Crispy Duck

[ChrisnChris]

Ok boys & girls, I have cooked this a few times but really want to simplify it.

Previously I have quartered the duck, marinaded it in ginger, star anise, etc. & then steamed it for about 3-4 hours. It is then left to cool & deep fried.
It always falls off the bone when shredding & is absolutely delicious

But, the steaming is a pita, it makes a mess of my bamboo steamers & needs to be topped up with water a few times. The resulting fatty residue is decanted into jars & thrown out.

The deep frying is also a pita because of having to deal with all that oil once the cooking is done.

I have tried marinading & then just cooking in the oven, but this doesn't really work, the meat just doesn't fall off the bone in the same way.
Perhaps a foil tent in a low oven for a few hours would work, removing the foil for the last hour or so ?
I have also considered gently simmering the quarters in my stock pot, there would be more water & wouldn't need topping up, and then finishing in a hot oven.

Do you have any thoughts, or indeed, a method you find successful that you would share.
Thanks

[mrsxllifts]

BigAl has a fantastic simple recipe for duck that he posted a while back, try a search but not sure what it may be under, crappy blackberry doesn't let me search.

[Big Al.]

Here's the thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

My post after the OP's give it a go it really is

[Mobile Chicane]

Big Al. said:

Here's the thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

My post after the OP's give it a go it really is

That looks awesome.

[ChrisnChris]

Thanks BigAl I'll give it a go, although I have never found the "oven cook" method works all that well with regard to leaving the bones completely clean which as you know is a must for shredding. I will try this though as it would certainly reduce the hassle of all the steaming.

I wont be doing it for a couple of weeks but will let you know how I get on.

Thanks

[Big Al.]

No fat and meat comes away from the bones with a fork, easy and tasty.

I took us a few goes to fine tune the cooking times but we've have had a great deal of success over the 30+ years of cooking it this way.

We would now never dream of having it as a take away or when going out for a Chinese meal.

Hope it works for you.

[RichB]

Presumably the 6 mins boiling doesn't get heat through to the centre of the duck so I guess this is to boil off some of the fat then the meat is cooked in the oven?

I used to do Chinese duck many years ago (30?) and it involved first scalding the skin with a couple of kettles of boiling water, then I would make a coating (not really a marinade) of a few table spoons of water, soy sauce and brown sugar which I would reduce in a wok with duck in it and constantly baste the duck in the brown sugary sauce, then finally it would go into a very hot oven for 20 mins and then reduce the heat for another hour. Sometimes, if it was particularly smoky i would put a tin of water in the bottom of the oven.

Comments?

p.s. used to make my own panckes too in those days!

[madbadger]

There's a coincidence.

Made Als recipe on Saturday. Excellent as usual - but the weird thing is the search actually worked properly.

[Big Al.]

RichB said:

Presumably the 6 mins boiling doesn't get heat through to the center of the duck so I guess this is to boil off some of the fat then the meat is cooked in the oven?

Comments?

p.s. used to make my own pancakes too in those days!

Boiling is to not to cook the meat on the carcase, but HELP render the fat out when cooked in the oven.

We used to baste in the traditional way, but it's too much farfing about as is making the pancakes.

Again 30 years ago you couldn't by ready made pancakes.

[ChrisnChris]

but the weird thing is the search actually worked properly. yikes

That's the first thing I tried.................no luck really...............just tried it again to dispell any doubts I had about my ability to perform a simple task.............ah yes............the thread where BigAl's ideas are included (now that I know the title of said thread & without having to wade through the entire PH archive)..............that thread is LAST on the list...........thank (your)God I was pointed to it via a handy link.

I guess my mistake was to type "crispy duck"................stupid, stupid me...........I should have typed " crispy shredded duck................wot a harf wit i am