Sides for Smoked Duck


 

Chris Allingham

Administrator
Staff member
Originally posted by Keven Kruger on 7/12/2007 in response to a post by Clark Deutscher.

Clark: "I am going to make the duck recipe with the smoked tea leaves from the Poultry Forum. Does anyone have any ideas for good side dishes with this?"

Kevin: "An idea that just came to mind...A side of braised Napa or white cabbage (braised in reduced duck stock with garlic and ginger) topped with toasted sesame seeds; jasmine or sticky rice topped with a sprinkle of minced toasted cashews; soy syrup as a drizzle sauce; plate garnish: a small pile of pickled ginger set atop a slice of lime."

Clark: "That sounds absolutely great! My wife is going to go nuts, I seem to do well with the meats but my side dishes and presentation leave something to be desired, I have to improve! So now on to the next question how do you make your duck stock, I'm guessing not just water!"

Kevin:

Remove the wing tips from the duck; remove the back, cutting it crosswise into quarters. If available, cross-cut the neck into 3-4 pieces. Film a small pot with oil and heat the pot over med-high heat. Add the duck back pieces, skin down, and tuck the wings and neck in wherever. Sear the duck skin, without disturbing the pieces, till a rich brown, about 5-7 min. Stir the pot and allow the wings to get some color, a few min more.

Raise the heat to high then add a splash (about 2 T) of cheap white wine (like Taylor 'chablis' or another unoaked cheap white); deglaze, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom. When the wine is about gone, add 3/4 c of water, 3/4 c of low-salt chicken stock (from a can, reserving the remainder in the fridge), 2 black peppercorns, 1 whole allspice berry, 1/3 of a clove of garlic and, if available, 1 point off a star anise star.

Bring the stock just to a boil then reduce the heat to med, skimming any foam that forms on the top, as necessary, in the first 10 min or so. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to med-low; cook 1 hour.

Strain the solids out of the stock while pouring it into a heat-proof glass cup measure or fat separator and allow to settle. Fat quantities vary: Remove what you can and reserve it in a small bowl. Return the stock to a clean pot, bring it to a simmer, then reduce it by 1/3. (The stock will reduce further during braising so do not salt it any.) Cool and fridge till needed.

The stock can be made when you first unpackage the duck to prep it with the rub. (Go with 3/4 t of table salt per pound of duck for the salt part of the rub.)

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Sesame seeds:

Heat a small dry pan over med-high heat. Add 1.5 T of sesame seeds and toast, stirring constantly with a fork, till light-med golden. Immediately pour onto a plate to cool; reserve on the counter. (This can be done ahead of time.) Wipe out the pan and return it to the heat.

Cashews:

Coarsely chop 2 T cashews and add them to the hot pan. Toast, stirring frequently, till a little more colored and fragrant. Pour immediately on a plate to cool. (This can be done ahead of time.)

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Soy syrup:

Mix 1 c water with 1 c soy sauce (lower salt, if available), the juice of 1 lime, and 1/2 c brown sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over med-high heat then reduce the heat to med. Reduce the syrup by 2/3 or so, till it's of a consistency slightly thicker than maple syrup. Cool in a bowl the cover; leave on the counter. (This can be done ahead of time.)


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Braised cabbage:

Peel and discard any wilted or off-colored leaves from a head of Napa, white or Savoy cabbage. Cut the headin half lengthwise, core it, then very thinly slice lengthwise, till you have about 2 c cabbage shreds. (Wrap the remaining cabbage tightly in plastic and reserve for another use.)

Place the cabbage in a colander in the sink and toss with about 1.5 t table salt. Weight the cabbage by placing a small plate atop it, topping the plate with a can of something from your cupboard or by half-filling a large Zip-loc with water and placing that atop the cabbage. Allow the cabbage to wilt and drain 1 hour.

Rinse the cabbage well in cold water then dry in a salad spinner or by using paper or kitchen towels. (The cabbage can be salt-wilted up to 4 hours ahead of time. Place in a bowl, cover, and fridge till use.)

In a large saute pan you have a lid for, warm 2 t veg oil and 2 t of the reserved duck fat over very low heat. Sweat one clove of finely minced (or pressed) garlic in the oil for 10 min, stirring occasionally, not allowing the garlic to brown at all. Add 1/4-1/2 t finely minced ginger and one finely chopped shallot, increase the heat to high and cook till the ginger is just fragrant, about 30-45 secs.

Add the wilted cabbage to the pan and toss to coat with the oil mix. Cook 1 min then add 1/2 c of the reserved duck stock. Bring the stock to a boil, cover the pan partially, reduce the heat to med-low, and cook 3 min. (Can do to this point ahead of time, dump into a bowl, cool, then fridge, covered. Rewarm before serving time and continue.)

Uncover the pan and increase the heat to med-high. Add a turn of the white peppermill and stir occasionally; reduce the liquid in the pan till the cabbage is still quite moist but not liquid-y. Turn off the heat; cover to keep warm.

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Rice:


Pour the rest of the low-salt chicken stock into a 2-cup measure. Add enough water to reach the 1-and-1/3-cup line. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Pour into a small pot and salt lightly. Add 3/4 c jasmine rice and 2 t reserved duck fat. Bring to a boil over high heat, stir once with a fork, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook 13 min--undisturbed--then remove the pot from the heat. (Do not uncover the pot at any time.) Allow to sit 10 min then uncover and fluff with fork.

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Garnish:

Just before the duck is out of the smoker, slice the ends off a lime, discarding, then slice the lime into 6 disks. Place the slices in two stacks on a small plate. Remove 1 T of pickled ginger from a store-bought jar and allow it to drain, squeezing out excess pickling juice gently. Place on the plate then repeat, making another ginger mound. Cover the plate loosely with plastic; chill.


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Plating/service:

Set two plates to warm just before putting the duck on the grill for the skin to crisp. Rewarn the soy syrup in the nuker either on low power or only briefly on high (too long and it will instantly boil over!).

Crisp the duck on the grill then place on a sheetpan; tent with foil (don't wrap tightly).

On each of the warmed plates place 1 T soy syrup near the edge at the 3 o'clock position. With the back of the spoon, smear the syrup in an arc toward 12 o'clock. Just inside the arc and toward the center of the plate, mound half the rice and flatten the top of the mound slightly. Sprinkle with the reserved toasted cashews allowing excess to tumble toward the syrup.

Along the side of the plate from 9-6 o'clock mound the cabbage. If available (and if you like it) drizzle each cabbage serving with 1/2 t toasted sesame oil. Scatter the reserved toasted seeds on top. Place each duck half on the plate with the breast edge along the bottom of the plate, resting it on the rice and cabbage (but leaving as much of each exposed as possible). Stick a fork in the syrup and drizzle a little here and there on the duck. Place the lime slices, slightly fanned, at the space above the cabbage (about 10-11 o'clock) and top with the pickled ginger.

Quickly refill your wife's glass of dry Riesling and surreptitiously snag a blossom off the spray of orchids you thoughtfully bought for a centerpiece earlier that day.

Place the flower on the duck in the crook where the leg meats the breast. Serve immediately, with a humble bow and a gleam in your eye.

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Tweak or disregard at your pleasure. Just a few thoughts I had fun thinking about.
 
I absolutely love soy sauce so the soy syrup kind of jumped off the page at me. What would be some other uses for it.
 
Anything with Asian flavors. E.g., you could do virtually the same approach for the sides but switch the protein to, say, roasted pork belly - or pork neck or even tenderloin.

The syrup would be nice with tuna tataki.

One could marinate chicken in mirin with garlic and ginger, rub with a good 5-spice, grill or grill/roast; the syrup would work well with it.

Grilled carrots would work well with the syrup as would, say, grilled planked zucchini that have been finished with sesame oil and lemon.

Cook white or brown jasmine rice with ginger, garlic and lemongrass. Stir in a little syrup - enough to just coat the rice. Pack into oiled small round molds - or oiled souflée cups - then unmold the rice onto the plate. Fan just-cooked salmon (cut thin, horizontally, as for 'scallopini') off the rice; surround with a salad of paper-thin English cucumber thathave been tossed with lemon and minced toasted macadamias.

You get the idea.
 

 

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