6hr sous vide pan-roast duck breast

was in 2 minds whether to make this post.

anyway i had 1/2 duck leftover from my recent 15pax homecooked dinner for friends on 3.10.2014. i used 1/2 duck to make a 盐水鸭.

& i read 2 interesting recipes & thought i would try out sous vide duck breast & use the drumstick for a tea smoked duck fettucine. 🙂

the results were not that great so i thought of not posting it as a recipe. anyway, i will give the tea smoked duck another try to see if i can get it right.

6hr sous vide pan-roast duck breast

6hr sous vide pan-roast duck breast

the 6hr sous vide pan-roast duck breast was fine actually. i made quite a good one for my canard l’orange anyway, so the main difference was just the sauce.

the grape ginger sauce was kind of an overkill. next time i will just do it as a small dip. pouring it over the medium rare duck breast actually killed the photo & also masked the taste. i tried the duck w/o the sauce & it was quite good on its own. unfortunately i did not take a photo of the nicely medium rare duck after slicing it. 😦

i would rate it as passable but not great.

tea smoked duck fettucine

the tea smoked duck fettucine was an exciting recipe for me, as i can use this method to smoke meats (duck, belly pork, pork kuckles, even beef i think) w/o a real smoker.

however my first attempt wasn’t right in terms of timing. i did only 45mins in the oven at 130degC after smoking the tea & other condiments on a aluminium foil in an oven-proof wok over high heat & crimping the foil to make a fully sealed “smoking chamber”, i placed it in a preheated oven at 130degC for 45mins. for the crispy skin i used gordon ramsay’s cold pan method.

removing the aluminium foil, the tea smoked duck gave off a nice aroma in the room but the flavours could not really infuse to the meat..need longer than 45mins. i will probably try it for 2.5hrs to 3 hrs instead.

the fettucine recipe was actually ok & my 2 daughters ate up the pasta on the day & next. but the tea smoked duck achieved nothing & the texture was a bit tough nearer the bones as it was not smoked for long enough time.

my current standard of sous vide duck breast (much ado about nothing) is no match for my simple & easy to do 盐水鸭…

i can use both methods – 6hrs sous vide at 70degC OR smoking chamber method to produce the tender meat & then the cold pan method to produce the cripy skin. then a small grape ginger sauce dip would do.

i will post the recipe later when i get the correct preparation & results for the tea smoke duck.

c.h.e.f andy