Description
A famous dish that traveled from Qing Imperial cuisine to historic Shanghai. A deboned whole duck is stuffed to bursting with 'Eight Treasures'—dried shiitake, chestnuts, shrimp, Jinhua ham, glutinous rice—and steamed for hours in a premium soy broth. An overwhelming visual and umami bomb.
Restaurants serving Ba Bao Ya (Shanghai Eight Treasure Stuffed Duck)
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We are researching restaurants that serve this dish.
On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Whole duck
- Glutinous rice
- Dried shiitake
- Peeled shrimp
- Jinhua ham
- Chestnuts
- Soy sauce
- Star anise
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- Take a whole duck. Slit the neck skin and extract every single bone without tearing the skin, leaving a hollow meat sack.
- Steam soaked glutinous rice. Mince and fry
- premium ingredients (shiitake, shrimp, chestnuts etc.) and mix with the sticky rice.
- Stuff the hollow duck with the rice mix. Sew shut.
- Blanch to tighten the skin, brush with dark soy, and flash-fry to set a golden color.
- Place in a giant bowl with star anise, ginger, and superior broth.
- Steam for 3-
- hours until the duck meat melts at the touch of chopsticks.
- Thicken the remaining broth and pour over the whole duck.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Sweetness of sticky rice soaked in duck fat and star anise aroma
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
Use a JP whole chicken, stuff with Chinese sticky rice, and steam for hours
Pairing
Premium Shaoxing Wine / Pu'er Tea
Trivia
[Trivia] Rooted in Qing Imperial cuisine loved by Emperor Qianlong. Requiring transcendent deboning knife skills, it is the graduation exam for Shanghai chefs, often requiring advance reservation at high-end restaurants as a 'Da Cai'.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] No knives used. Plunge a spoon directly into the center of the giant duck and split it open. From inside, the boiling hot Eight Treasure sticky rice—dyed brown from absorbing all the duck umami—emerges with a burst of steam. The blissful moment of eating melting meat and chewy rice.
Allergen
Poultry, Shrimp, Pork, Wheat, Soybeans