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Smoked Duck with Asian Flavours
Pairing duck and fruits
The matching of duck with fruits is hardly ground breaking but this is more about the type of fruit and/or duck you can use to break away from the ubiquitous orange sauce. In France a roast duck can be found paired with plums, cherrries, apples and pears and more often a liquer from the fruit in question. I’ve done these to death over the years and to be honest I became a little bored with it so I turned to Asia for some inspiration.
Nobody cooks ducks quite like the Chinese, they’ve turned it into an artform and anyone who has seen those wonderful, crisp skinned ducks hanging in stalls will know what I mean. Red cooked duck is a taste sensation and I would urge anyone who hasn’t tried it to search for some. Hot smoking is another great way of serving duck, at the restaurant we smoke them over Chinese tea spiked with anise and sichuan peppercorns for extra flavour.
You can marinade them first with some soy, fresh ginger and a little orange zest, don’t give them too long because you want to preserve the smoky flavour.
I make a small salad to go with the smoked duck, some pineapple is sliced fairly thickly and char-grilled. This is kept warm and topped with cold, refreshing mango. Now is the time for the superb golden mangoes from Pakistan, their colour and taste is beyond description. Next goes a slice of the duck and some fresh herbs, keeping the Asian feel we use dill, mint, coriander and chives.
For the dressing I’ve shifted from Asia to the Middle East and used sumac powder, a vivid red coloured spice which works well with meat and fish and goes particularly well with yoghurt which is what I’ve done; half a teaspoon of sumac to two tablespoons of natural yoghurt or thereabouts. Sprinkle some of the spice across the plate and do something artistic with the yoghurt and you too can open a restaurant!!
Miles,
After I read this I was casually looking up Sumac trees online since I have one in the garden. Lots of information on this tree/spice that I’d previously known nothing about. Even found powdered beetroot!
Now I’m not going to tackle my baby tree because it’s probably poisonous but I feel a little more research coming on….
Cid
p.s. I’m with you on the superb Asian way of cooking duck. If your readers get the chance to go to a UK China town then I’m sure they’ll see them in the shop windows spit roasted.
November 10, 2008 @ 12:59 pm
Cid,
Apparently sumac is set to be all the rage so get in quick!
Remember, you heard it here first
Miles
November 10, 2008 @ 7:00 pm
Miles,
If the little Sumac tree sprouts any offspring which they do from time to time, you can have one. We need an expert to tell us whether this variety is good with duck
Cid
November 10, 2008 @ 9:42 pm
Cid,
You’re on, thanks!
Miles
November 10, 2008 @ 9:59 pm
Nice! I love duck - almost every way I have ever had / made it. It is probably my favorite protein to cook with other than wild boar. This is a new one for me, but I will be playing with this recipe this weekend - the dill is intriguing. I put a pan seared duck breast salad on the menu every few months (using the rendered duck fat in lieu of oil in the dressing), it never fails to sell.
You’ve been on a roll lately - keep up the great work.
quick aside, Firewater is one of my favorite current bands - Brooklyn based post punk/funk/rock. They are always exploring new tempos and formats and really are always evolving - kind of like a great chef. It’s hard to find any of their stuff online but this link (please ignore the video) will give some idea of what the are like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gV7k8ZPxXI
Cheers
November 11, 2008 @ 3:42 am
Dave,
Thanks for that, a couple of menu changes hence the photos! You’re dressing sounds nice, I do something similar with chicken.
Firewater sound pretty good to me, never heard of them over here but I’ll keep a look out for them.
Good to hear from you again, hope the road is a little smoother.
Regards
Miles
November 11, 2008 @ 7:14 am