Braised Duck with Konjac
A classic Sichuan dish, duck braised until tender with konjac pieces that soak up the spicy, numbing sauce. Absolutely addictive.
Ingredients
14 items- Duck meat 500 g
- Konjac tofu 400 g
- Ginger 15 g
- Garlic cloves 4
- Dried chilies 8
- Sichuan peppercorns 1 tsp
- Pixian doubanjiang (chili bean paste) 2 tbsp
- Cooking wine 1 tbsp
- Light soy sauce 2 tbsp
- Dark soy sauce ½ tbsp
- Sugar 1 tsp
- Vegetable oil 1 tbsp
- Garlic chives (or scallions) 2 stalks
- Salt to taste
Nutrition
Steps （8 steps）
Cut konjac into 2 cm cubes. Blanch in boiling water with 1 tsp salt for 2 minutes to remove alkaline taste. Drain.
Cut duck into 3 cm chunks. Place in cold water with 2 ginger slices and 1 tbsp cooking wine; bring to a boil, skim foam, cook 2 min. Drain and rinse with warm water.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over medium heat. Stir-fry duck pieces until skin turns light golden and fat renders, about 5 min. Remove duck, leave oil.
Reduce to low heat. Fry ginger, garlic, dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant (1 min). Add doubanjiang and stir-fry until oil turns red.
Return duck, increase to medium heat. Add cooking wine, light soy, dark soy and sugar. Stir-fry to coat evenly, about 2 min.
Pour in boiling water to just cover duck. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until duck is fork-tender.
Add blanched konjac; cover and continue simmering on low for 10 minutes to let konjac absorb flavors.
Uncover, turn up heat to reduce sauce for 3-5 minutes until thickened. Adjust salt, sprinkle garlic chives, toss and serve.
Tips
Blanching konjac removes its alkaline taste and firms up the texture. Rendering duck fat prevents greasiness. Fry doubanjiang until red oil develops for best color. Do not reduce sauce too much; leave a little to coat rice.
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