Chuong Wang or Serati (muscovy duck)

A Serati in Miri Poultry Market. Very well constructed cage...He is a real "jailbird".

This is a great dish for special occasions( photo from http://www.cuisine.nz.co). You can get a good Muscovy(chuong wang or serati with the red face) in the market and have it dressed properly for a few extra ringgit. Take home and do a simple Pak Lo (Teochiew style). The secret is in the lam keong (galangal). If you want a bigger bird you buy the male/drake as in the photo below.






You need a duck to make a Loo Ark? Soy Sauce braised duck? You need a duck for soup with kiam chye?

Then you need a red faced Serati or Chuong Wang Hiing. A male Muscovy which will weigh in at about 4 kg. That should be around 50 ringgit after dessing. Muscovy ducks are good as meat birds and they are rather tasty to our taste buds.
According to Dr. Dennis P. Smith )www.countryhatchery.net ) "During the more than 40 years that we have been in business, I must confess that we have bred and hatched some pretty interesting fowls. However, absolutely none can compare with the uniqueness, the adaptability, the pure pleasure, and the usefulness of the Muscovy duck."

Native to South America, their original name was "Musco duck" because they ate so many mosquitos. The Russian Muscovites were one of the first to import them to their country. Being very hardy, Muscovies are still roaming wild in the South American jungles today. Even here in North America, several states, such as Florida and Georgia, have wild Muscovies. These "wild" Muscovies are responsible for eating literally millions of pests every year. Were it not for them, these states would undoubtedly have more millions of "pests" that like to dine on people.

Mature drakes (males) will weigh anywhere from 12 to 15 pounds, while the females (ducks) actually weigh from 8 to 10 pounds. The females are much smaller than the males. Both sexes have what is known as a "caruncle" on their head.

Muscovy eggs are delicious and are used in many dishes prepared by individuals or by famous cooks. Their taste is rich and they are considered a delicacy. And Muscovy meat is one of the healthiest meats on the market today, being 98% or greater fat free. Many people say that the breast meat of a Muscovy is hard to tell from a Sirloin steak. Famous chefs know this and use Muscovy meat in a number of ways. They have become experienced at cutting and preparing the meat for various delicacies. It is even ground up and used as hamburger in a variety of dishes.

Muscovies love to eat flies, maggots, mosquitos, mosquito larva, slugs, bugs of all sorts, black widow spiders, the brown fiddleback spider and any thing else that creeps and crawls. As a matter of fact, they will search in, under, around and through places to find these tasty morsels. They will even eat ants and destroy ant dens. The Heifer Project Exchange of Africa quotes a development worker in Togo reporting that the local people were not bothered by flies because their Muscovy ducks killed them all. They even slaughtered some ducks, opened the crops, and found that the Muscovies had their crops filled with dead flies. The organization ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) has reported the same findings. In addition, a Canadian study of fly controls with dairy goats found that Muscovies caught 30 times more houseflies than commercial flytraps, baits or flypaper. The ducks also ate spilled feed and the flies that were in the feed, along with any maggots that happened to be there. In addition, Muscovies love roaches and eat them like candy.

The best "incubator," however, is a Muscovy duck hen. She will lay anywhere from 8-15 eggs and set. (Sometimes more.) Many times, she will hatch every egg. And, she will do this three or four times a year, depending on your climate. In addition, she is one of the best mothers of all.

Many people like to have the Muscovies on their lake or pond. The Muscovies will eat a lot of the algae and weeds. What about their dropping? While it is true that the Muscovy duck, just like other creatures, will "go" when the pain hit, their droppings are a natural part of the ecosystem and are easily biodegrade.


Muscovies like to breed with other muscovies. However, if you have a single muscovy male or female, he or she will breed with whatever duck is available. These ducklings are called "mules" because they are sterile and cannot produce offspring. Many people will deliberately cross Muscovies with a Mallard duck and get a Moulard. They use this duck for meat.(buang wang)

Source : www.countryhatchery.net