Duck tongue ✦

Langue de canard

What it is

Barely five centimetres long, a duck tongue is built around a Y-shaped hyoid cartilage that stays firm however long it is braised. Cantonese and Sichuan cooks buy them precisely for that: the point is the contrast between soft meat and the crunch inside, and the cartilage is eaten rather than spat out.

In the kitchen

Blanch them first with ginger and rice wine to take off the poultry smell, then braise twenty minutes in a master stock — longer only slackens the meat, since the cartilage will not soften anyway. Serve them cold from the braise; the texture tightens as they cool.

Goes with

Star anise Shaoxing wine Soy sauce Sichuan pepper Ginger Cassia Chili pepper Spring onion

Same species

Mallard Pekin duck Century egg (pidan) Duck heart Duck confit Stuffed duck neck

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