Kuaytiaw Pet ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเป็ด Thai Duck Noodle Soup

The ingredients for the broth looking familiar to you? Well you might be thinking of another popular Thai Chinese dish that I posted a while back - five spice pork leg stew or ka muu palo. Both dishes (and many more) migrated south along with the Teowchew coolies more than a century back and are now two of the most loved dishes in Thailand.

The duck is traditionally braised in the aromatic broth (palo in Thai or lu Chinese) but I wanted to be able to enjoy the delicious duck skin as well, something that I have been craving for weeks. Another advantage of roasting the duck is of course the wonderful fat that rendered out during the roasting process, well more about that later.

To make sure the aromatic broth is also rich and meaty; I have added a few roasted duck necks to the stock pot, they can be purchase from any Chinese bbq restaurants for next to nothing. Be patient and allow the broth to simmer very slowly for a few hour while you prepare the rest of the components for the dish. 

serves 4 to 6 as a one dish meal

you'll need;

1 whole duck, excess fat removed 

2 tbs of hoisin sauce

1 tbs of light soy

1 tsp of 5 spice powder

1 packet of rice sticks noodles, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained well

2 cups of bean sprouts

2 spring onions, chopped

3 stalks of coriander chopped (roots reserved for stock)

garlic oil and fried garlic
4 to 6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and halved

condiments sets to serve

for the stock;

4 l of stock

3 coriander roots, bashed

4 slices of galangal

1 tbs of white peppercorns

1 cassia bark

2 Thai cardamon pods

3 star anise

1 tsp of coriander seeds

reserved duck bones
3 roasted duck necks*

1/2 cup of rock sugar

1/3 cup of dark soy

1/4 cup of light soy

1/4 cup of fish sauce
*available from your local Chinese bbq restaurants

Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil, blanch duck for 2 minutes, remove and pat dry including the cavity. Mix hoisin sauce, soy and 5 spice powder and rub the mixture all over the duck including the cavity. Place duck uncovered in the fridge overnight or place it on a wire rack in front of a fan for 2 to 3 hours.

Place duck in the hot over breasts side up and roast at 240 C for 20 minutes, turn the oven down to 180 C and continue to cook for 25 minutes.

Rest duck for 15 minutes before separating the meat from the bones. Reserving all bones for the broth.

Place all ingredients for broth in a large pot cover and simmer on very low heat for 2.5 to 3 hours.

While the waiting for the broth, prepare the garlic oil/crispy garlic. and the rest of the toppings.

Prepare the condiments - normally consists of chili in vinegar, chili in fish sauce, dried chili flakes and sugar.

Blanch noodles and bean sprouts and drain well.

Pour some broth over, top with some duck pieces and the rest of the toppings. Serve with the condiments on the side.

Slow Roasted Duck With Sides

It has taken me almost 6 months to really get to "know" my oven and now we are very happy to try out new things together, slow roasting a whole duck for example. Time and patience are all you need once you have gathered all the very basic ingredients needed. I wanted the duck to be almost au natural and hence the very simple seasonings - sea salt, pepper and some herbs I picked from my garden. Although the duck needs to be cooked for 3 hours but once it is in the oven, there are very little else to do. I took the opportunity to make the delicious beetroot relish that I posted yesterday while waiting for the duck to cook. By all means make a sauce if your heart desires and play around with the sides, something I will certainly do the next time around.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 2 to 3 as a one dish meal
oven preheated at 240 C (conventional)
you'll need;
1 whole duck, excess fat removed (this can be rendered down for other uses)
2 sprigs of rosemary
6 sprigs of thyme
1 head of garlic, lightly bashed
sea salt and black pepper to taste
4 to 6 potatoes, cut into large chunks
blanched green beans to serve
beetroot relish to serve

Season the duck inside and out then stuff the cavity of the duck with garlic and herbs of your choice and place it into the hot oven preheated at 240 C for 45 minutes. Turn down the oven to 200 C and continue to cook for 2 hours. Quite a bit of fat will be rendered out so drain it off from time to time during the cooking process.

Add potatoes into the roasting pan during the last 30 minutes of cooking. Remove duck from the roasting pan and rest at a warm place for at least 30 minutes while continue to cook the potatoes until golden and crispy.

This is the amount of fat collected, keep it for other uses. 

The skin is extremely crispy and the meat so tender it comes of the bones effortlessly. 

Serve duck with, potatoes, blanched green beans and some beetroot relish.

Egg Noddles Soup With Roast Duck 燒鴨麵湯

As promised a soup version for those who prefer a little bit of slurping action. I made a soup version the next day using the remaining ingredients and a delicious duck broth was made using the duck bones. I am still rather bias towards the dry version but it was a very enjoyable lunch with my weekend Chinese newspaper by the sunny window.
I managed to finish the 10th MMM roundup when the internet reception was surprisingly strong this morning. Please come back tomorrow for yet another delicious roundup! 

serves 2 generously as a one dish meal

you'll need;

1/2 a roast duck, chopped Chinese style

fresh egg noodles, allow 1.5 noodles per person

choysum or bokchoy, washed and cut into manageable lengths 

spring onions, chopped

bird chillies in soy to serve

for the broth;

duck bones and off cuts from the roast duck

5 cm of ginger, sliced

1 l of stock

dash of sesame oil

dash of white pepper

dash of light soy

salt to taste

Duck bones and sliced ginger.

For the broth - Place all ingredients in a pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Prepare the choysum and spring onions.

Chop the duck Chinese style.

Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water for 15 seconds, remove and rinse in a big pot of cold water. When the pot of water returns to a rapid boil, return the noodles and cook for another 15 seconds or til al dente. Blanch choysum or bokchoy briefly.

Ladle some hot broth over.

Top with duck and spring onions and serve immediately with some cut chillies in soy.

Dry Tossed Egg Noodles With Roast Duck 燒鴨撈麵

We used to go to our favourite restaurant in Richmond to have this every Sunday without fail but that was before the big move. These days I am more likely to just make this at home whenever there is a craving for roast duck noodles. Fortunately for us there is a restaurant near us that sells very good quality roast meat and the rest of the ingredients can also be bought easily in the nearby Asian grocer. Half a duck feeds two generously but if you prefer the soup version please come back tomorrow. 

P.S By all means replace the roast duck with char siu or crispy pork, better still serve it with the lot. Ask the restaurant to chop up the duck for you if you are not too comfortable doing that yourself. 

serves 2 generously as a one dish meal
you'll need;
1/2 a roast duck, chopped Chinese style

fresh egg noodles, allow 1.5 noodles per person

choysum or bokchoy, washed and cut into manageable lengths 

spring onions, chopped

pickled green chillies in soy to serve

bird chillies in soy to serve

dressing for the noodles;

1.5 tbs of shallot oil, garlic oil or chicken oil

1 .5 tbs of light soy

1.5 tbs of caramel sauce

1 tbs of oyster sauce

1 tsp of castor sugar

1 tub of duck sauce*

dash of white pepper

* a soy based sauce available free of charge from the restaurant

Prepare the choysum and chopped spring onions.

Chop the duck Chinese style.

Prepare the dressing by mixing all the ingredients well.

Cook noodles in a pot of boiling water for 15 seconds, remove and rinse in a big pot of cold water. When the pot of water returns to a rapid boil, return the noodles and cook for another 15 seconds or til al dente. Blanch choysum or bokchoy briefly.

Mix noodles in the prepared sauce/dressing.

Top noodles with roast duck, blanched choysum and spring onions and serve immediately with cut chillies and pickled green chillies in soy. I love mine with some Cantonese chili oil on the side too.

Rendang Itik, Duck Rendang - "Malaysian Monday 37"

The long weekend is coming to an end and I hope it has been a wonderful break for everyone. I had a relatively quiet one although I did have a few friends over for a simple dinner on Friday night. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable evening with food, drinks and good conversation. Duck rendang was one of the dishes I prepared for the evening and it was a good change from our usual beef rendang. You will see the rest of the dishes in the coming weeks so stay tuned!

serves 6 to 8 as part of a Malaysian meal

you'll need;

7 duck legs, about 1.5 kg

2 cups os coconut milk (preferably Ayam brand)

3 tbs of Malaysian meat curry powder (I used burung nuri brand)*

1.5 tbs of fennel powder*

1.5 tbs of cummin powder*

1.5 tbs of coriander powder*

5 tbs of kerisik (toasted coconut), see stage 2 below

6 kaffir lime leaves, torn

2 turmeric leaves** (optional) sliced

4 tbs of gula melaka (Malaysian palm sugar)

salt to taste
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded to serve
2 tbs of kerisik to serve

Mix ingredients * with a little water to make a paste, set aside

** fresh turmeric leaves can be found in the freezer at most Asian grocers.

for the fresh spice paste;

2 brown onions, chopped

6 clove of garlic, chopped

3 lemongrass (white part only) thinly sliced

3" piece of ginger, chopped

3" piece of galangal, chopped

3" piece of turmeric, chopped

30 dried chillies, boiled and chopped

Blend or pound ingredients into a paste, set aside

Trim off the excess skin and fat, you may render the fat out for other uses.

Prepare the fresh spice paste.

Prepare the kerisik - Place desicated coconut in a pan and dry toast on medium heat til brown but not burnt.

Pan fry duck pieces in batches to render out most of the fat. 

Saute spice paste with peanut oil til oil starts to split then add in the curry powder and continue to cook for 5 minutes on low heat.

Return duck to the pot and fry duck with the the spice mixture for a few minutes. Add coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and season with palm sugar and salt. Cover and simmer on very low heat for 60 - 70 minutes or until duck is tender.

Remove the cover during the last 10 minutes of cooking and reduce the sauce, it should be fairly thick. Add kerisik and mix well.

Garnish with finely shredded kaffir lime leaves and extra kerisik, serve as part of a Malaysian meal.

I am hosting the April event, please send all your entries to sureshchong@yahoo.com. To find out more about the event please click HERE.

Nasi Goreng Itik Istimewa, Special Malaysian Duck Fried Rice "Malaysian Monday 4"

Day 4 of my duck dinner - I was craving for rice after days without it and a Malaysian style fried rice seemed like a very good idea since Malaysian Monday was coming up next. Every family in Malaysia has a version of Nasi goreng (Malay and Indonesian for fried rice) and this is one that I know and love best. Like any style of fried rice, use whatever leftover ingredients you may find for the recipe but follow the seasonings used. It has been a real pain without my laptop but I had prepared a few scheduled posts ready for the next few days. I will spend a little time every night (when the computer is available) to reply and answer any question. Can't wait to be able to visit all my favourite blogs soon! Happy birthday to J if you are reading this, left you a message too.

P.S Don't forget to join me and Shaz for our blog event - "Muhibbah Malaysian Monday"

recipe per serve

you'll need;

1 - 1.5 cups of cooked rice, cooled or leftover rice

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 duck breast* cubed

a handful of green beans, diced

1/2 a red capsicum, diced

a handful of bean sprouts, topped and tailed

1 spring onion, chopped

1 tbs of sweet soy (kecap manis)

1 tbs of light soy

1 tbs of oyster sauce

1.5 tbs of sambal tumis**

spring onion and chili julienne for garnish

crispy shallot

fried egg to serve

*Pan fry duck skin side down for 2 minutes then another minute on the other side. Drain off fat and place in the preheated oven at 180C for a further 6 to 7 minutes. Rest before slicing.

**If you do not have sambal tumis - pound 2 garlic cloves, 1 shallot and 3 bird chillies and 1tsp of toasted shrimp paste into a fine paste.

Prepare the ingredients.

Saute garlic for a few seconds follow by green beans and rice. Fry on high heat for 2 minutes.

Add seasonings and continue to cook for a minute.

Add duck, spring onion and capsicum and continue to cook for 2 minutes. Finally add in the bean sprouts and mix through.

Serve immediately with a fried egg and garnish with spring onion and chili julienne and crispy shallots.

My favourite bit is of course to mix the runny egg yoke into the fried rice.

Come join us! Click HERE to find out more!