🍽️ Zhijiang Duck

West-Hunan braised duck with herbs.

Zhijiang Duck is a traditional famous dish of Zhijiang in Huaihua, Hunan, a western-Hunan flavor. Local young duck is cut up and stir-fried until fat renders, then braised with old ginger, garlic cloves, dried red chili and local sauce; finer versions add local perilla-like herbs or Zhijiang sweet paste. The duck turns fall-apart tender and well-soaked, the braising liquor glossy red and thick, spicy with a hint of savory fermented and herbal aroma, meat tender and bones fragrant. It is a grand dish on the guest-welcoming and festival tables of the Dong villages of western Hunan, best eaten with a bowl of oil tea or rice. Zhijiang duck emphasizes spices and heat; a freshly killed and stir-fried pot best shows the rich, honest duck flavor of the western Hunan mountains.