Vanilla Red-Cooked Duck with Pork Belly
During the winter, I like to do a lot of stews. This is a family favorite that my mom used to make us. We always begged her to make extra sauce to ladle over our rice. When I make it, I make enough sauce to swim in. That way there's enough left over to do another batch...
Here's the original recipe she emailed me:
Braised Pork with Eggs
1.5 lbs pork cut in cube pieces
3 T oil [T=tablespoon]
3 T wine
6 T soy sauce
1 T sugar, 3 5-star anise
1 stalk spring onion
6 slices ginger
2 cups water
Heat oil and fry pork until meat changes colour and shrinks. Add wine
and soy sauce. Continue to cook until soy sauce is absorbed by meat.
Then remove to a deep pan. Add sugar, sp onion, ginger, anise, water.
Cover tightly and cook over low flame for 1 hour. Add boiled eggs and
simmer another 30 mins. Slice eggs in half before serving.
Keep reading for swimming pool volumes of sauce and slightly updated flavor profile:http://www.fahying.com/blog/2007/02/leek_greens.html
Vanilla Red-Cooked Duck with Pork Belly
2.5 lb Duck parts
2 lbs Pork Belly (with/out ribs- your choice)
2 Cups Soy
4 Cups Stock
1 Cup Sherry/Port
1/2 Cup Vanilla adjust to taste- start with 1 Tbs (it also helps deepen the sauce's colour)
1 Onion, chopped or 4 Green onions, chopped 2”
1 tbs Minced ginger or 6 quarter-size pieces peeled fresh ginger
3 Cloves star anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
3 Cardamom pods
1/3 Cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, lightly chopped
1. In Dutch oven brown onion till sweet, soft and dark. Add duck parts and sear till skin is brown.
2. Chop pork belly into 2” squares. Sear till crust appears on sides.
3. Add stock, sherry, soy, vanilla, ginger, spices, and sugar. Bring mixture to boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and cook until duck is falling off the bone and pork is very tender, approximately 3 hours.
5. Remove meat from dish and cool. Optional- (I like to gnaw the chunks of meat and cartilage off the bones) Pull meat in small chunks from bones; discard bones and cartilage. Shred boneless pork pieces coarsely. Chill liquid and remove rendered fat.
6. Reheat meat with 2 cups of reserved sauce before serving over rice.
7. Garnish with cilantro.
8. Sauce may be re-used multiple times, adjusting volume with water.
9. Save remaining sauce for flavoring stir-fries.
Variations
With Taro and Sweet Potato
1/2 pound taro roots, peeled and cut into 1” chunks
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2″” chunks
1. Steam taro 30 minutes.
2. Add sweet potato, continue to steam till tender about 15 minutes.
3. Serve on top of duck/pork & sauce.
With Boiled eggs
6 hard-boiled eggs
1. Peel eggs.
2. Place in cooking liquid till brown, about 30 minutes.
3. Slice eggs in half before serving.
With Leeks
1 whole leek, trimmed and washed, sliced into 1/4″ thick slices (including dark green leaves- see my post on leeks)
1. Treat as onion