Teochew Loh Ack (Braised Duck) 潮州卤鸭 - Featured in Group Recipes

Teochew Cuisine

With Ray’s auntie, our ex-home chef, staying with us for the next 2 months, I am taking this opportunity to hand over my kitchen duty to her since we miss her cooking so much.  With her running my kitchen and being my guest chef, I bet I’d get to learn more home cooking and have more recipes to share in this blog especially hubby’s family Teochew cuisine and authentic Nyonya dishes which she specializes in. I’m so pleased to step down from my position and pass my chef cap to her. :-P

With a master chef brought in all the way from Penang, I proudly invited my Penang group of friends in Auckland who were craving for Penang food to come over for a real Penang home cooked meals.  It was such a divine feast; the dishes served were so homely and authentic which we all missed so much.  Shared below are the main course and side dish we had for the night.  If you think they look tempting, wait till you have tasted them J

Teochew Braised Duck 潮州卤鸭 - Featured in Group Recieps 24/11/2010

I want that drumstick!

Braised eggs and bean curds

 

As some of us may have noticed, most experienced cooks don’t usually measure the cooking ingredients with a scale, spoon or other measuring gadgets.  Though it may not appear that they are measuring but they actually are. They measure by a combination of their eyes and experience. When I asked her how much to use she had difficulty to spell out as precisely.  In order to transcribe this recipe, I had to ask her to measure every single ingredient she added.  However, most of the time I was not fast enough to measure them before she added the ingredients in L

Hence, I can only try my best to estimate the quantity of seasoning.  However she said the amount used is based on taste which is really the essence of measuring. I hope my effort in recording this recipe does not contribute to another item in your kitchen trash bin.

TEOCHEW BRAISED DUCK Time: 1 1/2- 2 hours ( Depending on the size of duck and your preferred tenderness) Serve: 8-10 INGREDIENTS: 1 whole  duck size 19 (about 2kg), rinsed and pat dry 2 cups water (more if necessary) 3 tbsp oil 2 tbsp bean paste 2 tbsp brown sugar Braised bean curds and eggs (Optional) 1 packet dried bean curds 10 eggs MARINADE: 1 tsp salt (to taste） 3-4 tbsp dark soy sauce 4-5 tbsp soya sauce 1 ½ tbsp five spices powder SPICES: 3cm thick ginger -slice into thin pieces 2 inch thick fresh galangal – slice and smashed to bring out the aroma 1 clove garlic – wash, break them but with skin on 10 cloves 2 star anise One 2-inch length cinnamon stick METHOD： 1.   Rub the duck with salt and give the duck a good massage including inside the cavity with marinade. 2.   Marinate for at least 2 hours or left overnight in the fridge to allow better absorption. 3.   Heat up wok or pot (large enough to hold the duck) with 3 tbsp oil and sauté the spices until fragrant, add in bean paste and brown sugar stir for a while. 4.   Reduce the heat to medium-low. Slowly add duck into wok, pour in marinade  5.       For the first half an hour, constantly baste the duck with marinade, flipping over to color it evenly. 6.   Add adequate water halfway up the duck, cover and simmer for another one hour, turn the duck every 20-30 minutes. 7.   Use low heat so that it don’t dry up too fast, keep an eye on the gravy level during cooking, add in more water if the gravy looks like it’s drying up, taste test on the gravy. 8.   It takes about 1 to 1½ hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. 9.   To check for doneness, poke the duck in the thigh with a skewer. If the juices run clear, the duck is cooked. 10. You can also add in dried bean curd and hard boiled eggs (with shell removed) and braised together at the last half an hour.  11. However I have a small wok, so we braised the bean curds and eggs separately after we removed the duck out from the wok. We pour the gravy into another pot and added in bean curds and eggs and simmer for at least half an hour. 12. Turn off heat and remove duck from wok, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, pour the sauce and set aside. 13. Cut the duck into serving pieces and arrange on a serving platter then drizzle some gravy over the duck and serve. 潮州卤鸭 时间：1 1/2- 2小时（取决于鸭的大小） 份量：8-10 人份 材料： 1只全鸭 约2公斤 2杯水（如有必要加更多） 3汤匙油 2汤匙豆瓣酱 红糖2汤匙卤豆腐，鸡蛋（可选） 1包豆腐干 10个鸡蛋（煮熟去壳）， 腌料： 盐适量 3-4汤匙晒油/老抽 4-5汤匙酱油 1个半汤匙五香粉 香料： 3厘米厚的生姜，切成薄片 2英寸厚的南姜 - 切片，用刀背拍带出香味 1瓣蒜头 – 不用去皮 10只丁香 2个八角 一支2英寸长的肉桂棒 方法： 1。把鸭洗净沥干水抹好，后倒入腌料均匀的擦在鸭上包括腔内。 2。最少腌2小时或放入冰箱冷藏一天，让腌料更深地渗透入鸭肉里。 3。烧热锅倒入3汤匙油，爆香香料，加入豆瓣酱和红糖搅拌一会儿。 4。调中火，慢慢地把鸭放入炒锅，倒入卤汁。 5。头半个小时要不停地把卤汁浇在鸭身上给鸭上色。 6。加上水使卤汁淹到鸭身一半后，盖上盖子转小火慢慢让鸭闷煨一小时。 7。其间每20-30分钟要给鸭翻几次身，让每个部位都能接触到卤水。 8。大约需要1至1个半小时或直至肉嫩才能完成。 9。要确保卤熟，用竹串在鸭大腿捅，如果肉汁是清澈鸭是煮熟了。 10。你也可以做其它卤味，在最后半小时加入豆腐干和水煮蛋（壳去掉）。 11。不过我只有一个小炒锅不能全部一起煮，所以我们分开煮， 12。我们先从锅里取出鸭子，把卤汁滤净去油倒入另一个锅中加入豆腐干，鸡蛋，先以大火滚煮后转小火卤３０分钟即可。 13。卤鸭切盘淋上卤汁上桌。