Duck with Herbs

History

Braised and roasted duck has been a cornerstone of Cantonese cuisine and the broader genre of Hong Kong-style roast meats (*siu mei*), with preparation methods refined over centuries. Cantonese ducks are characteristically stuffed with star anise, ginger, spring onion, and more than a dozen other Chinese herbs to infuse their flavors, and plum and hoisin sauces were commonly used in northern China, especially with roasted meats like duck and pork, in the late Imperial period (1600s–1800s). The braising technique—simmering duck in seasoned stock to develop deep umami and render fat—stands as one of the foundational methods of Chinese duck cookery.

In the 1914 *Chinese-Japanese Cook Book*, biracial authors Sara Bosse and her sister Winnifred Eaton, known by the pseudonym Onoto Watanna, adapted Chinese and Japanese dishes to appeal to white middle-class American women entertaining at home. Published in 1914, this is regarded as the first Asian cookbook published in North America. The Eaton sisters acknowledged anti-Chinese sentiment in their preface, writing "When it is known how simple and clean the ingredients used to make up these Oriental dishes, the Westerner will cease to feel that natural repugnance which assails one when about to taste a strange dish of a new and strange land." The cookbook's "Duck with Herbs" is a shorter preparation than Cantonese roast duck: soy sauce (rendered as "syou"), aromatics of onion, celery, garlic and lemon peel, and a two-hour simmer.

This recipe belongs to the broader wave of Chinese-American culinary adaptation that accelerated in the early 20th century as immigrant chefs faced shortages of traditional ingredients and needed to cater to non-Chinese customers who preferred milder, sweeter flavors, substituting local ingredients for hard-to-find sauces. The braised duck tradition endures in Chinese kitchens and in Chinese-American restaurants. The version recorded here is a dish for a different kitchen rather than a degraded copy of another one: Chinese-American cooking has its own history and its own standards, and calling it a "shadow of its ancestral form" imports a hierarchy the record does not support.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 pound duck
• 1 quarter pound pork fat
• 1 onion
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 lemon peel
• 1 quarter clove of garlic
• 2 tablespoonfuls syou
• 1 tablespoonful mixed spices
• 1 cup stock
• 1 dozen mushrooms
• 1 teaspoonful salt
• 1 tablespoonful parsley

Instructions

1. Drain and singe the duck.
2. Wipe the duck thoroughly dry, inside and out, with a clean, damp cloth.
3. Line a pan with small pieces of pork fat.
4. Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with minced onion, celery, grated lemon peel, and finely grated garlic.
5. Lay the duck in the pan and cover with a tablespoonful of mixed spices, two tablespoonfuls of syou, and a cup of rich stock.
6. Set the pan over the fire and simmer for two hours, basting the duck often.
7. Wash the mushrooms and add them to the pan.
8. Cook all together for ten minutes more.
9. Remove the duck from the pan and thicken the gravy with cornstarch or rice flour.
10. Stir in the chopped parsley.
11. Cut the duck into small pieces and arrange on a serving dish.
12. Pour the gravy with the herbs around the duck and serve hot with rice.