The point of this dish, says my dad, is the ginger and not the duck. I might be missing some steps though, so I need to do a test run.
Break the duck up with a cleaver and mallet.
Scrape the skin and slice the fresh young ginger into1/8" thick rounds. Salt liberally and let the ginger rest till some juice comes out, then squeeze gently with your fingers. Drain and repeat till the ginger is soft. Finally, rinse in cold water to remove the excess salt and squeeze the liquid out one last time. Drier is better.
Note: Use quality young ginger. When you salt the slices, the ginger should be pliable and not crack or split.
Heat up a wok with a tiny bit of oil. Saute several slices of ginger and a chopped scallion with the duck, quickly and briefly. Toss out the ginger and greens but save the duck.
Return the pieces of duck to the wok and add the rest of the ginger. Saute ingredients together then pour in sweet rice wine and reduce a bit. Adjust with a small amount of water till ingredients are almost covered. Note: The rice wine in this case is the dregs, which will have bits of rice included, and is found in the refrigerated section of the store. On its own, the rice wine is sweet and sometimes served warm with eggs. This soup is said to be good for pregnant ladies or perhaps just ladies in general.
Cover and simmer till the duck is tender. Reduce liquid if needed. Season with sugar and rice wine.
