Two days ago, I came back from school, opened the refrigerator for a container of Greek yogurt and found myself staring at a large, alien looking foil package. As it turns out, that package was a 3.5 kilo whole wild duck!!! In a world of factory farming and growth hormones, that is pretty freaking awesome. Hence, duck soup.
Good news is it’s also very simple to make. First, soak the duck in water and wash out all the blood and nasty bits (not the organs). Then parboil for 5-10 minutes. Discard the water and put the duck in a pressure cooker with some water, ginger and cooking wine. Once it’s pretty much cooked, add in extra stuff and salt, continue cooking and……… It’s done!!!!! As “extra stuff” I suggest foods with a lighter taste like fresh mushrooms, leafy greens, vermicelli or even chestnuts(they’re in season). We used wood ear mushroom and fresh duck blood- sooooo goood!!!!!
Tips:
- Invest in a good quality duck. The duck is preferably free range, organic and hormone free. The meat should not be fresh and tight, not too fatty. If it is, trim off some of the excess fat or the soup will be very greasy
- Cook the meat for at least 40min so it is tender but don’t go over 1hr 15min
- DO NOT over season the soup, the duck should already have a delicious natural flavor. Anything more than a little bit of salt will mask that.
Duck Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 large duck
- Ginger (chopped in thin, wide pieces)
- cooking wine
- 2-3l water
- green onion (finely chopped)
- salt
- dried Wood ear mushroom (optional)
Directions:
Soak the duck in water and wash thoroughly to get rid of blood or other nasty stuff. If using, put the wood ear in a bowl and allow it to soak in warm/hot water for at least 30min. Parboil the duck for 5-10 minutes and discard the water. Place duck in a pressure cooker with the water, cooking wine and ginger. Cook under pressure for 40-75min the remove from heat. Once the pressure is released, open the pot. Add the salt and wood ear and cook without pressure for another 10min. Remove from heat, stir in the green onion and DONE!!!!!!!! 🙂
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