What it is
Duck offal soup (鴨下水湯) is a small bowl of mixed duck innards in broth. 下水 is the Taiwanese menu word for offal, and a mixed portion (綜合下水) at a duck rice shop usually covers heart, liver, intestine and gizzard. Because the pieces are cooked only briefly, they stay crisp.
How it is made
The offal is cleaned, then blanched to order. At Duck Zhen (鴨肉珍) in Kaohsiung, one part of the counter cooks noodles, ladles meat sauce and blanches offal while another chops the duck. The shop's stock is simmered from duck bones and seasoned with preserved cabbage (冬菜).
How to eat it
It is a side for duck rice or duck noodles, ordered together with the main bowl. Ask for 綜合 (mixed) to get a bit of each part. Duck blood cake (鴨米血) is the other common side.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Duck Zhen (鴨肉珍) in Yancheng began in 1960 as a pushcart selling plain noodles, run by Wu Teng-chen (吳登珍), and is now in its third generation. In Zuoying, Cheng Tsung Duck Rice (正宗鴨肉飯) pairs smoked duck rice with a full-bodied mixed offal soup.
