A traditional Souzhou dish, gusu duck will tempt you with its fine balance of gentle sweetness. SU AZIZ shows you how to make it.

OUT of the 659 Chinese cities, Suzhou in the Jiangsu province, a renowned tourist attraction, has been dubbed the Oriental Venice.
For one thing, it has “gorgeous stone bridges, pagodas and meticulously-designed gardens”, according to one website.
Located on the lower part of the Yangtze River while tottering on the shores of Lake Taihu, Suzhou is a vital centre for China’s silk industry and the “cradle for Wu culture”. (An influential nation, the kingdom of Wu existed during the period of the Three Kingdoms).
Souzhou’s cuisine has a clean, pure tone to its flavours. While the cold dishes carry a tinge of sweetness, the main dishes are gentle.
They are almost shy to introduce to your palate their explosion of herbal flavours that mingle with either fresh seafood or red meats.
Still, for those of us so used to the straightforward flavours of Cantonese food which is ubiquitous here, Souzhou’s flavours, with their long finish, might take some getting used to.
The recipe below is an authentic Souzhou duck dish from chef Frank Yang (from Sheraton Souzhou Hotel).
This dish, together with other scrumptious traditional Suzhou cold and hot dishes, is recommended. The Suzhou Sensations promotion at Imperial Hotel’s Celestial Court restaurant on Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur is ongoing until July 26.
My favourite? The bean curd with crab meat hot dish.

TRADITIONAL GUSU DUCK

GuSu was the old name for Suzhou. For this cold dish, you will enjoy a fine balance of gentle sweetness that comes from rock sugar infused with cinnamon and star anise.
However, the redness of the dish’s colour (due to the red sticky rice paste) defies the subtlety of its flavours.
Well, to experience it, you will first need to conjure up the marinate.

For that, get together:
* a full cup of salt
* a handful of cinnamon and star anise

Pan-fry these ingredients without oil on medium fire until the salt adopts the brown tinge of the spices. Do not stop stirring this mix.

Then, gather up:
* 2 large ginger, peeled
* a handful of spring onions, chopped at 6cm length
* a whole duck, cleaned

Crush the ginger and chopped spring onions. Spread the mixture onto the duck. Do not forget the belly.

Then add on the spiced salt onto the duck and let it sit for two to three hours. If you like, you can add a dash of rice wine into the marinate.

Next, for the sauce, you will need:
* 2-3 pieces of ginger, peeled and sliced roughly
* a handful of spring onions, chopped at 6cm length-wise
* a small cup of ginger juice
* a cup of red sticky rice powder, made into runny paste
* a handful of cinnamon sticks and star anise
* 2 large pieces of rock sugar
* a pinch of salt
* a litre of water
* cooking oil

SautÈ the spring onions and ginger in a hot wok and cooking oil. Once they are fragrant, add ginger juice and water.

Then add a small cup of runny red sticky rice paste into the wok. Put in the cinnamon, star anise, rock sugar and salt. A tip: You can buy the red sticky rice powder at any Chinese medical hall.

Let the sauce boil on medium fire for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, wash the salt marinate off the duck thoroughly before placing the bird into the boiling sauce with a pair of thongs. Roll it around the sauce well.

Allow for the sauce to colour the duck evenly before allowing it to cook in the sauce for half an hour on low fire.
Take it off the fire but let the duck sit in the sauce for another hour before serving. This allows for the duck to fully absorb the flavours of the sauce.