Hsialuan Weng's Duck Soup Introduction
Wang Wentang, born in 1952 and engaged in aquaculture, originally focused on fish farming. However, due to the low-lying terrain of the Xialun area, flooding was frequent, especially during Typhoon Wayne in 1986, which severely damaged his fish ponds. As a result, he abandoned fish farming and in the following year (1987), he set up a stall at the intersection of Taiwan Route 17 and Minsheng Road selling meat dumplings and duck soup noodles. At that time, the Xialun Market was located along Taiwan Route 17, but when the road was widened, the market was moved to Minsheng Road, and Wang Wentang also relocated his stall to its current location, expanding his offerings to include rice noodle soup and pig's blood soup. The aquaculture operators in the Xialun area mainly farm mullet, clams, and shrimp. When it comes time to harvest these products, operations begin in the early hours of the morning, with pond owners typically arriving at around 3 or 4 a.m. to bring breakfast for the workers. Initially, they bought dumplings, but later switched to soup noodles because dumplings were harder to digest. Consequently, Wang Wentang’s business focus gradually shifted from dumplings to soup noodles. The preparation of his duck soup involves quickly stir-frying onions, adding sliced duck meat until cooked, and mixing in seasonings, black vinegar, and crispy garlic for later use. In a pot of water, shredded bamboo shoots, crispy garlic, and dried fish flakes are boiled, then seasoned and thickened with cornstarch. When customers order, the fragrant duck meat slices are added to the soup pot for heating before being served in bowls. The duck meat is...
