A celebration is being held every single day. There’s a day for Batman (September 15), cats (August 8), and coffee (October 1). September 10 is now dedicated to duck and I got to try all types of duck dishes for its first festivity in Manila.
The first Duck Day was hosted by leading Manila-based exporter Donny’s Choice and Thailand’s biggest duck meat provider BR Group of Companies. Together, the two brought Dalee, a Thai brand focusing on duck, to the Philippines.
At the first Duck Day in Manila, Donny’s Choice, BR Group of Companies, and Dalee invited a group of celebrity chefs to prepare dishes featuring the succulent fowl. Present were chefs Boy Logro, Rosebud Benitez, and Gene Gonzalez, along with Thai chef Willment Leong.
The thing is, I used to not like duck. I don’t like its tough and dry consistency. The only dish I like is the fresh Peking duck spring roll in Sofitel’s Spiral, which is dipped in hoisin sauce. Not a lot of people know it since it’s ordered specially, but I suggest you give it a try. It’s so juicy.
Anyway, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Dalee’s duck dishes. I was mostly surprised at its versatility as its flavor was different depending on the cooking method. Chef Leong’s was served like sashimi with citrus fruits, which was refreshing. I also enjoyed the katsudon version.
Here are some of my favorite dishes during Duck Day:
Dalee is a good brand to try duck because of the variety of their products. They have tsukune (Japanese meatball), breast, leg, pastrami, chargrilled, sausage, burger, and a whole lot of more. Of course, they offer whole ducks, too.
This year’s Duck Day in Manila is the first of a yearly celebration. And yes, it’s official: the Office of the President and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts declared September 10 as National Duck Day in the Philippines.
Two side stories: the celebration came with a raffle. This wasn’t a surprise as a lot of media events I go to have raffles for attendees. I don’t usually join as I’m too lazy to participate in the mechanics, and I just help out my more competitive friends. It turned out that the grand prize of the first Duck Day was two roundtrip business-class tickets to Thailand! Other prizes included smartwatches, smartphones, tablets, and a curved digital TV! Donny Yeung, the president of Donny’s Choice, felt so generous that he gave two more winners two roundtrip tickets each to any destination in Asia!
The second is that Janine Berdin performed a set and she was amazing. I’ve never heard of her but she is the grand champion of the Tawag ng Tanghalan competition on TV. She sang “Buwan” and “Nosi Ba Lasi” and she was electrifying.
This story is in partnership with Donny’s Choice. For more information, visit the website or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.