Where To Find The Best Homemade Roast Duck in Singapore

Finally, the Malaysian duck is cooked for one hour and 15 minutes, covered, over charcoal in an old gas grill that’s been gutted and modified by the handyman-cum-chef (see slide #4).

The result of that slow marinating and charcoal-cooking is a bird that slices like butter under a hot knife. Each bite is rewarded with a surge of savoury juices from the meat perfumed with smoke and spices. The skin, however, is only crispy on occasion. “Strong sunlight is a must for crisp skin when I’m drying the duck. But the sun was weak when I dried yours!” says the chef (see next slide). Not that we’re complaining, since the succulent ham-like meat is the star here. Tip: order two ducks if there are more than six diners. One ain't enough.

Say hello to chef Sam Wong, 49. The jovial host is as quirky as the antique furniture-filled home he shares with his wife, Yap Lee Yee (see slide #20), who helps with table service. Sam’s a part-time ballroom dancing shoe wholesaler (his family biz is in shoe heels), and an avid home cook. “My shoe biz gives me a lot of free time as I was doing this for 25 years, and it runs like clockwork. I got bored at home watching TV, so I decided to offer private dining as I love to cook. I want to serve traditional Cantonese dishes my late grandma, who’s from Guangdong, used to cook.

Not only is Sam skilled at old-school Cantonese cooking, he’s also a seasoned gardener (his granny, who used to be a vegetable seller, taught him the basics). He grows his own fruits and vegetables in the spacious grounds of his 4,300 sq ft corner terrace home. “Cantonese cooking is about purity in taste, natural sweetness and freshness,” muses Sam.

“I started growing veggies when I was a boy living in a shophouse in Chinatown. I cooked most of the meals for my family as my parents were busy working. I started at 14!” says Sam. “My family is critical and hardly praises my cooking even if it’s nice, ha ha!” Here, he grows sweet potato leaves, brinjal, bitter gourd, ladies’ fingers, ginger, pandan leaves, lemons, soursop and papayas.

“Wild civet cats sneak into our garden to steal our papayas all the time!” shares Sam. So now, I have to harvest them when they’re half-ripe. If I allow them to ripen fully on the tree, they’ll get eaten up by the animals”.

We don't blame the cats. The fruit, served as a simple dessert during our meal, is wonderfully floral and succulent.

Young sweet potato leaves from Sam’s garden are served during our dinner. Because it’s completely organic, it's gently sweet, delightfully crunchy and not slimy like older leaves can be. It’s stir-fried simply with fish sauce. We also enjoy the uber fresh ladies’ fingers grown by Sam, tossed with umami minced dried shrimp and garlic.

Sam’s open-air kitchen looks like it was transported from a kampong. In it are rustic cooking implements like a giant mortar and pestle (far right) for making curry pastes, a stone mill for grinding almond or walnut pastes for dessert (centre) and an Indian-style grinder used for small-batch chilli pastes.

This curry, cooked using a recipe Sam concocted, is painstakingly made using the hulking mortar and pestle to crush galangal, fresh turmeric, ginger, onion, fresh chilli, kaffir lime leaves, lime and lemon juice. Its gravy tastes like a cross between our Peranakan’ mother’s satay chicken and assam fish, but spiked with zingy citrus juices instead of tamarind. Quite moreish.

But it's not the curry that shines here. It's the fab duck, homegrown veg, and lovingly cooked Cantonese soups. Sam brews his soup in a vintage clay pot, over a charcoal brazier — the kind you see an Ah Mah fussing over with a rattan fan in Ch 8 period dramas.

This Duck and Dried Seafood Soup is simmered for eight hours with orange peel, dried cuttlefish, octopus, conch, Yunnan ham, monkey head mushrooms, shiitake and kidney beans. It’s full-bodied and brims with the flavours of the sea. Soul-lifting.

An array of herbs and spices line the shelves here. Besides the usual stuff like wolfberries and dates, there're some pretty old ingredients that Sam has aged. Such as 27-year-old lychee peel. “I learned this from my dad who said this was what the Chinese did to make tea in the old days. I want to age it another 10 years so it becomes more fragrant,” laughs Sam.

Also aged, though not for quite as long, is a bunch of chye poh (preserved radish). This one is over three years old. “I do this so its flavour is enhanced and changes from salty to slightly sweet,” explains Sam. He uses it for… (see next slide).

Springy but rather bland crustaceans are sprinkled with the aged chye poh — nothing else — and steamed. This fermented radish has a mushier texture and mellower flavour similar to sour plum. Interesting, though it’s not our fave. Give us the crunch and brininess of regular chye poh, any day.

This Fried Wild-Caught Garoupa is basted in a shallow pan of oil for 20 long minutes. “This way, the flesh remains moist instead of dried out and super crispy if you were to deep-fry it instead,” shares Sam.

While the fish is indeed moist (though we’d have liked its skin to be more crackly), it’s the accompanying Thai-style dip that we find irresistible. A lip-smacking blend of sharp green lemon juice, lime, fish sauce, coriander and honey.

Don’t expect a fancy setting here. You eat in a no-frills dining room with mismatched wooden tables and fluorescent lighting. And you’ll see Sam slaving in the kitchen through the window as he prepares each dish a la minute. Prices start from a reasonable $80 for seven dishes, however, be warned that portions aren’t huge. So ask for larger servings if you've got a hearty appetite — but prepare to pay more, of course.

Chinese antiques adorn the house, like a century-old opium bed that Sam bought for about $10K (right in pic). “I source for antiques, my wife pays for them!” he chirps candidly. What makes a meal here special — besides the outstanding duck and unique setting — is the warmth of Sam and his bubbly, eloquent wife Lee Yee, who works as a marketing director in a financial data company. The couple married five years ago after falling in love over a shared interest in ancient Chinese culture — Lee Yee boasts a PhD in Chinese literature and a Masters in engineering. Sam really got lucky.

Lucky House Cantonese Private Kitchen, 267 Upper East Coast Rd (near Lucky Heights), S466413. Tel: 9823-7268 (reserve four days in advance). Open daily except Sat & Sun. From $80 per pax (minimum six diners) for seven courses, omakase-style.

Photos: Chee Yan & Florence Fong