In the comments on my post on Sieu Sieu BBQ, "Nicole" was kind enough to remind me that I had not been back to Hong Kong BBQ and Dim Sum to try out the Chinese BBQ as promised. So recently, craving a bit of duck, I made it a point to check things out.
I got a half pound of Roast Pork ($9.25/lb), and a Half Roast Duck ($7.95).
The Roast Pork was a beautiful golden brown.
In what I found to be interesting, the Gentleman chopping the pork, first removed the crisp skin from the piece of pork; chopped the meat, than chopped the skin. After this procedure he placed the separated skin on top of the chopped meat. When biting into one of the pieces of skin, I figured out why this was done; it was very hard. The rest of the pork was rather good. I thought the fat to meat ratio was excellent, not too fatty, or waxy, and the meat moist. Enough of the fat had rendered during cooking. The flavor was good, with a nice pork flavor, perhaps a bit on the salty side. The meat bad almost a mild "cured" flavor, and perhaps missing a bit of the nice pork sweetness. The Missus thought it to be "too porky", as if there's such a thing????
After returning home, and re-reading Nicole's comment, I realized I had bought the "wrong duck". Nicole had recommended what is usually known as BBQ Duck, whereas I had purchsed a half Roast Duck.
My first thought when I opened this up was; "this is only half a duck?" This was a lot of duck…. The duck was nice and meaty, but very bland, it barely had the faintest hint of the rich duck flavor. I'm sure that preferences differ, but I'd take leaner and tastier duck, over meaty but bland duck. The skin was moist but tough. Not my favorite version of Roast Duck.
As with Sieu Sieu BBQ, the prices are reasonable, and I will probably try out the BBQ Duck, and some the dishes that Nicole recommended.
As I paid for my BBQ, the Lady behind the counter, perhaps playing "guess the customer's Nationality" told me "Cảm ơn" (Thank you in Vietnamese) while giving me my change….she cracked up when I told her Doh Jeh'. (Maybe I should have said "kamsa hamnida")
And in case you're like us, and still wondering what the heck you'll do for Thanksgiving:
Hong Kong BBQ & Dim Sum
10550 Camino Ruiz(Inside of Vinh Hung Market)
San Diego, CA 92126
Wow! only $8 for specially add stick rice in turkey. That is a good value for that.
Great post Kirk.. I’m hungry for duck and crispy pork now. The way you make time to do all this and actually still manage to eat is amazing! 😉
Cheers
sounds like a great way to celebrate thanksgiving, hope you and the missus have a good one!
Hi Chris – It seems like every Chinese BBQ place is doing this for T-Day – you may want to shop around.
Hi Dennis – It seems I may be spending a bit too much time eating nowadays! ;o)
Hi Kat – Thanks…..we’re still not sure what we’re doing.
Dang, now I’m going to have to get some roast duck after Thanksgiving.
Hi Carol – Why not before? ;o) Makes for a great pre-turkey appetizer…..he-he-he
that pork skin looked good, too bad it was so tough! that’s quite a deal, and the turkey stuffed with sticky rice sounds good. have you ever had it?
Hi FH – It seems that most of the Chinese BBQ’s and markets have some kind of similar deal going on. I’ve made glutinous rice stuffing – the recipe can be found here:
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/11/16/features/story03.html
I mentioned it in a post waaay back when:
/2005/11/19/getting_ready_f/
I’m sure you’ve got a great T-Day planned!
Our friends host a party every year with one of these stuffed turkeys (we usually provide the turkey). Soooooo gooooood! Just a couple more weeks! (they do it for Chistmas too if you ask)
Hi Jan – Glutinous rice stuffing…. if made right is awesome…….