AUSTRALIAN GOOD FOOD GUIDE - Home of the Chef Hat Awards
Twice Cooked Duck Legs, Plum Sauce and Steamed Bread - Chef Recipe by Andrew McConnell
Ingredients
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 Tbs light soy sauce
2 Tbs yellow bean paste
Plain (all-purpose) flour for dusting
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced into 5 mm rounds
Plum sauce
Duck Legs:
1 tsp ground sichuan pepper
1 tsp Chinese five-spice
2 Tbs sea salt flakes
1.5 cm piece fresh ginger, grated
2 spring onions (scallions), white part only, thinly sliced
6 duck legs
Vinegar Sauce:
2.5 cm (1 in) piece fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbs finely chopped coriander (cilantro) root
2 Tbs kecap manis
2 Tbs light soy sauce
2 Tbs Chinese black vinegar
2 Tbs water
Steamed Bread:
450 g steamed bread mix
55 g caster (superfine) sugar
250 ml milk
1 tsp grape seed oil, plus extra for greasing
Plain (all-purpose) flour for dusting
Method
To make the duck legs, in a large bowl combine the sichuan pepper, five-spice, sea salt flakes, ginger and spring onion, mixing well, massage this curing mix into the duck legs and refrigerate the duck in a covered container for 12 hours, to cure.
Once cured, wash the curing mix off the duck under cold water, steam the duck legs over boiling water for 3 hours, topping the pan up with extra water as necessary, once cooked, place the duck legs on a tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate them overnight, leaving the legs uncovered so they can dry out.
To make the steamed bread, combine the bread mix and sugar in a bowl, slowly add the milk and oil, mixing well to form a dough, knead the dough on a work surface for 3–4 minutes until it forms a smooth ball, divide the dough into 30 g (1 oz) portions and roll each piece into a ball, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Dust a work surface with a little flour and roll out a piece of dough into an oval shape, brush the piece of dough with oil and fold it over to make a half-moon shaped bread pocket, place it on a small square piece of grease-proof (waxed) paper and place in the refrigerator, when all the pieces of dough have been rolled and folded they can be left in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook them.
Bring a large saucepan of water fitted with a steamer to the boil, place the buns in the steamer in a single layer on grease-proof paper and steam over rapidly boiling water for 15 minutes.
Fill a large, heavy-based saucepan one-third full with oil and heat it to 190°C.
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce with the yellow bean paste, brush the mixture over the cooked duck legs then dust them lightly with flour, deep-fry the duck legs for 4–5 minutes until dark golden, then drain on paper towel.
To make the vinegar sauce, in a small bowl combine all the ingredients.
To serve, place the steamed bread on a platter, arrange the duck legs and cucumber rounds on another platter and serve with both the plum and vinegar sauces in small bowls on the side. At the table, shred the meat from the bone and make up little buns with plum sauce, cucumber and the duck meat. Dip the stuffed buns in the vinegar sauce just before you eat them.
