It was lunch time and we were too lazy to head out for a quick meal, so we ordered duck soup from Earth Jar Treasure, delivered by Foodpanda. Not just one, but two different flavours.
The thing about food delivery services is that you can easily get addicted to the convenience and end up ordering in a lot. So, in order to keep things to a manageable level, we developed a quota system using ice cream sticks in shot glasses.
It’s quite simple really. At the start of each month, put 12 sticks in the left shot glass and each time a food delivery order is placed, move one to the right. When all 12 sticks are moved, tough luck.
Why 12 sticks? Let’s just say you don’t want to know how many we initially started with.
Earth Jar Treasure is actually quite near to where we live, but we’ve never physically been there. Online photos show that they have these huge earthen jars in their shop, which are presumably used to either cook and/or store their various soups. Impressive.
The menu available on Foodpanda was quite varied, and we’ve tried everything except the bittergourd (which The Wife makes at home) and the pig’s tail, which we’re not particularly fond of. Even though we like other pig parts.
We do love oxtail though, which makes us animal-ist? species-ist? There must be a word for this form of discrimination.
This time, we ordered the Great health duck soup, Salted veg duck soup and Rice. The delivery estimate on the app was 25 minutes, but our food arrived in just 18.
I always feel a bit sad for “Rice“, because it doesn’t give the actual dish proper justice and you wouldn’t pay $1.50 just for a bowl of white rice. This is what it actually looks like. It’s cooked with cabbage and mushrooms, very flavourful and well worth the price.
The Salted veg duck soup was salty, tangy and had a spicy kick when you bit into the peppercorns generously sprinkled throughout. While the dominant flavour comes from the salted vegetables, it somehow also manages to taste light and not overpowering.
On the other hand, the Great health duck soup was like a punch to your mouth. Dark, extremely herbal with a bittersweet (甘甜) undertone. I have no idea what’s in the herb pouch, but I’m sure it promotes great health, as advertised.
I love this soup. But I assume that having it too often would give you nosebleeds, so please drink in moderation.
Earth Jar Treasure is one of our go-to delivery places, and we will continue ordering from them whenever we feel like having soup. As long as we don’t run out of ice cream sticks, that is.
Featured image credit: Earth Jar Treasure
