Duck Soup No.1

So last night, when the polar vortex started to hit the city of New York, instead of staying in, hubby and I braved our way to my son’s place for some bonding and tv time.  Of course, we had friends who were  already there and they feasted on lechon belly cooked by Lui and Ai,  after which a few shots of Avion tequila to be had for more fun.

But the evening wouldn’t be complete without  the famous DUCK SOUP that my hubby, so expertly makes when  there’s a request.  It’s usually great after a bout of those fun drinks to dispell hangovers the next day.   So here’s the recipe as narrated:

Ingredients:

Roasted Duck Carcass  (china town in flushing or in manhattan offers roasted  duck Carcasses  for a dollar or two.  These roasted carcsses are those  whose meat have been sliced off and sold as bao sandwiches)

Roasted Duck (half a duck which sells for about 10 dollars is good enough, debone it first and cut the meat into small pieces and the bones put together with the other pot for broth)

dried shitake mushrooms (soaked in water to soften)

enoki mushroom

5 spice powder (3 tsps)

anise seed (½ tsp)

sesame oil (spicy one is good and can be found in Japanese stores) (3 Tbsp)

salt and pepper to taste

duck paste (hard to find but can add to taste) (2 tbsp)

bokchoy leaves

peel off skin from carcass and pinch out the meat.  Include the duck butt/tails.  Separate all the bones from their meat.  So in one pan, you have all the bones.  Fill that pot of bones and cover it with water.  Boil for 30 minutes or until ready to pour everything out.

Place the meat and the skin  another pot and let it sweat and sear in its own fat.  Make sure you have slow fire so as not to burn it, about 15 minutes.  Slowly deglace it for the first time with the water from the soaked mushrooms.  Boil until half of the liquid has evaporated.  

From the boiling bones, take broth and pour about an inch or so into the other pot of meat. That will be your second deglazing.  When it has evaporated into half, then pour in slowly (and hubby says very slowly) the rest of the broth.  Pour in the rest of the ingredients, mushrooms (2 kinds),  5 spice powder, anise, duck paste, sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste.  

Cook in very slow fire so as to incorporate all the flavors of the duck and the spices.  Simmer  for about 20 minutes.  Add in bokchoy when ready to serve.

(the soup was in very slow fire and everytime anyone wanted hot soup after a whiff of a drink, would simply laddle themselves a bowl and enjoy theselves)

Nevertheless, after dinner, I went to my son’s room to watch tv with my granddaughter, who’d rather watch a chick flick,  than the horror one in the living room.  Both of us were multitasking - playing games on our phone while watching the show.  Such is technology.  Meanwhile, we could hear alternates of screams and silence in the other room as well.

Outside, the weather was slowly dipping and I didn’t want to be caught with a colder temp so we had to leave.  It’s a good thing that our apartment is only about 7 minutes brisk walking…..or else … I’d be a dead duck and be made duck soup….oh well!...keep warm, Noo Yoykers...and to my fellow Cebuanos--keep dry  (heard its raining there)