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Duck rice porridge
Serves 6 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 1 roast duck (see below)
- 6 red Asian shallots
- 4cm knob of ginger
- 200g long-grain rice
- oil or duck fat, for frying
- 1tbsp fish sauce
- 1tsp sugar
- 2cm knob of ginger, cut into thin strips, plus extra to serve
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- ½ handful holy basil leaves, chopped
- ½ handful perilla leaves, chopped
- 4 saw tooth herb stems
To serve
- ginger dipping sauce:–
- 120ml fish sauce
- 1tsp sugar
- 2cm knob ginger, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 long red chilli, chopped
Roast Duck
- 2kg duck
- 2 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- ½tsp ground ginger
- ½tsp fennel seeds
- 3cm knob ginger, roughly chopped
- 2tbsp fish sauce
- 1tbsp annatto oil (available from Asian supermarkets)
- 1tbsp honey
- 2tsp soy sauce
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 long red chilli, halved
- 4 spring onions, cut into thirds
Method
Remove all the meat from the duck, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Chop the duck bones into pieces with a meat cleaver. Put the bones in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Slowly bring to the boil over medium heat, skimming any scum that rises to the surface. Meanwhile, coarsely crush the shallots and ginger in a mortar and pestle. Add the shallots and ginger to the stock and simmer gently for 2 hours. Strain the stock and discard the duck bones and aromatics. Meanwhile, put the rice in a dry frying pan and cook for 2-4 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer to a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Pour 1 litre of the stock into a clean saucepan and bring to the boil. In another saucepan, heat a little oil or duck fat over medium heat and fry the rice for 2-3 minutes, or until the grains start to look transparent. Pour in the boiling stock, then stir in the fish sauce, sugar, ½tsp salt and ½tsp freshly ground black pepper. Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 20 minutes, stirring often. Stir the duck meat and the extra ginger into the rice and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the rice is cooked. Remove from the heat and stir in the spring onion and herbs. Spoon the rice porridge into six bowls and sprinkle with extra black pepper, if desired. Serve with the ginger dipping sauce.
For the Ginger dipping sauce:
Combine the fish sauce and sugar in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and serve in individual dipping bowls.
For the Roast Duck:
You will need to start this recipe a day ahead.
Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/ Gas 2-3. Remove the neck and any giblets from the duck and cut off any excess fat. Wash the duck under cold running water, then pat dry. Carefully separate the duck skin from the flesh with you hands, taking care not to tear the skin. Put the star anise, cinnamon stick, Sichuan peppercorns, cloves, ground ginger and fennel seeds on a baking tray and roast for 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Crush the spice mixture in a mortar and pestle. Stir in the chopped ginger. Rub the mixture into the duck flesh under the skin as well as inside the cavity. Refrigerate the duck overnight, without covering it. This allows the skin of the duck to dry out, which will help it become crispy when it is roasting. Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F/Gas 7. Combine the fish sauce, annatto oil, honey and soy sauce in a bowl. Rub the mixture into the duck skin and inside of the cavity. Put the garlic, chilli and spring onion inside the duck and secure with a bamboo skewer. Place the duck on its side in a baking dish and roast for 30 minutes, basting with the pan juices. Turn the duck onto the other side and roast for a further 30 minutes. Reduce the oven to 200°C/390°F/Gas 6. Turn the duck, breast-side up, and roast for 20 minutes, or until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thigh. Alternatively, the duck could be cooked on a rotisserie for about 1 hour.
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