We don't drink beer but there's a 6 pack beer sitting at the bottom of the fridge for the longest time. The beers are for just-in-case-friends-popping-by-and-they-prefer-beer visits. But i guess it never happen fast enough. The reshuffling to make space very time I got back from the market had been such a hassle. I came up with the perfect plan to get rid of it once and for all. Beer braised duck. This dish is not made out of desperation to get rid of those space hogging beers. It's actually taught by my neighbor from Hunan province whilst I was in Shanghai.
When beer is cheaper and drank more than water, beer braised duck is often cooked in Chinese home. This is a popular dish and actually are many versions of beer braised duck. The Szechuan version, Hunan version and Shanghainese adapted it differently with heavy addition of rock sugar.
This dish might seem complex that requires different methods in cooking: boiling, browning, braising and sautéing. Apart from the beer, there are tons of aromatics that are built into this dish. My adaptations are a mix between the Szechuan and hunan version. Just by reading the recipe, you know it will all come together and taste superb for dinner.
Enough for 2 to serve over jasmine rice with a simple stir fry vegetable.
Half of duck, chopped into large pieces
500g yam, chop into large pieces
3 can beer
3 green chillies
3 dried chillies
1 knob ginger, roughly sliced
5 garlic cloves, whole
1 dried orange peel
2 star anise
¼ teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon Szechuan peppers
1 tablespoon dried black bean, soak in water and chopped
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
2+1 tablespoon of peanut oil
2 spring onions, chopped
Salt to taste
Method
1. Bring a pot of water to boil, add the duck. When water comes up to a boil, remove duck and rinse with running water. This method is widely use in Chinese cooking to remove the impurities.
2. Next, in a wok, heat the 2 tablespoon of oil, add the szechuan peppers, ginger, garlic, orange peel, star anise, fennel seed, black bean. let it sautéed for a minute until fragrance, Then add in the duck and yam. Slightly browning the duck a little, add the light and dark soy sauce. Stir for a minute, Add the beer and let simmer on a high until sauce is reduced to a ¼, and the yam is soft. (Add more water if the yam or duck is still not tender.) Remove the duck, fish out the ginger pieces and clean the wok.
3. In a hot wok, add the remaining oil, quickly stir fry the chillies then return the duck to the wok. Add the sesame oil and reduce the sauce further until it's just coating the duck and yam pieces in a thick glaze. Remove and serve with on a dish with a sprinkle of chopped spring onions.
-till next post, ss.
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Labels: Beer, braised duck, chinese, recipe
