Herbal Roasted Duck

I was kinda excited when Precious Pea told me about her roasting a duck. I had always wanted to try roasting a duck but never pluck up the courage. I told Pea I would try that weekend but alas I was out the whole weekend so instead I made them last Saturday. Thanks to her step-by-step pics, it did make things a whole lot easier.

I searched thru the wet market and found 2 stalls selling them but one of them only have frozen ones. Stepped up to the one selling fresh duck and found out that 1kg cost RM14. I asked her to pick me a small one slightly less than 2kg.

Whilst I was cleaning the duck, I was literally cursing and swearing as it was tremendously tedious to remove the remainder feathers on the skin. A lot of them were embedded or ingrown on the skin!!!! I sat down for almost an hour just to pluck as much as I could but there were still so many under the skin which can't be removed. Now I totally understood why my mom needed one day to prepare a duck to be cooked the next day!

Other than this, it's relatively quite easy to prepare this duck. I hung up my duck on a pole above my wok for the vinegar and hot oil baths which made it easier as I did tried holding on to the duck and it's very heavy as I pour the liquid over it.

Since Pea had told me that it was not salty enough, after stuffing the duck, I rubbed some salt all over the duck and hung it up for about 45 mins before I bathe it. I think it worked. Then I hung it to dry with a fan blowing at the duck for about 6 hours.

Roasted the duck in the oven in a roasting pan breast side up, after 30 mins I checked the underside, it's not browned throughly so I turned it over and roast it till golden brown. Lots of oil collected in the roasting pan!

I rested it for a while after the oil bath since I can't handle hot stuff hahaha... Managed to chopped the bird up nicely which is a FIRST for me :p I'm so shy to admit that I can't even chop up a chicken properly without disintegrating it but this duck seems fine. My palm was in pain though from thumpping on the chopper to chop the hard bones.



As for the taste, it was okay but hubby said something is missing but he can't pinpoint. To me, seriously it's not worth my time cleaning up the duck, well unless someone volunteer to do it for me. When compared with those sold outside, of course can't compare lah... those were way off better. Nevertheless, it was a good effort.

There you go, my FIRST time cooking a duck and chopping one cooked one too! Very high achievements in Babe_KL's book!!!

For the recipe and step-by-step pics, please check over at Precious Pea.


Technorati Tags: roast duck

Roast Pork aka Siew Yuk

**EXTREMELY NON-HALAL**


Can you believe it that I actually made my own ROAST PORK??? Yeah also known as "siew yuk" in Cantonese. I was inspired by Piggy's post on her roast pork belly using the recipe gotten from Famous Cuisine Publication's range of bi-lingual (Mandarin and English) food magazines and cookbooks. It would be great though if Famous Cuisine Publication can translate the articles, tips and such into English as well. Currently, only the recipes are available in both languages.

Anyway, back to how I went about with my pork belly. I marinaded the meat side with salt, sugar, red fermented bean curd ("nam yue" in Cantonese), five spice powder and chopped garlic for a few hours in the fridge. Sprinkled some sea salts on the skin side before roasting in the oven. After 20 minutes, removed from oven and pricked the skin with sharp fork (the more holes you prick the better cos that's where those popped-up "bubbles" appear on the skin) before brushing with rice vinegar. Back into the oven for another 20 minutes... voila, a lovely roasted pork lightly fragranted with 5 spice powder and a hint of garlic; plus uber crispy skin which I guess the part where most of us loved.



The recipe that I had tweaked (it called for MSG but I omitted it) is as follows:

Roast Pork Belly

Ingredients:
2 kg pork belly (with skin)
2 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp rice vinegar

Marinade:
3 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 pieces red fermented bean curd, use 2 if the cubes are bigger
1/2 tbsp five spice powder
11/2 tbsp chopped garlic

Clean the pork belly (ensure no more hairs on the skin side) and pat dry all over with kitchen towel. Score (both diagonally and horizontally) the inner portion of the meat. Rub all over the skin with the sea salt.

Rub marinade mixture evenly into the meat right down into the scored areas. Marinate for about 30 mins or longer. I did mine for about 6 hours.

Bake the marinated pork belly with skin side up in pre-heated oven at 220C for 20 mins. Remove from oven and prick all over the surface of the skin with a sharp instrument or like me, I just used a fork but please don't use those aluminium ones hahaha cos they bend easily.

Next, brush the skin with the rice vinegar. Bake again with the skin side up at 250C for another 20-30 minutes, or until pop-up "bubbles" have formed on the skin. Remove and let the pork belly rest for 15-20 mins before chopping it up.

Well, I didn't know it was sooo easy but one peeve though the oil from the pork belly splattered all over my oven.... arrrrghhhh so much cleaning up to do!!! There are still some residue though but I did try to scrub hard but there are still loads of nooks and corners that I can't reach. So, anyone here have any tips??? Mine is the built-in type and does not have self-cleansing function. HELPPP!!! I would love to make this again and again but then the thought of cleaning up make me shudders with apprehension. Thanks in advance for any tips or advices given.

Technorati Tags: roast pork + pork

One Chook, Five Ways

Fancy cooking one chook and from there milk the chook right down to its bones? Yeah I did just that... can you imagine it? I roasted one chicken and got a lot of leftovers that I had to be creative to finish them up. I guess I must have bought a rather huge chook for the two and half of us!!!

I was browsing Ruth's blog when I came across her post of Perfect Roast Chicken. I read on and I was intrigued by the simplicity of the recipe and method of cooking she had adapted from Joy of Cooking, Neil Perry & Thomas Keller (does French Laundry ring a bell?). I also delved into the steps Thomas Keller had posted in Epicurious. Click here for the simple instructions.

Like Ruth, I did not use any butter or oil. I dried my chook as dry as possible with loads of kitchen towels plus I hung up my chook for a couple of hours with a tray beneath to catch the liquid dripping off it. Next, I merely rubbed the chook with sea salt and stuffed 2 bulbs of garlic in the cavity. Trussed the chook then stuffed into the oven. Voila... a really perfect roast of crispy skin but tender meat!



I was really amazed by its simplicity without any butter or oil rubbed on it, no herbs, no need to turn over the chook and best of all no need to even baste the chook!!! Woohoo and I got juicy meat and crispy skin as opposed to what was published in the latest copy of Flavours magazine where oil or butter is needed to prevent the chook from drying out!

My only issue is that whilst roasting there were so much oil dripped out onto the pan and they splattered all over my oven!!! It's really a tough job to clean the oven up as I have trouble reaching the nooks and corners plus those spots above the heating element. Anyone out there have tips to clean up a normal oven without self-cleansing function???

Anyway, on a separate tray, I've roasted some vegetables ie. pumpkin, onions, bell peppers (capsicum) and carrots. Just cut them up, sprinkle olive oil and sea salt all over in a baking tray. Place them inside the oven the same time as the chook but they need a shorter baking time though depending on the size of the vegetables.

We only managed to devoured the thighs, wings and part of the breast. With so much leftovers, I got a wee bit creative and came out with the various ways to finish them up.

First, the easiest was to come out with was a roast chicken with mayonnaise. All I did was chopped up the meat into tiny morsels, mix in some mayo and freshly ground black pepper. Once done, I topped up onto a bed of greens and some of those roasted vegetables and the roasted garlic too. Drizzled in some extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I've also stuffed them into pita breads to make roast chicken mayo sandwich.





I've also made another salad but this time I thinly sliced the breast and on the bed of greens, I've some fresh capsicums and cubed pears. A simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar completes this simple and refreshing salad.



Four down and one more to go!!! The last one was a very unconventional and unimaginable way of using up a roast chicken leftovers. I made a chicken rice porridge with the bones of the chicken cavity!!! Devoid of meat after making the salads, I added the bones whilst cooking up the rice porridge which provided a very sweet and garlicky taste since I've stuffed some garlic in the cavity. When the porridge is almost done, I added in some shredded chicken meat and chopped salted duck eggs. Adjust seasoning of salt and white pepper. Topped up with more white pepper and a dash of sesame oil when serving to complete the porridge.



So that was my story of one chook, five ways... hoped you had enjoyed it and thanks to Ruth for highlighting this wonderful recipe.

Technorati Tags: roast chicken + leftover

Roast Chicken ala Chinese

I've made this quite some time back... just saw the pics in my flickr album. After my successful attempt previously I had wanted to make another roast chicken but this time a Chinese style one instead. Can't really recalled what I put in the marinade but it should have some ginger juice, light and thick soy sauce, cooking wine and white pepper. I've even butterflied the chicken! It's a total disaster I would say cos the colour came out uneven and there were some burnt spots too, most probably due to the caramalisation of the thick soy sauce, so I won't be using it anymore heh! This time round I've also used a non-free range chicken... big mistake ok cos the breast portion is wayyy too thick and it's really tough.

This was how the chicken looked like after coming out of the oven. Didn't even bothered to plate it hahaha cos we just dug into the chicken devouring every single bits except the breast parts. Taste wise it was quite all right but somehow it doesn't look very pleasing.

For the leftovers of the breast, I've shredded the meat thinly using my fingers. I've used some of them in a fried rice. Just scrambled some eggs in oil and scoop up once it's done. Heat up some oil and place chopped garlic in it. Next stir in the shredded chicken meat, mixed vegetables and day-old-rice. Stir to mix and add in light soy sauce and white pepper to taste. Lastly add in the eggs and stir till mixed.

For the remainder, I've made a stir-fry loh shue fun (rat tail noodles literally translated, it's actually a type of rice noodles). Very simple as well, make some scrambled eggs and set aside. Heat some oil and add in garlic. Fry till fragrant before adding sliced onions and fry till translucent. Next add in shredded cabbage and chicken meat. Pour in some oyster sauce to taste and add a bit of water. Place in blanched loh shue fun (blanch with hot water to wash away the grease and such) and stir. Add more oyster sauce if it's not salty enough. Lastly add in some white pepper and scrambled eggs. Stir to mix and dish up.

Technorati Tags: roast chicken + noodles + fried rice