Serves 6
*Recipe adapted from nytcooking.com
Ingredients
First Cook of Duck
- 4 Muscovy duck legs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
- 4 ¼” thick slices ginger
- 1 yellow onion, quartered
- 4 cups water
Second Cook of Duck
- 4 Tablespoons rice wine
- 1½ Tablespoons soy sauce
- 4 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1 teaspoon spicy black bean paste
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2-inch chunk ginger, peeled and cut in fine julienne
- 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 4-6 small dried red chile peppers
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed
- 1 cup reserved defatted duck broth
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 cups cooked and chopped duck meat
- 4 ounces bok choy greens(or spinach), thinly sliced
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
Steps
First Cook of Duck
With a sharp knife, trim any excess fat from the duck legs, leaving the skin intact. Trim the skin a bit, too, if it seems quite thick. Season each leg with kosher salt and Chinese 5-spice powder, rubbing the seasoning into the meat. Allow the duck legs to sit at room temperature for one hour before moving onto the next step. *This helps with tenderizing and seasoning the duck legs. Next, place the duck legs in a heavy-bottomed pan along with the ginger slices and onion. Cover with 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently, covered, until the meat is tender when probed with a fork, about 45 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the duck legs to cool in the broth overnight. Skim fat off the top of the broth. Then, remove the duck legs from the chilled broth and pick the meat off from the bones and chop into ½” pieces, should have about 2 cups. Discard the bones. This cooking process is done 24-48 hours in advance. Set the chopped duck meat to the side and have 1 cup of duck broth reserved for the second cook.
Second Cook of Duck
In a small bowl, whisk together the rice wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, orange zest, black bean paste and sesame oil. Put the julienned ginger, chopped garlic, red chile peppers and cumin seed on a small plate. Along with the 1 cup of reserved duck broth. Mix the cornstarch and water in a separate small container to make a slurry for thickening. Have all these ingredients in easy reach of the stove.
Step 3
In a wok or large cast-iron skillet, heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Add the chopped duck meat and let it sizzle, stirring well, until crisp and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Season lightly with salt. Lower the heat to medium high and add the ginger, garlic, red chile peppers and cumin seed. Stirring frequently, cook for one minute more, taking care not to burn the garlic. Add the rice wine mixture and duck broth and bring to a brisk simmer. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook until lightly thickened, 30 seconds or so. Turn off the heat and add the pea shoots, mixing them into the sauce until barely wilted. Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with scallions. Serve and Enjoy!
