Benefits of Eating Duck in Summer
Modern medicine recognizes that duck meat has high nutritional and medicinal value, containing 16.5% protein, 7.5% fat, and rich amounts of calcium, phosphorus, iron, and various vitamins. It shows clear therapeutic effects for conditions such as low-grade fever, tuberculosis, anemia, poor appetite, constipation, and dark urine.
During summer, people are often affected by heat pathogens, leading to reduced food intake and short sleep duration, resulting in physical weakness. Summer tonification should avoid greasy, heating foods; instead, cooling and nourishing foods like duck are recommended. Thus, consuming tender, juicy duck is not only delicious but also the most suitable tonic food. Regularly eating duck in summer replenishes nutrients lost due to heat while eliminating the adverse effects of summer heat, helping one endure the hot season comfortably.
Below are several medicinal dietary methods using duck:
① Sand参玉竹 Stewed Duck. Use 50 grams each of Sand参 (Adenophora) and Yuzhu (Polygonatum), and one whole old duck. Remove feathers and internal organs from the duck, clean thoroughly, then stew together with Sand参 and Yuzhu over low heat for over one hour. Season and serve, drinking the broth and eating the duck.
② Old Duck Bone Skin Soup. One old duck, 20 grams of Di Gu Pi (Lycium root bark), three slices of ginger, and appropriate seasonings. Clean the duck, remove impurities, cut into pieces. Add Di Gu Pi and ginger to the pot, add sufficient water, and simmer until the duck is cooked. Remove the herbal bag, season, and consume.
③ Green Duck Red Bean Porridge. One green-headed duck, 50 grams of red adzuki beans, five cardamom pods, 200 grams of winter melon, and a little seasoning. After slaughtering and cleaning the duck, place the red beans, cardamom, and seasoning inside the duck’s cavity, sew it closed. Place in a pot with water, boil over high heat until eight-tenths done, then simmer over low heat until soft. Consume once or twice daily, preferably on an empty stomach.
④ Two Nuts Whole Duck. 5 grams of Sha Ren (Amomum), 50 grams of Yi Ren (Coix seed), one whole duck, a small amount of dried mushrooms and baby bok choy, and appropriate seasonings. Clean and cut the duck into pieces. Grind Sha Ren into powder, mix with Yi Ren, add to the pot with sufficient water, bring to a boil, then add scallions, ginger, pepper, cooking wine, and simmer over low heat until duck meat is tender. Add mushrooms, bok choy, salt, and monosodium glutamate, cook briefly before serving.