To Cook
Wash duck, pat dry with paper towel. Brush with dark soy sauce. Set aside for 15 mins.
Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large deep frying pan or pot, fry duck until skin is golden brown. Remove duck and wipe pan clean with paper towel. Add seasoning mix, water, star anise, 4 cloves garlic and ¾ of the ginger. Bring to a simmer then gently braise duck for 90 mins. Remove duck from the pot, transfer to a plate, and cover loosely with foil. Rest.
Add shiitake mushrooms and rock sugar to pot, bring to the boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 10 mins. Combine cornflour with 2 tbsp of water, add to sauce and stir well. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Heat remaining vegetable oil and sesame oil in a wok or frypan over medium-high heat. Finely chop remaining garlic and ginger, add to wok and stir fry for 2 mins – do not burn. Add bok choy and stir fry for 2 mins, add remaining oyster sauce and stir fry for 1 min.
Serve duck with bok choy, mushrooms and sauce.
Duck
Sichuan Fragrant Crispy Duck (Xiang Su Ya)
To Cook
Heat up a pan and lightly roast peppercorns until aromatic. Transfer to a grinder and ground into powder. Mix Chinese 5-spice powder and salt together with grounded peppercorns.
Rub the ducks with the marinade, thoroughly massaging into the skin. Place a wire/cooling rack on parchment paper and put the ducks on top of the rack. Loosely cover the ducks with parchment paper and leave inside the refrigerator to marinade and dry out for 48 hrs.
Remove the ducks from refrigerator and rub Shaoxing wine all over. Scatter ginger and spring onions onto a steaming plate and rest the ducks on top. Steam over boiling water for 1½ hrs, checking water levels occasionally and refill as needed.
Transfer the ducks on a cooling rack placed over a parchment paper and let them air dry for 3 hrs.
Combine starch solution ingredients in a bowl. Rub the starch solution all over the duck and allow to dry for 10 mins. In a wok or deep-fryer, heat up oil enough to almost cover the ducks. Carefully put the ducks in and fry until evenly browned both sides. Remove and place on kitchen towels to drain off excess oil. Serve hot.
Sichuan Tea Smoked Duck
To Prep
Combine Sichuan pepper, white pepper, salt and Shaoxing wine in a mixing bowl. Add in duck breasts and coat with spice mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in fridge for at least 4 hrs.
To Cook
Remove duck from marinade and rinse duck under cold water. Pat dry with paper towel and allow to air dry for 1 hr.
Line a smoker or wok with aluminium foil. Place rice, tea, brown sugar and star anise on top of foil. Place a rack or steam basket over foil and cover with a lid or foil. Turn heat to high and allow to smoke.
Once starting to smoke, reduce heat to medium and place duck on top of rack or steam basket. Smoke duck from 15 mins or until cooked to desired doneness.
Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Remove duck from smoker and place skin side down onto pan. Cook until skin becomes crispy.
Rest duck on a plate skin side up for 5 mins. Thinly slice.
For sauce, add hoisin sauce, lime juice, ginger and garlic in saucepan. Heat on low stirring together. Slowly add oil while whisking to combine.
To plate, add sauce to a plate or bowl. Arrange sliced duck, spring onions, fried ginger and chilli. Serve.
Teochew Braised Duck
To Cook
Heat oil in a wok or large pot and add the dry spices. Fry until fragrant.
Add in soy sauce, sugar and 4 cups of water. Bring to boil.
Add in duck and water to cover ¾ of the duck. Braise in low heat, turning the duck every 20 mins, for at least 2 hrs or until the meat is tender.
Let cool before chopping and serve.
Pan-fried Duck Breast with Thai-style Noodles
To Cook
Mix the duck breast in 2 tbsp of the oil, sliced garlic, chilli and lemongrass and marinate for 15 minutes.
Place 2 tbsp of the oil in to a pan and cook the duck skin side down until it has become crispy. Once the skin is crispy begin searing on all sides before placing the duck in to an oven and baking for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
Add the last of the oil in to the pan and fry the onions till they start to brown. Add the coconut milk to the pan and let the sauce reach a simmer.
When the sauce has reached a simmer, add the fish sauce, oyster sauce, tamarind and palm sugar. Stir and continue to simmer until the palm sugar has dissolved fully.
In a separate bowl, blanch the vermicelli noodles.
When the sugar has dissolved, remove the pan from the heat and add the Thai basil leaves and mix.
To serve, spoon the sauce mixture on to a plate, place the vermicelli noodles on top of the sauce, and finish with slices of the duck. Garnish with more basil and chillies.
Auspicious Chinese New Year Pen Cai
To Prep
Soak and prepare all ingredients in advance and based on the time required.
The Broth
Heat the oil in a large heated pot over medium heat.
Add chopped garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add in chicken stock, mushroom, fish maw, cabbage, white radish and all other seasonings required for the broth.
Bring it to a boil over medium high heat then lower the fire to simmer for 30 mins.
Cooking and Blanching the Ingredients
Cook and blanch those ingredients that need to be cooked in the broth (Can be done in batches or add the ingredients that need to cook into the pot all at once and remove from the pot when done)
Estimated Time (Varies based on size): Prawns and Scallops about 3 mins, broccoli about 15 to 20 sec, Carrot about 2 to 3 mins, lobster tails about 3 mins
Remove cooked items from the broth and set aside for layering later. Turn off the heat of the broth while layering.
Ingredients that do not need to cook in broth: Roast pork, roast duck and fat choy
Layering the Auspicious Pot
Start with Napa Cabbage, dried beancurd skin, fish maw, fat choy and white radish.
Arrange mushroom, scallops, lobster tails, prawns, roast meats, broccoli, carrots, goji berries to fill the top layer.
Finishing and Thickening of Broth
Bring the broth back to boil.
Add Hua Tiao Wine and allow it to boil for a min.
Mix the corn flour and water in a small bowl
Slowly pour in the corn flour mixture into the boiling broth and stir while adding.
Ladle the broth over the pot of layered ingredients
Red Duck Curry with Pineapple and Lychee
To Cook
Heat oil in work over medium heat. Add red curry paste and fry till fragrant. Stir in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low. Add pineapple and lychees and cook, stirring, for 3-4 mins.
Meanwhile, in a large non-stick frying pan, cook duck breasts over medium heat until golden brown. Remove from heat, drain on paper towels. Slice duck breasts.
Transfer curry serving bowls. Top with duck slices and garnish with kaffir lime leaves. Serve with steamed rice.
Prosperity Treasure Pot (Pun Choy)
For the Braised Pork
Blanch pork trotter in water and 3 slices of ginger for 5 mins. This will lessen the porky smell. Drain and rinse the pork. Set aside.
Rub salt and dark soy sauce on pork trotter.
In a wok, heat 2 tbsp oil and sear all sides of the pork trotter until browned and set aside.
In the same wok, pan-fry shiitake mushrooms and dried oysters for 1-2 mins and set aside.
Prepare a pressure cooker. Add pork trotter, shiitake mushrooms, dried oysters and all the remaining ingredients. Fill pressure cooker with water enough to immerse the pork. Seal the lid and cook on high for 30-40 mins and until sauce thickens slightly. Add in the black moss fungus and stir.
Taste test and adjust with more rock sugar or soy sauce if necessary.
For the Seafood Vegetables
In a small pot, fill half full with water and bring to boil. Add Shaoxing wine, spring onions and ginger slices. Keep boiling for another 5 mins.
Add prawns and scallops to the pot to poach for about 2-3 mins. Drain prawns and scallops and set aside.
In another pot, bring chicken stock, wombok and daikon to boil then simmer until daikon is tender. Remove wombok and daikon from the pot and set aside.
With the chicken stock still boiling, add abalone into the pot to cook for 1 min and set aside. Then, blanch broccoli until tender and set aside.
To assemble the Pun Choy
Prepare a large pot, about 28-30cm in diameter and 10-15 cm in depth.
Layer the base with wombok. Save some to place on top with the other ingredients.
Carefully arrange the rest of the ingredients around the pot. There are no set rules, but you’d want to display all the ingredients in their full glory.
Lastly, get your loved ones together and dig in!
Duck San Choy Bow
To Prep
To make the lettuce cups, remove the outer layer of the lettuce and cut out the stem of the lettuce.
Remove the leaves of the lettuce and trim them in to cup shapes with enough space to put the fillings in to them.
Store the trimmed leaves in a large bowl of cold water and keep cool until they are served.
To Cook
In a large pan or wok, add 1 tbsp of oil and saute the garlic and green onions until fragrant.
Add the shredded duck in to the pan and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
Add in the vegetables and stir well.
Add in the Shaoxing wine and cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
Add in the oyster and soy sauce and stir until well combined before adding the cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp of cold water.
Stir the cornflour mixture until the sauce begins to boil and thicken before removing from the pan.
To serve, place a couple of the lettuce leaves on to a plate and fill with the duck filling.
Duck and Ramen Sambai-zu
To Cook
Boil together the dashi, vinegar, soy and mirin, cool and set aside.
Cook the ramen noodles as per instruction on the packet, cool and hold.
Combine together the noodles with the sliced duck, capsicum, eggs, sliced ginger and the spring onion. Add half of the dressing, toss well together and taste. You can add more if required.
Your Duck and Ramen Sanbai-zu Salad is ready! Enjoy this three flavour dressing salad.
Braised Duck with Mixed Vegetables
To Cook
Brush dark soy over duck. Marinate for 10 mins.
Heat vegetable oil in fry pan; shallow-fry duck until skin is golden brown.
Rinse out oil and put in a pot. Add the rest of the seasoning mix, star anise and ginger slices, fry until fragrant. Add duck and water and bring to a simmer and braise for 90 mins. Remove duck from the pot. Cut before serving. Place duck on a serving dish lined with bok choy.
Put remaining ingredients in the pot and braise for 10 mins in remaining sauce. Add in thickener and stir well. Pour sauce and ingredients over the duck. Serve hot with Jasmine rice.
Your recipe for Braised Duck with Mixed Vegetables is ready!
Thai Red Curry Duck
To Cook
Pat duck breasts dry with paper towel and score the skin with a sharp knife diagonally 3-4 times. Season skin with salt.
Heat a frying pan over a high heat for 2 mins. Place the duck breast into the pan skin side down for 5 mins until skin is crisp and golden. Turn and cook for a further 4 mins. Remove and rest in a warm oven 150ºc.
Heat oil in a shallow pan and stir fry the red curry paste for 1 mim. Stir in the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, chicken stock, coconut cream, fish sauce, cherry tomatoes and pineapple and let it simmer.
Add the duck breast to the sauce and simmer for 10 mins.
Serve sliced with steamed rice. Note: this curry is also delicious with chicken or pork.