Dried cured duck gizzard
Duck gizzards salted and wind-dried in the Cantonese cured-meat (laap mei) tradition, sold as hard, flat coppery discs. Soaked, halved and simmered, one or two pieces perfume a whole pot with a savoury cured aroma and a lingering sweet finish. The quiet essential of watercress and dried-vegetable soups in autumn.
TCM properties
Nature · neutral Flavour · sweet、salty Meridians · spleen、stomach
Traditional food therapy
In Cantonese food therapy it is used to ease food stagnation, open the appetite and direct qi downward, lending its cured savour to the autumn moistening soups.
Cautions: read first
- Cured foods are high in sodium, so take care if your blood pressure is high
- Do not put too many in (1 or 2 is plenty)
Preparation
Soak until soft, rinse clean and cut in half.
Origin
Guangdong (the home of Cantonese cured meats, sun-dried in autumn and winter). Cured meat cannot be imported into Australia (biosecurity), and no compliant retail form exists, so omit or substitute it in Australian versions
Availability in Australia
Herbal shops / specialists
