Delicious Co Lung duck is 'rare and hard to find', visitors come to Pu Luong to hunt and enjoy

Co Lung duck is a specialty that tourists cannot miss when traveling to Pu Luong (Thanh Hoa). This duck breed is famous for its delicious taste, firm, sweet meat, low fat, and unique flavor.

The Valley Duck is a specialty duck breed in Co Lung Commune, Ba Thuoc District, Thanh Hoa Province. The Valley Duck has a round body, short legs, a large, retracted neck, and a sparrow-like plumage, with a distinctive white stripe around its neck. Previously, this duck breed was often raised by the highlanders in Ba Thuoc on a small scale in rivers, streams, and rice fields near their homes, mainly eating corn and rice.

The area where Co Lung ducks live is located in Pu Luong Nature Reserve, between the Nam Ba, Nam Muoi, Pha Le, Pu Luong mountain ranges. The climate is cool all year round, along with clear, clean streams and abundant natural food sources such as stream snails, small fish, shrimp, etc. Therefore, Co Lung ducks are considered to have a unique flavor that cannot be confused with any other duck species. Currently, in Thanh Hoa, there are a number of farms that have focused on research to successfully restore the Co Lung duck breed, which has been crossbred too much. Co Lung ducks can be raised for free range for 4 months before being sold.

In recent years, tourism in Pu Luong has developed strongly, many resorts, restaurants, and community tourism areas have been established, attracting a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. Thanks to that, ducks are sold out as soon as they are raised, and traders come to buy them at home. The price of duck meat sold on the market is relatively stable, from 100,000 - 120,000 VND/kg, and can be up to 150,000 VND/kg. "The price of Co Lung duck is increasing because it is known by many people. It is not easy to buy a standard duck, so diners need to find a reputable source or ask relatives and friends. Many tourists who have stayed at my resort have also asked me to find and order this type of duck to send to Hanoi and Hai Phong for processing," said the owner of a resort in Pu Luong.

According to Mr. Vi Van Tuan (Pu Luong, Thanh Hoa), head chef at a resort in Pu Luong: The purebred ducks here have absolutely no foul smell. When boiled, even without spices, the ducks are still fragrant, the meat is sweet, firm, and low in fat. Co Lung duck meat is often processed into dishes such as boiled, grilled, and roasted. For grilled duck, Mr. Tuan often marinates it with ginger, lemongrass, basic spices such as fish sauce, MSG, seasoning powder, and especially cannot ignore mac khen seeds and honey. The duck is marinated evenly, massaged for 30 minutes, then grilled.

At resorts and restaurants, duck is often grilled in an oven or on charcoal. If you stay at a homestay, you can experience roasting duck on a wood stove with the locals. When roasting, the duck fat begins to drip down, making the charcoal redder and giving off a fragrant aroma. When cooked, the duck meat turns a very eye-catching reddish-brown color.

In November 2020, the National Office of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) issued a Decision on granting a Certificate of Geographical Indication Registration No. 00090 for Co Lung duck, Ba Thuoc. The geographical area includes Ban Cong commune, Thanh Lam commune, Thanh Son commune, Lung Niem commune and Lung Cao commune in Ba Thuoc district (Thanh Hoa province). Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/vit-co-lung-thom-ngon-hiem-co-kho-tim-khach-toi-pu-luong-san-lung-thuong-thuc-2080883.html