Optional trip title: Duck, Duck DO.

David

Not that any of us are going to be able to go to China any time soon, but which place in Beijing were you thinking of? QJD opened up a place here in Toronto some time in the last few years, but is horribly overpriced. It's easier to go to one of the smaller places if you want quality duck or many of our buffets have it as well, just not as well done.

The duck thread hasn't been updated in over 3 years, but honestly not much has changed:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...ck-thread.html

Made in China is still my favorite followed by Dadong. Dadong arguably has slightly better duck, but Made in China provides a nicer all around experience IMO (this is a highly subjective topic).

I know they have at least two locations in Shanghai now, and the one I went to (Jing'an) was every bit as good as Beijing; they sent one of their best chefs down here. I think they might also have restaurants in a few other cities, but I heard New York shuttered last year.

For my tastes, I'd agree with this. Whenever I'm there, my friend brings me to this restaurant specializing in the dish, and, of course, it's fabulous every time. However, many years ago and no idea if it's still the case, I used to have Hanian Chicken rice at the Mandarin in HK--back then, I thought it was really good.

I probably tried those duck restaurants in Shanghai you mentioned, and recall one was particular expensive; not that expensive necessarily equates to good. Similar to Beijing?

I just glanced at the duck thread briefly for the first time in a while, and only noticed Quanjude and Dadong in Shanghai, though perhaps I'm overlooking another, maybe even one of my own plugs.

In any event, the chain prices are about the same in both cities, and other high end places tend to match. When I do lunch at Dadong on Jinbao Jie in Beijing, usually with one other person and one duck, our bill usually less than Y400 (we don't booze it up during lunch). I spend a bit more at Made in China because I like going there for dinner and ordering several non-duck dishes (e.g. their Beggar's Chicken is quite impressive) and wine, but we're still looking at about Y300 per person, which I feel is quite reasonable for the product offered.

With respect to Hainan Chicken, I think the Carlton Hotel in Singapore is one of the more famous venues. However, I've definitely had better. Recently, in the mall places, I've started ordering the roasted chicken variety (as opposed to boiled which is "correct"), and I think I like it more (when ordering at restaurants that serve both) because the crispy skin is a nice touch. Apart from boiling v. roasting, it's the exact same dish. I never saw it in Singapore though, because it's not popular there and/or I didn't discover it until after my most recent trip there.

Here's a picture of true Hainan Chicken from one of the basement chains. I thought I had the roasted as well on my phone, but I couldn't find it.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...9f2cbecfc7.jpg

The roasted chicken version is quite common in hawker centers. I switch it up from time to time when I am there. I recently (read: last few months) tried some of the places here in YYZ, but they're terrible... the rice is oily but not flavourful (and flat)... as if they used standard day old rice, poured some chicken fat onto it after and then warmed it... they don't serve a reasonably accompanying chili and the chicken... tender enough, but flavourless and likely because they used a dull knife (?!?!?) full of bone shards.

If you are in Singapore, definitely go for a hawker center chicken rice.... if you want to say you had the Michelin rated stuff... Maxwell Food Center (Tian Tian Chicken Rice) but be prepared to wait in line for quite a while... (as an aside, some say "Ah Tai" a few stalls down is just as good if not better).

The predominantly-Cantonese outfits out west have been trying to make it for years, and fail miserably (my home-made is much better). The technique to make proper rice is out there but probably too laborious for them to follow.

Or in Hainanese communities in Malaysia (where it is generally just as good if not a lot cheaper). Cameron Highlands is one such place though a bit laborious to get to. Somewhat closer in JHB is the new Swee Kee. The original Swee Kee in Singapore was the place for chicken rice in at least the '70s (and possibly '60s) but the heirs had a falling out and the place closed/land sold/redeveloped. The JHB location is said to be run by relatives of the Singapore branch.

Singapore Government line on the history of Chicken Rice in Singapore.

Look up the Hainan Chicken Rice thread for more

For our family , Saturday lunches for Hainanese chicken rice was de rigueur at Swee Kee in the ‘ 60s into early ’ 70s . Sitting upstairs where there was air conditioning . Usual bowls of chicken rice along with platters of the poached chicken , separate plate of innards , chicken soup & sometimes fried kai lan . Always served with critical condiments of ginger , chilli sauce & thick black sweet soya sauce
Tend to choose the roast chicken these days whether at coffee shops or hawker centres .

This is at one of the clubs just now . Often served in this manner at cafes & restaurants these days Healthy skinless option - only poached offered
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3864fb394.jpeg
Chicken rice

These are out of print, but if you can get your hands on a copy, they would be helpful: My mom had the set back in the 1970's and I remember reading through them because each recipe had an English translation. I'll have to ask if she still has them.
The author is a notable personality in Taiwan - she hosted a TV cooking show for decades (there's even a miniseries about her life that's on Netflix)

I also follow "The Woks of Life" on Facebook. Their website (https://thewoksoflife.com/) does a good job of explaining how to cook Chinese food in way that's accessible to an American, English-speaking audience.

Story about chop suey - which apparently is an authentic Chinese dish, emphasizing offal, that became .......ized for the U.S.

Name apparently comes from tsaap slui (雜碎) in the Toisan dialect. The closest I've come to it was when my mother ordered 雜 菜 (I think that's the correct characters) in Bangkok and got a plate of stir-fried offal.

My only concern with them is that they often (not always) modify the dish they're making so it's "slightly different:. Chinese Cooking Demystified does it less (probably because they're in China... somewhere in Guangdong)... does it more like HK chef expats do (probably because they are so it's a bit easier for someone in North America to follow)...

Personally I watch "hawker" videos when I can.... Singapore, HK, Taiwan and "borrow" the ingredients.... then try to create the dish I wanted. Some spectacular failures (like Oyster omelette) but others like various congees/soups/fried rice aren't too bad. A few of my friends and I (in the before times) used to go to restaurants every weekend... then we moved to pot lucks... Unfortunately due to the pandemic, we haven't gotten together in person for nearly two years now... we'd see who would buy their stuff, who would make and who would modify...

Great resources, thanks!
I have to say, growing up in an immigrant Chinese family in the San Gabriel Valley, I've been pretty spoiled with access to good Chinese food of various regions. My parents always point out that after 1949, Taiwan became a melting pot of all regional Chinese cuisine in way that was less prevalent on the Mainland because all the people who fled to Taiwan represented the vast mainland geography on a small island. Their biggest gripe in the US used to be the lack of variety with the Chinese cuisine more expressed toward southern, Cantonese-style food (which is totally fine with me). However, that's definitely changed in recent years with the influx of Mainland Chinese immigrants. The pandemic has been frustrating though - there's less Chinese food where I live but my office is in the midst of the SGV and I had my regular lunchtime haunts as well the ability try something new on a regular basis. Not going to the office regularly for the last two years has really put a crimp in my Chinese culinary adventures, causing me to have to replicate things at home.

Over here, we were flooded with canto-cuisine when I was growing up. You could find the occasional peking duck, but it wasn't common (but was hideously expensive). Taiwanese food was pretty boring at the time (mostly boiled or soup foods.... nothing like lu rou fan). It has gotten better over time, but way back it was bad. After 95 then we started seeing a bigger variety of chinese foods as mainlanders started to immigrate. Sichuan or hunan foods became popular. Xinjiang foods had their moments too.

These days, it's still cantonese foods mostly, Not as many roast meat stalls but they're still there. I still try to strive for variety if I'm not up for cooking. But I also cobble together my own .......ized dishes on occasion. There are limits to what I can make (eg, nothing that requires wok hei... I'd be more likely to singe my eyebrows off). Current projects are South-East Asian style oyster omelettes (well, could be shrimp or clams as well... easier to afford) and jajiangmian (not sure if that's originally chinese or korean.... and too lazy to do research)

Just saw this...

This reminds me of a dish in Singapore/Malaysia... called kway chap (粿汁). Not very common anymore, but it's a selection of pork body parts in a light gravy and served alongside a bowl of rice noodle sheets (not cheong fan, although that could substitute in a pinch) in an herbal soup. Doesn't sound very appetizing, but it's tasty and healthy (even though it doesn't sound like it). Makes a great breakfast.

I'd like to take a moment to plug my favorite American Chinese food:
-Joyce Chen was amazing
-There was a Chinese restaurant in the nearby Hyatt that also "got it"
-on the west coast, we had (and still have) 核桃虾