed them on two different plates.

Zhuang Zhuang brought the plates individually to the table. Xiaoguo poured some broad bean paste from a jar into a small bowl. This will be the dipping sauce for the roast duck.

The bean paste was made by Mrs. Yang’s mother-in-law. She had made a vat of it and gave a jar of it to Xiaoguo. Mrs. Yang’s bean paste was really amazing. It was salty, and fragrant. It was good as a dipping sauce and also as a condiment.

“Let’s eat!”

Xiaoguo placed the bean paste on the table and sat down. Before Zhuang Zhuang’s mouth started watering, she announced for dinner to start.

There were two plates of duck meat and bones on the table—the portion was quite substantial. Xiaoguo felt pressurized just by looking at them, but Zhuang Zhuang said that there was no pressure at all. Once he took off his coat, he would start digging in.

As the roast duck was fresh from the oven, the skin was crispy and oil was still dripping from it. They ate the meat by wrapping it in dough skin, together with some shredded onions and sauce. It was very satisfying to eat it in one mouthful.

Xiaoguo didn’t have a big appetite. After eating a few pieces, she stopped and lowered her head to eat her corn porridge. Zhuang Zhuang continued eating and his small mouth was glistening with oil. Xiaoguo was terrified as she watched him eat. Could his little belly take in so much food?

As she thought of that, she quickly stopped Zhuang Zhuang from carrying on. At first, he protested, saying that he was okay, but Xiaoguo’s firm attitude eventually stopped him.

“So be it. I’ll continue tomorrow.”

Even so, Xiaoguo was still worried. When she returned to the house and saw his round belly, she felt terrible for him. How much had he eaten?

It was natural that one would feel sleepy after eating. It was the same for Zhuang Zhuang. After returning to the house for a while, he tried to climb into bed. Xiaoguo refused to let him sleep. He shouldn’t go to bed with such a full belly. He had better get up and exercise!

Zhuang Zhuang reluctantly did his exercises on the floor. Seeing him like this, Xiaoguo also got out of bed to exercise with him. With Xiaoguo accompanying him, Zhuang Zhuang was no longer reluctant. Instead, he became very enthusiastic.

Even so, before going to bed, Xiaoguo found a small handful of dried hawthorns and got Zhuang Zhuang to eat them.

Hawthorns are good for digestion. If he eats more of it, he would sleep better at night.

Zhuang Zhuang knew that Xiaoguo was doing this for his own good. Even though he didn’t like hawthorns very much, he still ate them.

After watching him finish the fruits, Xiaoguo felt much more relieved. When Zhuang Zhuang was completely asleep, she carefully tucked him in. Shortly after, she dozed off as well.