Chinese Ginger Duck Recipe - 姜麻鴨
Chinese ginger duck is one of those homey dishes that I craved for when I was living away from home. Today's recipe actually belongs to my late grandfather who was an avid farmer in his spare time. He was a very outdoorsy person and used to catch fish with his bare hands and hike deep into the woods for days at a time. Yours truly couldn't be more different! Anyway, this recipe is so simple in line with his simplistic attitude to food and life in general - the duck is simply cooked with copious amounts of ginger and some soy sauces for seasoning, add a dash of Chinese Shaoxing wine for added fragrance and that's about it. If you like ginger, I'm quite sure you will love this but if not, then this dish may not be your cup of tea to be honest.
I have seen various versions of this dish with both old and young ginger, I actually prefer to use old ginger for this as I find the flavours deeper but if you prefer young ginger, do go ahead. If in Malaysia, I would recommend to use 'Bentong ginger' which is a species of ginger that looks like old ginger but actually has a better taste dimension. This is one of those Chinese dishes that actually taste better the day after as the flavours will develop more resulting in a deeper tasting dish. I do hope you will give this a try and if you don't want to cook with a whole duck, you can always just use duck breast or duck thighs.
Serves 4-6 as part of a meal
Serving suggestion: with rice
Ingredients:
1 whole duck (get the butcher to cut it up for you)
About 300g worth of ginger (skin removed and sliced) - I like my dish with a lot of ginger but for a less spicy dish, use about 200g worth
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3-4 tablespoons light soy sauce, or more to taste
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing Wine
2 cups water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water to thicken (optional)
Method:
As duck releases a lot of moisture and oil while cooking, you will have to dry-fry the duck pieces before cooking the duck with ginger.
Heat up your wok until almost smoking. Turn heat to medium. Add all the duck pieces into the wok and dry fry until the surface turns whitish. You do not have to add oil for this step. Once you see the duck about half cooked, remove from wok and place in dish. Set aside.
Clean the wok. Heat until almost smoking again. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat. Turn heat to low and add ginger slices and smashed garlic cloves. Fry until aromatic. Add in the duck pieces from earlier, turn up the heat. Add soy sauce and Chinese shaoxing wine. Add water, bring to a boil and turn heat to low. Cover and allow to braise for at least 30 minutes.
Do a taste test and add more soy or salt if required. If you want a thicker sauce, add a mixture of 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water. If not, once you are happy with the flavours, remove from wok and either serve immediately or the next day. If serving the next day, allow to cool to room temperature before covering and placing in fridge.
I have seen various versions of this dish with both old and young ginger, I actually prefer to use old ginger for this as I find the flavours deeper but if you prefer young ginger, do go ahead. If in Malaysia, I would recommend to use 'Bentong ginger' which is a species of ginger that looks like old ginger but actually has a better taste dimension. This is one of those Chinese dishes that actually taste better the day after as the flavours will develop more resulting in a deeper tasting dish. I do hope you will give this a try and if you don't want to cook with a whole duck, you can always just use duck breast or duck thighs.
Serves 4-6 as part of a meal
Serving suggestion: with rice
Ingredients:
1 whole duck (get the butcher to cut it up for you)
About 300g worth of ginger (skin removed and sliced) - I like my dish with a lot of ginger but for a less spicy dish, use about 200g worth
4 cloves garlic, smashed
3-4 tablespoons light soy sauce, or more to taste
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese Shaoxing Wine
2 cups water
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water to thicken (optional)
Method:
As duck releases a lot of moisture and oil while cooking, you will have to dry-fry the duck pieces before cooking the duck with ginger.
Heat up your wok until almost smoking. Turn heat to medium. Add all the duck pieces into the wok and dry fry until the surface turns whitish. You do not have to add oil for this step. Once you see the duck about half cooked, remove from wok and place in dish. Set aside.
Clean the wok. Heat until almost smoking again. Add 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat. Turn heat to low and add ginger slices and smashed garlic cloves. Fry until aromatic. Add in the duck pieces from earlier, turn up the heat. Add soy sauce and Chinese shaoxing wine. Add water, bring to a boil and turn heat to low. Cover and allow to braise for at least 30 minutes.
Do a taste test and add more soy or salt if required. If you want a thicker sauce, add a mixture of 1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of water. If not, once you are happy with the flavours, remove from wok and either serve immediately or the next day. If serving the next day, allow to cool to room temperature before covering and placing in fridge.
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