Duck at Wondee Siam I

[cabrales]

Have other posters noticed that duck dishes at Wondee Siam (I) tend to involve duck with an interesting (not necessarily in a positive sense) texture?

I had the second-listed duck dish last night, involving an almost duck bacon-type, slightly drier than normal/possibly quasi-fried (not deep fried) texture. It was presented on top of greens, with bits of pineapple, onions/scallions, crushed nuts, rehydrated shrimp, julienne of green apple, etc. Some of the duck slices were thin and more dried from the prepration method than others (not that it was dry in texture). I wonder if there might have been slight smoking involved.

(I've sampled 2 of the four or five dishes officially listed under the duck heading)

Also, I considered the deep fried tofu to not be particularly appealing either. It was a large portion for $3 as an appetizer, but the underlying tofu tasted not so great. :)

[JoanN]

I was there last night as well. Sorry I missed you. Had the duck with tamarind sauce. Hadn't thought of it that way, but "bacon-type" is an accurate description of the duck. And I thought the sauce was overwhelmingly sweet. Also had the fried fish cake appetizer with the peanut dipping sauce: tasty but leathery--and this sauce, too, was rather sweet. A recent poster said she thought they overdid it on the sugary side. After last night's dinner, I agree.

[cabrales]

BTW, How do you know you missed me at WSI, since you don't know what I look like? :)

Your menu is almost the exact menu I had the first (and only other time) I visited WSI. You're on point that the tamarind glaze was significantly too sweet for the dish. I agree with your assessment of the fish cake too.

I further note the texture of the duck (at least in these two dishes) has different effects, depending on how the duck was sliced in any given dish. Some pieces were less thinly sliced, and therefore more moist inside.

A similar unduly sweet sauce, overloaded with crushed peanuts, was served up with the fried tofu. However, I did not comment on that as I thought the tofu had more significant flaws associated with its intrinsic quality.

[ahab]

I had the Ped Panang, which according to the takeout menu is the second duck item. (My dish varied from yours in that it didn't have the dried shrimp or apple.) I enjoyed the duck itself. The fat was rendered well and duck was tender - not dry at all.

The duck for this Panang dish is almost certainly cooked first, sliced and then added to the sauce (or sauced). It could become dry if sliced too soon after removing it from heat, cooked too far before use, or from cooking too long in the sauce (if it is returned to heat at that stage). So it could vary easily from serving to serving.

I do recall a slightly smoky flavor. I also agree that the sauce was unbalanced and too sweet. It would have benefited from some of the flavors toned down for items on the 'English' menu.