Deep Fried Steamed Duck With Taro Root Recipes

CRISP DUCK WITH WHIPPED TARO ROOT AND TARO CHIPS

Steps:

• Separate legs from the breast by cutting where the breast and carcass end and legs begin, or have your butcher cut it for you. Using a sharp boning knife, follow right along the breast bone on either side and remove both breasts. Trim fat along outside of the breast allowing approximately one third of an inch of fat overlap. Score fat on breast by making a diagonal cut, making sure not to cut the breast meat. About four strokes is sufficient.
• In a food processor, dice unpeeled ginger and garlic until coarsely chopped. Place in a stainless steel bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Place the two whole duck legs and the four duck breasts in the marinade. Remove the duck breasts after one hour. The legs should continue to marinate for an additional half an hour, and then be removed.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Using the carcasses of the duck, place the duck legs on the duck carcass. Place legs and carcasses in a roasting pan and roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours. Check periodically to make sure the ducks are not getting too dark. They are ready when the leg wiggles freely to your touch, and they are a nice deep amber color. The skin should look crisp and rendered of fat. Cool. Once cooled, take your boning knife and cut through the skin right in the middle of the legs. Using your hands, separate duck legs. (Use your thumb to get under the oyster and gently pull leg from the bones.) Gently use your fingers to pull out the thigh bone. Trim legs a little to keep a nice triangular shape.
• For the breasts:
• Heat a large, 12 inch sautepan to medium high. (You can cook two duck breasts in one pan or cook one at a time in a smaller, 10 inch pan.) Add two breasts, skin side down to start rendering the fat. Cook over medium high heat for a couple of minutes. (You will need to remove the rendered fat as you go. Hold duck breast still with a pair of tongs and pour fat into a stainless bowl or other container. Return to heat). After the first couple of minutes on medium high heat, turn burner down to medium, so not to burn the duck. The duck should be a rich amber color. Continue cooking until the fat is almost completely rendered. You can check this by looking at the incisions of the fat. When there is only a thin, crisp skin, the duck is ready to be flipped. Turn duck over. Shut heat off and leave the breast to sit in the pan for about three to four minutes. Remove from pan and allow to rest for five minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the duck legs in a medium to medium small saute pan, skin side down and pan covered to heat and finish any additional rendering of fat, approximately five minutes.
• Slice duck breast into fairly thing slices, keeping the nice shape of the breast. With a spatula, pick up breast and fan it out onto the plate. Place duck legs on an angle near the top of the slices. Serve with Whipped Taro Root, Taro Chips, lots of julienned scallions and a little Duck Jus.
• Peel taro root. First, for the chips, take your peeler and peel approximately one cup of long taro shreds. Reserve for frying.
• Take the remaining taro and cut it up into rough 2 inch chunks. Place in a sauce pan, covering with cold water. Boil root until tender. Strain into a colander, reserving cup of the liquid. In a food processor, pulse taro, adding little dabs of butter as you go, along with some of the cooking liquid to make a smooth consistency. Remove and season with salt and pepper.
• For the chips:
• Heat a couple of cups of peanut or grapeseed oil to 350 degrees. Drops shreds into oil in small batches. Remove when crisp (the chips should still be light in color) and salt.
• In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat oil. Add chopped duck body, leek, celery and carrot pieces and cook until vegetables are golden. Add white wine and chicken stock and reduce by half. Add soy marinade, cooking an additional few minutes. Skim off any fat and strain.

CHINESE DEEP FRIED SUGARED TARO

Steps:

• Soak taro cubes in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes (necessary to get the starch out). Drain the taro and pat dry.
• Heat 2 inches of the oil in a wok over high heat until it is very hot. Add about 10 taro cubes to the oil and fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove the cubes with a strainer and place on paper towels to drain. Fry the remaining taro cubes in this way.
• Discard the oil from the wok and put in the sugar, sesame oil, and shortening. Stir the sugar continuously for about 2 minutes or until the sugar caramelizes and turns a light brown then remove the wok from the heat. Use chopsticks to dip each fried taro cube in the caramelized sugar.
• Place the coated taro cubes on a plate and serve with a small bowl of ice water. Before eating, instruct your guests to use their chopsticks to dunk the taro in the ice water so that the sugar hardens and cools before eating.

STEAMED AND CRISPED DUCK

Steps:

• In small bowl, mix all ingredients except duck. Rub mixture on duck, inside and out. Put duck in dish, breast side down. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, take duck out of refrigerator, and let it warm to room temperature. Place duck on steamer tray or rack small enough to fit into a wok. Fill wok with water up to bottom edge of tray; bring to boil. Place tray over boiling water, cover with lid or foil and steam duck over high heat until extremely tender, for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Replenish boiling water when necessary.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Transfer duck to cutting board, and let cool. Quarter the duck. Heat large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add duck pieces, skin side down; saute until skin begins to sizzle and brown, for about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, and crisp skin for 5 to 7 minutes. Turn and brown other side. Turn again, cover and cook in oven until heated through, for about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer pieces to platter; serve.

DEEP-FRIED STEAMED WEST LAKE DUCK

Steps:

• 1. Soak dried mushrooms. 2. Wipe duck inside and out with a damp cloth. Dry well with paper toweling or hang up to dry in a cool, airy place 1 to 2 hours. 3. Rub duck lightly with soy sauce. Then truss (see HOW-TO, _Poultry: To truss). 4. Heat oil to boiling. Using a wire basket or long-handled Chinese strainer, gently lower in duck and deep-fry, basting and turning, until golden. Drain quickly. Rinse in a pan of cold water and drain again. Untie duck. 5. Transfer bird to a large heatproof bowl. Dice giblets slice ginger root and add, along with star anise. Combine sherry, salt, honey and remaining soy sauce and pour over. Meanwhile boil water in another pan, and also pour over duck. 6. Steam by the bowl-in-a-pot method until duck is done, but stil1 firm (about 1 3/4 hours). See HOW-TO, _Steaming. 7. Remove duck and let cool. Bone then cut meat in bite-size squares, each with a piece of skin. Strain duck liquid, skimming off fat. 8. Return duck squares, skin-side up, to heatproof bowl. Add strained duck liquid and steam 15 minutes more. 9. Meanwhile shred bamboo shoots, celery and soaked mushrooms. In a saucepan, bring remaining duck liquid to a boil. Add shredded vegetables and simmer, covered, 10 minutes. 10. Cut smoked ham in strips. Chop Chinese parsley. Blend cornstarch and cold water to a paste and stir into duck liquid to thicken. Pour over duck squares and serve, garnished with ham strips and chopped parsley. NOTE: This recipe can be made with chicken as well as duck. VARIATIONS: * In step 5, omit the seasonings given and pour over duck and giblets the following mixture: 1 1/2 cups stock 1 slice fresh ginger root and 1 clove garlic, both minced and 1 cup canned button mushrooms. Also omit the water. * In step 10, arrange duck squares on a serving platter over 1 head lettuce, shredded or over 1 pound of any of the following: asparagus, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms, mustard greens, onions or spinach. (These must be stir-fried first.) The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

DEEP-FRIED STEAMED DUCK WITH TARO ROOT

Steps:

• 1. Wipe duck inside and out with a damp cloth. Dry well with paper toweling or hang up to dry in a cool, airy place 1 to 2 hours then rub with soy sauce. 2. Heat oil to boiling. Using a wire basket or long-handled Chinese strainer, gently lower in bird and deep-fry, basting and turning, until golden. Drain on paper toweling. Let cool then tie or securely sew up the neck opening. 3. Crush ginger root and mash red bean cheese mix well with stock, salt, sugar and star anise. 4. Trim off scallion roots and stem parsley, then put in duck cavity. Place bird tail-side up in a deep heatproof bowl, and pour ginger-bean cheese mixture into cavity. Sew up duck securely or skewer, then turn breast-side up. 5. Peel taro root, cut in 1-inch slices and arrange around duck. Steam by the bowl-in-a-pot method until done (about 1 1/2 hours). See HOW-TO, _Steaming. 6. Carefully transfer taro slices to a serving platter. Cut threads or un skewer duck cavity and let liquids drain into a saucepan. 7. Let duck cool slightly then chop, bones and all, in 2-inch sections or carve Western-style. Arrange over taro and keep warm. 8. Reheat duck liquids in saucepan. Meanwhile blend cornstarch and cold water to a paste, then stir in to thicken. Pour sauce over duck and serve. The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook. ©1994 by Gloria Bley Miller.

DUCK TAREKO (CRISPY DEEP-FRIED DUCK MARINATED IN NEPALI SPICES)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine cumin, ginger, garlic, timur, nutmeg, half teaspoon of turmeric, salt and pepper; mix well.
• Clean duck; wipe dry.
• Rub duck inside and out with the spice mixture.
• Let rest to marinate for at least eight hours.
• Place marinated duck in a steamer and steam for at least one hour.
• Remove from steamer and let cool down.
• Combine a half teaspoon of turmeric, chili paste, molasses, honey and salt, and smother over the duck, inside and out.
• In a deep fryer heat oil to 360F.
• Dip the steamed duck in frying oil.
• Fry duck, turning periodically, until the duck skin is golden brown and crispy.
• Remove from oil and place on paper towel to absorb excess oil.
• To serve, cut crispy duck into bite-size pieces.
• Serve with rice pilaf, accompanied with mango chutney.