Not to be a pedant, but if weâre talking about the kind of Cantonese style BBQ (siu mei) that youâd find at Cheung Hing, the roast duck is not peking duck. Cantonese roast duck is âsiu aapâ while peking duck is âpeen pei aapâ (not sure on spelling, as the pronunciation depends on dialect as well, with some places in SF Chinatown calling âsiu aapâ as âsiu ngopâ). They are similar in some respects but differ in others like ingredients, preparation, etc. but perhaps most notably the texture of the skin. Cantonese roast duck has less crispy skin, the fat renders differently, and itâs often chopped not sliced. Cantonese siu aap is often served in combination with other siu mei roast meats or as a simple lunch with rice and a bed of braised cabbage or lettuce, while Peking duck is either served with baos (at Cantonese restaurants) or thin, stretchy pancakes (in many other types of Chinese restaurants) with different accoutrements. Both Cantonese roast duck and Peking duck are excellent, just thought Iâd point out the distinction between the different products. At Cheung Hing Millbrae, for example, Cantonese roast duck is $15.95 while Peking duck is $28.00.
Nanjing duck is also a different type of preparation, even if it apparently was the predecessor to Peking duck.
So @droolingdoggie , when you ask for duck at some Cantonese BBQ places, there may be two BBQ types of duck that look somewhat similar. Siu aap is the BBQ duck normally hanging at butchers and accompanying âsiu yuukâ (roast pork belly with crispy skin) and âsee yau gaiâ (soy-sauce chicken) on lunch plates. For takeout, I prefer to buy the Cantonese duck whole (tell the butcher not to chop it) and make my own rice because sometimes the quick cleaving of the siu aap can result in little sand-like bone shards getting on top the rice.
Nice of you to bring some good BBQ to your mother! Ruby BBQ in El Monte is good, though I havenât been recently.
There are lots of good Chinese restaurants in that 626 area. There are lots of styles of Chinese food, some of the more popular ones being Szechuan or Taiwanese. To help narrow it down, what sorts of foods does your mother like or not like (e.g. spicy or not, seafood, etc.)?
And speaking of other Cantonese style fowl besides duck, thereâs also quail, squab, and goose. Fried quail is an excellent appetizer, roast squab is my favorite, and roast goose is my least favorite. I highly recommend roast squabs with a touch of five spice salt and a squirt of lemon as a nice appetizer often served at Cantonese seafood / banquet style restaurants (I donât usually see it for takeout).
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