You know, when K.F Seetoh aka Makansutra says that something is good, chances are, it is really good. Same goes for Dr. Leslie Tay and his food blog.
So when K.F. Seetoh posted a video of this roast duck place that was said to be somewhere in Chinatown, *some* of us just had to go hunt it down.
Turns out that the roast duck place is at a very, very central location, which was a great surprise. I thought it would be nearer to where the traditional stalls are in the Smith Street Hawker Center and the Hong Lim Hawker Center, in which I've gone there a couple of times during Lunar New Year to make orders for full duck.
This place, oh dear, now I forget the name of the stall itself, is right in the middle of People's Park Complex outside area there. Basically, you exit the Chinatown MRT on the People's Park Complex and OG side, the side where all the cobblers are that side, turn left to where all the permanent pop-up food stalls are, and then left again.
You won't miss the stall.
The lady's over there most of the time calling out about the duck. She's taking pre-orders whilst the ducks are being roasted in this glass-walled cylindrical-shaped oven and near the time when the ducks are ready for the taking, you'll see a queue there.
A queue that has both the young and the middling-aged.
A queue that has ladies and men.
A queue that has people calling up their families and saying something to the effect of, "Eh, I found the stall ley. It's at this.. ah, you know the money changer in People's Park Complex there, correct, correct, ah, down the escalator from the overhead bridge Lucky Complex that part lar... so, you want me to buy or not?"
One thing I'll say though, if you're someone who quivers at the undignified sight of those poor long-dead ducks hooked up by their necks, being hung up in the oven being slow-roasted for all the world to see, I suggest you do a turnaround right away and go elsewhere.
Remember, you're in Chinatown where the diaspora of Chinese from the world over gathers cos' #Singapore, and local or migrant or whatever, some of us Chinese don't give a d*** when it comes to what we eat and how we cook it just so long as we desire the properties from it.
Which means that a slow-roasted long-dead duck is considered mild. :)
But if you are one, like me, who lurrrrves her roast duck, fat, skin and all, then this is worth a try. Particularly that it costs $15 and it is large enough where you can split it into two meals. Eat half and then save the meat for the microwave afterward.
How we do it, my dining companion and I, is to spilt the duck into half. Half gets eaten first- skin and all. The other half gets saved and then later is hand shredded and pan fried with noodles, or cooked atop a large omelet.
Whatever's left then goes to the street cat who lives in the officetel neighborhood.
Two meals, all beautifully planned out.
And this roast duck is as a roast duck should be.
Basically... very oily, a little fatty and extremely meaty- plus a bit extra of herbal stuff like cinnamon sticks and red dates stuffed inside.
Sure, it's not the healthiest of dishes- for human and for cat- and I think this duck comes under the heaty category, but so far the cat hasn't dashed away after taking a sniff of it, and one doesn't eat it every week anyway. :)
So when K.F. Seetoh posted a video of this roast duck place that was said to be somewhere in Chinatown, *some* of us just had to go hunt it down.
Turns out that the roast duck place is at a very, very central location, which was a great surprise. I thought it would be nearer to where the traditional stalls are in the Smith Street Hawker Center and the Hong Lim Hawker Center, in which I've gone there a couple of times during Lunar New Year to make orders for full duck.
This place, oh dear, now I forget the name of the stall itself, is right in the middle of People's Park Complex outside area there. Basically, you exit the Chinatown MRT on the People's Park Complex and OG side, the side where all the cobblers are that side, turn left to where all the permanent pop-up food stalls are, and then left again.
You won't miss the stall.
The lady's over there most of the time calling out about the duck. She's taking pre-orders whilst the ducks are being roasted in this glass-walled cylindrical-shaped oven and near the time when the ducks are ready for the taking, you'll see a queue there.
A queue that has both the young and the middling-aged.
A queue that has ladies and men.
A queue that has people calling up their families and saying something to the effect of, "Eh, I found the stall ley. It's at this.. ah, you know the money changer in People's Park Complex there, correct, correct, ah, down the escalator from the overhead bridge Lucky Complex that part lar... so, you want me to buy or not?"
One thing I'll say though, if you're someone who quivers at the undignified sight of those poor long-dead ducks hooked up by their necks, being hung up in the oven being slow-roasted for all the world to see, I suggest you do a turnaround right away and go elsewhere.
Remember, you're in Chinatown where the diaspora of Chinese from the world over gathers cos' #Singapore, and local or migrant or whatever, some of us Chinese don't give a d*** when it comes to what we eat and how we cook it just so long as we desire the properties from it.
Which means that a slow-roasted long-dead duck is considered mild. :)
 |
| A Big Roast Duck |
How we do it, my dining companion and I, is to spilt the duck into half. Half gets eaten first- skin and all. The other half gets saved and then later is hand shredded and pan fried with noodles, or cooked atop a large omelet.
 |
| Egg and Duck Meat |
Two meals, all beautifully planned out.
And this roast duck is as a roast duck should be.
Basically... very oily, a little fatty and extremely meaty- plus a bit extra of herbal stuff like cinnamon sticks and red dates stuffed inside.
Sure, it's not the healthiest of dishes- for human and for cat- and I think this duck comes under the heaty category, but so far the cat hasn't dashed away after taking a sniff of it, and one doesn't eat it every week anyway. :)