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Search Google for ‘duck necks’ and 90% of the results are for people trying to sell them to pet owners. There is even one site selling what they describe as “100% Human Grade Organic Duck Neck Bones” – for dogs!

Duck Necks

Search Baidu, China’s foremost search engine, for the same and there isn’t a pet to be found. Instead you get dinner!

You don’t get the duck’s neck inside your bag of giblets. You buy them separately. Markets and supermarkets all carry them and all over town there are small kiosks and shops selling braised necks to peckish passers-by. 绝味鸭脖 (jué wèi yā bó), operating out of Changsha, Hunan, is one of China's largest retail snack food companies  with over 10,000 stores, mainly in China, but also SIngapore. The name means 'superb taste duck neck', which is what it mainly sells.

Duck Neck

There is a lot you can do with a few duck necks. I guess most people outside China use them to make stocks and that is fine, but I feel that feet and wing tips do that job better. Or , of course, the carcass of a (preferably) roasted or unroasted bird. And there better things to do with necks.

Although duck necks do contain bones, they are soft bones and totally edible. Just skin the necks and you are ready to cook. Probably the most popular way here is to braise them. I prefer to cut the necks into 1½ to 2 inch sections, but they can be and often are braised intact. The necks should be blanched for three minutes and cleaned of any scum before proceeding. They are then braised with slices of ginger, bay leaves, dry red chilli, cassia bark, star anise, green onion and Sichuan peppercorns. Rice wine (preferably Shaoxing) and soy sauce are added to the braising liquid along with salt and, sometimes, sugar. Fresh chillies can also be added for a spicy kick. MSG optional.

Soy Braised Duck Neck

The necks can also be roasted alongside the bird or separately. There is a “recipe” on the internet which deep fries them, but it just consists of coating them in spices and deep frying them.

Goose necks are better boned, but otherwise can be cooked in the same ways. In France, they are often boned then stuffed.

Search Google for ‘duck necks’ and 90% of the results are for people trying to sell them to pet owners. There is even one site selling what they describe as “100% Human Grade Organic Duck Neck Bones” – for dogs!

Duck Necks

Search Baidu, China’s foremost search engine, for the same and there isn’t a pet to be found. Instead you get dinner!

You don’t get the duck’s neck inside your bag of giblets. You buy them separately. Markets and supermarkets all carry them and all over town there are small kiosks and shops selling braised necks to peckish passers-by. 绝味鸭脖 (jué wèi yā bó), operating out of Changsha, Hunan, is one of China's largest retail snack food companies  with over 10,000 stores, mainly in China, but also SIngapore. The name means 'superb taste duck neck', which is whatit mainly sells.

Duck Neck

There is a lot you can do with a few duck necks. I guess most people outside China use them to make stocks and that is fine, but I feel that feet and wing tips do that job better. Or , of course, the carcass of a (preferably) roasted or unroasted bird. And there better things to do with necks.

Although duck necks do contain bones, they are soft bones and totally edible. Just skin the necks and you are ready to cook. Probably the most popular way here is to braise them. I prefer to cut the necks into 1½ to 2 inch sections, but they can be and often are braised intact. The necks should be blanched for three minutes and cleaned of any scum before proceeding. They are then braised with slices of ginger, bay leaves, dry red chilli, cassia bark, star anise, green onion and Sichuan peppercorns. Rice wine (preferably Shaoxing) and soy sauce are added to the braising liquid along with salt and, sometimes, sugar. Fresh chillies can also be added for a spicy kick. MSG optional.

Soy Braised Duck Neck

The necks can also be roasted alongside the bird or separately. There is a “recipe” on the internet which deep fries them, but it just consists of coating them in spices and deep frying them.

Goose necks are better boned, but otherwise can be cooked in the same ways. In France, they are often boned then stuffed.