Master stock duck

Toward evening, Wang Ze's wife, Tao Miao, came over carrying a bowl of meat. She had plain features, a face darkened somewhat by the sun, and an unassuming smile. Seeing Xiao Chen waving a branch in the courtyard, she asked, "Xiao Chen, where's your Brother Yun?"

"He's in the kitchen." Ye Chen stopped what he was doing and shouted toward the kitchen, "Brother Yun, Sister Tao's here!"

Ye Yun walked out, drying his hands on his apron. "Sister Tao, what brings you over?"

"Yun-ge'er, we slaughtered a big Muscovy duck today, and my mother-in-law asked me to bring you a bowl." Tao Miao had reached the doorway. Smiling, she handed over a large bowl piled high with duck meat. "Your Rong Zheng only got back from all that hard work taking his exams in the prefectural city a few days ago, didn't he? This will help build him back up."

"What a big bowl! We're in for a treat tonight. Thank you."

"Oh, we're neighbors. Don't be so polite!"

Rong Zheng's family treated them well. Whenever they had something good to eat, they never forgot to send some over. In particular, whenever Ye Chen came to play with Wang Liang, he brought a big bag of sweets. Xiao Le (Wang Ze and Tao Miao's son) would circle around Ye Chen longingly at the sight of them, and once he got some to eat, his little face bloomed into a smile.

From then on, whenever Ye Chen arrived, he immediately pattered out to greet him, calling "Brother Xiao Chen" over and over.

"Sister Tao, wait here a moment." Carrying the duck meat, Ye Yun turned back into the kitchen. A little later, he brought out a bowl of large pig's trotters and pressed it into Tao Miao's hands.

Tao Miao did not refuse. Their families got along so well that there was no need for excessive politeness. She chuckled. "Look at this. I came to bring you food, and now I've got an even bigger bowl of pig's trotters in return. Thanks! I'll head back, then."

She turned to call to Ye Chen. "Xiao Chen, come play with Wang Liang when you have time. Xiao Le really misses you too."

"Will do! Take care, Sister Tao."

To be honest, Tao Miao had noticed over her many visits that Rong Zheng's family had meat at every meal. Ah, it really was enviable. Ye Yun was so fortunate.

At dinner, Rong Zheng saw the duck on the table and asked casually, "Did you buy duck?"

"Tao Miao brought it over. She said they'd slaughtered a duck and wanted us to try some. I gave her a bowl of large pig's trotters in return."

Rong Zheng smiled. Ye Yun was getting along well with the neighbors now. He picked up a piece of duck and put it in his mouth. The meat had a firm, springy bite, but there was a faint gamey smell. Rong Zheng frowned, chewed a few times, and swallowed.

Ah, they never did enough to remove the gamey smell from duck here. I rather miss Zhou Hei Ya from the modern world. That classic, distinctive sweet and spicy flavor, paired with beer, made it impossible to stop gnawing away. Eating it while watching TV was just so satisfying.

Wait, Mom tried making all sorts of specialty foods at home, including Zhou Hei Ya, and I helped her. After she failed several times and looked disappointed, Dad, who doted on his wife like mad, specially hired a chef to teach her at home.

Maybe I could try making master stock duck? If it turns out well, I could open a shop in town.

"A-Yun, do you know anyone in our village who raises lots of ducks and sells them?"

"A few households at the village entrance raise ducks specifically to sell in town." Ye Yun thought Rong Zheng had taken a liking to duck. "Do you like duck? I'll buy one tomorrow and cook it for you."

"No, I want to make something tasty for you two."

"Then I'll go to Uncle Ye Xiong's at the village entrance tomorrow and buy one."

Rong Zheng shook his head. "Buy six. I'll go with you tomorrow." Although he had a good memory, he was not certain he could do it. He would probably need several attempts.

"All right," Ye Yun said.

Hearing that Rong Zheng was going to make something tasty, Ye Chen asked curiously, "Brother Rong, what are you making? Stewed duck?"

"Master stock duck. You can try it once it's ready."

"Mm-hmm!" The food Rong Zheng made had never disappointed him. Ye Chen happily went back to shoveling rice into his mouth, full of anticipation.

The next day, Rong Zheng and Ye Yun picked out six big, plump ducks. They were priced by weight, each costing between eighty and one hundred and twenty wen.

Seeing Rong Zheng, Ye Xiong welcomed him with a smile. Everyone in the village said Rong Zheng was a scholar who had placed first in the exams. He was truly impressive.

He said, "Rong Zheng, since it's you, I'll knock five wen off each duck."

"Thank you, Uncle Ye Xiong."

"We're fellow villagers. No need to stand on ceremony!"

Back home, Rong Zheng started preparing three of the ducks and had Ye Yun put the rest in a cage to keep.

He rolled up his sleeves, slaughtered the ducks, and scalded them to loosen their feathers. After plucking them, he slit open their bellies and pulled out the innards. He rinsed everything separately with clean water, then soaked it to draw out the blood, changing the water several times until the meat turned pale.

By the time he finished cleaning everything, it was almost noon. This really did take quite a while.

After lunch, he began making the stock. Ye Yun had already bought the ingredients while Rong Zheng was preparing the ducks.

The ingredients for the stock were very elaborate, including pork marrow bones, an old hen, beef marrow bones, pork skin, fresh ginger, white liquor, and so on. This pot of stock was extraordinarily expensive... Ye Yun's eyes had widened when he heard the ingredients.

While the stock simmered, Rong Zheng began preparing the master stock seasoning. He soaked the spices in water for a quarter of an hour, then drained them and set them aside. The caramel coloring was crucial. He melted the sugar in a pan, then poured in a little stock.

Once the spices and caramel coloring were ready, he poured them both into the stock.

He stirred it evenly over high heat to dissolve the seasonings. Once they had completely dissolved, he turned off the heat and left it to stand for a while.

The final step was to braise the duck parts. The ratio of stock to duck parts was kept at roughly one to one; for instance, ten jin of stock would braise ten jin of duck parts.

The duck parts had to go in in a particular order. First, he put the necks and legs into the boiling master stock. After they had simmered for about a quarter of an hour, he added the heads and gizzards, followed by the wings, tongues, and so on in sequence. After braising for a while, they were ready to come out.

Rong Zheng lifted the duck parts out of the big pot, shook off the spices, and sorted the heads, wings, necks, and other parts onto plates. He picked up a neck and examined it, saying with satisfaction:

"Not bad. The braising liquid is thick enough, and it clings nicely to this duck neck."

Ye Yun had been helping him the whole time. Seeing how pleased Rong Zheng looked, he asked, "Did it work? Can we eat it now?"

Rong Zheng shook his head. "We need to let them cool first. They're reddish-black now, but after sitting for a while, they'll darken another shade. Come on, let's carry them out to the courtyard."

Ideally, they should have gone into a refrigerator to chill and firm up, but in this weather, there was no ice to be found. He could only leave them in the courtyard to cool in the breeze.

Once the duck parts had cooled, Rong Zheng picked them up to examine them. They felt sticky in his hands. He took them to the kitchen chopping board to cut up the necks, heads, and so on. Waiting until they had cooled before cutting kept them from falling apart. The insides were dark enough once cut open; one look showed that the braising flavors had penetrated.

He picked up a piece of duck neck and handed it to Ye Yun. "Try it?" He started eating too. "Not bad. It would be even better if the stock simmered longer. Today was just an initial attempt to see the results quickly."

"It's a little sweet." After chewing a few times, Ye Yun said, "So spicy. Mm, it's delicious!"

Sweet and spicy, with a crisp exterior and tender, smooth meat inside, it was full of flavor and made one take bite after bite.

"Don't eat too much. I'll take two bowls to Wang Ze's family for them to try and hear what they think."

As Rong Zheng carried the bowls outside, he called to Ye Chen, who was practicing with his sword (a branch), "Xiao Chen, it's ready. Help your Brother Yun carry everything into the courtyard. We'll eat dinner out there."

Wang Zhang-shi tried a duck head. "Mm, delicious. The flavor has soaked right in."

"The first bite tastes a little sweet, then it turns spicy. The more you eat, the more numbing and spicy it gets, and the more flavorful it is," Wang Liang said. After finishing a duck wing, he hurriedly picked up a duck tongue.

Everyone else who tried it was full of praise too.

"How did you make this? It's much better than what the restaurants serve. If you set up a stall, it would definitely sell like crazy." Wang Ze gave Rong Zheng a thumbs-up.

"I am planning to try setting up a stall later," Rong Zheng said.

The adults understood at once. If he planned to sell it, he could not casually share the secret recipe, so they stopped asking how it was made.

When he got home, there was already a pile of bones on the table. Ye Yun felt guilty. Before Rong Zheng left, he even told me not to eat too much, yet Xiao Chen and I ate our way through a whole pile of bones without realizing it.

But it really was so delicious that he had eaten quite a lot without noticing.

Seeing the guilty look in his husband's eyes, Rong Zheng smiled dotingly.

That night, as Rong Zheng held his husband in his arms:

"I'd like to make a big pot next time and try selling it at a stall in town."

"Mm, we can try. It's really delicious." Ye Yun was still savoring it. He had never eaten such delicious master stock duck. "But the cost is a bit high. The three ducks cost over two hundred wen, and we bought quite a lot of meat and bones for the bone broth, which cost over a hundred and fifty wen. Then there were fifty wen of seasonings. This pot cost around four hundred wen to make today!"

"My little housekeeper, your arithmetic is really coming along!" Rong Zheng praised him.

Whenever Rong Zheng had time, he taught Ye Yun and Ye Chen simple arithmetic. He did not teach from this dynasty's arithmetic books, because they were truly obscure and difficult to understand, explaining simple methods in very complicated ways. Instead, he taught them the basics of modern mathematics, mainly so they could do basic calculations quickly.

Delighted by the praise, Ye Yun buried his head in Rong Zheng's chest. The longer they were together, the more he felt that Rong Zheng was like a treasure, always full of surprises:

He cooked well, taught them to read and write, and even taught them arithmetic. How could Rong Zheng be so wonderful? He felt so blessed to have married him.

Seeing his husband nestled affectionately against him, Rong Zheng stroked his hair and continued, "The cost is a little high. We'll see how it sells when the time comes. Go to sleep!"

"Mm," Ye Yun answered obediently.