Braised Duck - Teochew style

Based on this recipe:
http://ieatishootipost.sg/teochew-braised-duck-recipe/

The simplest recipe that I found:
1 Duck
Cinnamon sticks 5
Dried chillies 2
Star anise 5
Blue ginger (galangal) 7 slices
Garlic 7 cloves
Dark Soy Sauce 350ml
2 Tbsp white sugar

I marinated the 2kg duck with some salt for a whole day in the fridge, more out of timing necessity than anything else. Then, blanched the duck with hot boiling water twice. In case the gamey smell would be too strong. Actually, this turned out to be unfounded, just as written in the blog - Mr Teo, the head chef who gave the recipe didn't do any other prep except to put the duck into the sauce. This is because after about 45mins to an hour of braising, the sauce and duck smell had melded into a fragrant mix, not gamey at all. It smelt of galangal, cinnamon and star anise.

I also added a piece of dried mandarin orange peel and little piece of old ginger. But these flavours had disappeared in the mix.

First half hour of braising. Turning ...

The Tai Hwa superior dark soy sauce packaging is now 640ml. So, about half a bottle went into the wok and a lot of water. After the initial 2 bowls, I must have added 5-6 bowls more of water. Tasted the sauce but didn't adjust much - just a touch more of dark soya sauce and another teaspoon of sugar.

Almost ready ...

The duck was very soft after 1.5 hours of braising. Maybe it was ready after 1 hour. Should have checked the softness level earlier. Or reduced the flame to a slower braise. The duck wings disintegrated. The webbed feet were nice and soft, though. Overall, the taste of the soft duck was very good.

After 1.5 hours, the duck was very soft. Challenge to cut.

Put some of the duck gravy in a pot and added 2 pieces of tofu and 1 packet of tofu puffs. Slow flame for 15-20 mins. Didn't need to add anything else, all the flavour of the duck gravy was absorbed by the tofu.

Took the duck gravy to cook tofu & tofu puffs. And also flavour the yam rice.

The yam rice was intentionally made with less sauce than usual, in order to reduce the overall saltiness of the meal. There was plenty of duck gravy to add according to one's taste.

Comments

Spicy Sour Mustard Green Stew (Tua Chai / Choy Keok / Chai Boey)

The elusive vegetable - Mustard Green - only found in the fresh markets (in Singapore), rarely in the supermarkets. There are quite a few write-ups about this post-Chinese-New-Year brilliant recipe to use up leftover meats. Leftover as in roast meats and pig trotter stewed meats that no one wants to eat anymore after over-indulging on rich dishes for several days. So, a genius person of olden days made a stew of these meats with assam (tamarind), dried chillies and mustard green vegetable to absord all the flavour. https://www.malaysianchinesekitchen.com/chai-boey-mustard-greens-stew/ https://www.rotinrice.com/chop-suey-soup-chai-boey/ https://beyondnorm.com/2017/03/19/choy-keok-recipe/ http://www.msyummylicious.asia/2016/02/hot-and-sour-chinese-mustard-vegetable.html I wanted to make this dish but had no 'leftover meats'. So, I started to collect my meats from the supermarket best buys' section for roast spring chicken and pork. I ate a little of the fresh roa...

Homemade Vinegar Chilli Sauce (cili cuka)

Homemade chilli sauce. Simple homemade chilli sauce, similar to the chilli sauce served with chicken rice. For blending: Red chillies - 10-15 Garlic - 5-7 cloves Ginger - 2inch For mixing: Vinegar - 50ml to start with, the chilli sauce should not be too watery, the sour, tangy taste should be there Sugar - 1.5-2 tbsp Salt - 1 tsp Unfortunately, in true homemade style, I learnt to make this from my mum without measurements. Just a sense of proportion that there should be more chilli than garlic and less of ginger. Of course, the vinegar, sugar and salt are similarly adjusted to taste. Too spicy - add salt, sugar. Too bland - add salt, vinegar. Just mixing all these ingredients together is sufficient, no cooking is required. The vinegar, sugar and salt are preservatives. But I always make sure the chillies, garlic and ginger are washed and dried before I blend them. Also, discard some chilli seeds, otherwise, it will be very spicy. For slow consumption, I keep the bott...

Ti wan chye / Di huang miao

Update 26 Sep 2017 Ti wan chye or di huang miao or whatever you call it - this vegetable is very easy to plant. Just stick a cutting into the soil, water it and it should survive. Planted a few cuttings from my supermarket purchase in my prettiest pot! This photo was taken some time after. 31 May 2017 14 July 2017: Before first harvest. Note: Self-watering system. 22 July 2017: Tender leaves. 23 July 2017: After harvest. 9 Aug 2017: A few more leaves. Besides dried coffee grounds, Epsom salt solution will be added as fertilizer next. 26 Sep 2017

mycookerygarden

Search This Blog