Duck in it's true form

I have eaten countless proteins in Vietnam but not duck.  This duck restaurant is located a ways out of town but has been open for about 30 years from what I was told.   This place must have started off as a street stall and then just bought the space behind the food stall.  They serve and prepare all the food out front, which I like because you get to see your food being prepared. 

We ordered lightly boiled duck, a salad and some duck congee.  Note to self, make more duck congee.  The duck is prepared a lot like Singaporean chicken and rice.  The duck is boiled with some garlic and ginger and then immediately taken out and plunged into ice-cold water.  This keeps the skin firm but still gelatinous and the inside juicy.   

It is served with Nước Mắm Gừng. Nước Mắm Gừng is made up of fish sauce, sugar, water, chili, garlic and lots of ginger.  This is my favorite dipping sauce because it can cut the fat of any food and reinvigorate your palate.

The salad consists of banana flower and cabbage that is shredded.  You pour some Nước Mắm Gừng over it and mix like a small salad.  All of these accompaniments are supposed to help cut the fattiness of the duck.  It does just that.  It is also served with a large bowl of duck congee.  It consists of duck stock thickened with rice to create a sort of porridge.  This soup was really nice, deep flavor, with lots of ginger and scallions.  I encourage travelers to get out of downtown and take a taxi for a fantastic meal that is cheap.  All of that was 88,000 dong $4.20 US.