Yum Ped Yang Linchee
Duck Salad With LycheeThe combination of duckand lychee fruit is awesome because the sweetness and the acidity of lycheepair perfectly with the richness of duck. Lychee fruit is available all year incans, but there are certain places where you can get it fresh. I prefer cannedlychee for this recipe. This is also a good recipe to utilize leftover Chineseroast duck. Pull the meat apart from the carcass and use it to make this salad.
Ingredients
Duck
- 2 2.5–2.8 oz [70–80 g] duck breasts
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper
- ½ tsp five-spice powder
Dressing
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped or pressed
- 1 –2 fresh Thai chilies thinly sliced
- ¼ cup 55 g palm sugar or brown sugar
- 3 tbsp 45 g chili paste in soybean oil
- ½ cup 120 ml fish sauce
- ½ cup 120 ml fresh lime juice
Salad
- ¼ cup 30 g thinly sliced red onion (halved then sliced with the grain, also known as Lyonnaise)
- ½ cup 105 g lychee, drained
- ½ English cucumber halved lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch (6 mm) thick on the bias
- 1 cup 92 g mint leaves (leaves picked from the stems)
- 3½ cups 150 g romaine hearts, sliced 1 inch (3 cm) wide on the bias
- ¼ cup 4 g cilantro leaves
- 3 scallions thinly sliced on the bias
- ¼ cup 20 g store-bought fried shallots
Instructions
- To make the duck, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Pat each duck breast dry with paper towels.
- Season the duck on all sides with salt, pepper and five-spice powder.
- Score the fat on top of the duck in a crosshatch pattern, being careful to score only the fat and not the flesh.
- Set an ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
- Immediately place the duck, skin-side down, into the cold pan.
- After a few minutes, the fat from the skin will start to render out.
- Periodically drain the excess fat into a small, heatproof bowl to save it.
- After 10 to 12 minutes, the skin should be golden brown and crispy, while the meat will still be uncooked.
- After the skin reaches a golden brown, flip the duck breasts over, skin-side up.
- Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 132°F (56°C).
- Let the duck breasts rest on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Slice the duck on an angle into thin tiles and reserve for the salad.
- To make the dressing, in a medium bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients until the chili paste and sugar dissolve completely into the dressing.
- Set aside until ready to serve.
- To assemble the salad, in a large bowl, combine the dressing and all the salad ingredients except for cilantro, scallions and fried shallots.
- Toss to coat well.
- Taste and adjust any of the seasonings if you’d like.
- Plate the salad, arrange the sliced duck on top and garnish with cilantro, scallions and fried shallots.
