Red Cooked Duck With Pressed Bean Curd Recipes

CHINESE VEGETARIAN DUCK (素鸭)

Steps:

• Rinse the shiitake mushrooms clean, and soak them in 2 cups of hot water for 2-3 hours, until they are completely rehydrated. Reserve the water they soaked in.
• Julienne the bamboo shoots, carrots, and ginger, and set aside. Once the shitake mushrooms are done soaking, squeeze out any excess water, remove the tough stems, and thinly slice them.
• With your wok over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons oil. Add the ginger, and cook for 20 seconds. Add the carrots, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and bamboo shoots, turn up the heat, and and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.
• Stir in the Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, and vegetarian oyster sauce. Continue cooking until all the liquid has reduced. Remove from the wok, and let the filling cool.
• Prepare your steamer with enough water for 12 minutes of steaming over high heat, and bring to a boil.
• Lay out one of your sheets of bean curd on a clean work surface. Take your mixture of vegetarian oyster sauce and water, and brush lightly onto one of the sheets. Stack another sheet on top and brush that one too with the oyster sauce mixture.
• Add half of the filling to the lower part of the bean curd circle (about 5 inches/13 cm) from the edge closest to you), arranging it in a roughly 7x3 inch horizontal rectangle. Fold the sheet over the filling tightly. Fold the sides over the middle, and continue rolling tightly until you've formed a rectangular roll. Repeat with another 2 sheets of bean curd skin and the other half of the filling.
• With the opening side down, lay them side by side on a heat proof dish. When the water in your steamer has come to a boil, steam the rolls for 12 minutes over high heat.
• Meanwhile, mix the braising sauce. Combine 1 ¼ cups of the mushroom soaking water, 1 tablespoon vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved, and set aside.
• Remove the rolls from the steamer. Heat a clean wok/pan over medium heat. When the wok is heated, add the oil, and swirl it around the perimeter of the wok to coat it evenly.
• Add the rolls, and brown each side, about 1-2 minutes per side. Handle gently when flipping.
• Once both sides are browned, add the sauce mixture. Braise over medium heat, cooking for 2 minutes covered, and then 2-3 minutes uncovered. Flip the rolls, and do the same on the other side. Try not to move them too much. Just slide them around to prevent them from breaking or fall apart.
• Once the sauce has reduced (it should coat the rolls, but they shouldn't be sitting in a pool of sauce), carefully transfer the rolls to a plate, and cool completely.
• Once cooled, slice into ¾ inch thick slices, and garnish with chopped scallions. Serve at room temperature.

BEAN CURD DENGAKU WITH MISO TOPPINGS

Steps:

• Make white and red miso toppings: Put 3/4 cup white miso in top of a double boiler; put 3 tablespoon white miso and red miso in top of a separate double boiler. Add half of yolks, sake, mirin and sugar to each and blend well. Place both tops over simmering water and gradually blend half of dashi into each miso mixture, stirring until thick. Add choice of one of the fragrant seasonings to each topping. Cool toppings to room temperature.
• Wrap tofu cakes in towels, weight with a dinner plate and let stand 1 hour to press out water. Prepare a charcoal fire, or alternatively heat a stovetop grill or broiler. Cut cakes into 3/8 by 3/4 by 2-inch pieces. Cut green pepper into same size strips. Skewer each piece of tofu on double-pronged "pine needle" skewers, or use 2 bamboo skewers. Skewer green pepper the same way. Grill tofu and pepper skewers for 3 minutes per side.
• Spread one side of green pepper with white miso topping and sprinkle with choice of garnish. Spread tofu with red miso topping and sprinkle with choice of garnish. Return skewers to grill, miso-topped side down, and grill for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through. Skewers can also be made with choice of other vegetables, meat or fish, such as eggplant, large mushrooms,

BLOOD ORANGE CURD

Steps:

• Rub together the grated zest of 1/2 orange and 1/4 cup sugar with your fingertips; set aside.
• Bring 1 3/4 cups blood orange juice and 1/4 cup lemon juice to a boil in a saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch and a pinch of salt; whisk in 6 egg yolks and the zest mixture. Slowly whisk in the hot juice, then return to the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking, until thick, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat; gradually whisk in 6 tablespoons cut-up butter.
• Strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve and tint with red food coloring. Before using, chill until set, at least 4 hours.

ROASTED DUCK IN FERMENTED BEAN CURD: VIT NUONG CHAO

Steps:

• For the marinade: Combine the white bean curd, sugar, red fermented bean curd, ginger, bean curd water, and oil and mix well. Coat the duck with marinade and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight. Heat a charcoal grill to medium heat. Roast and rotate the duck over charcoal for 20 minutes.

RED-COOKED DUCK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cut away and discard the peripheral fat and skin from the duck. That is to say, the fat from the cavity, the excess skin around the neck and cavity opening and so on.
• Brush the duck all over with one tablespoon of the dark soy sauce. Place on a rack, breast side up, and roast for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine in a kettle the remaining dark soy sauce, the light soy sauce, cold water, shaoxing or dry Sherry, rock sugar, ginger, scallions, star anise and tangerine or orange peel. Set aside.
• Remove the duck from the roasting pan and add it, breast side down, to the sauce. Bring the sauce to the boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer 30 minutes.
• Turn the duck in the sauce. Cover and return to the boil. Let simmer 30 minutes. The duck may be eaten at this point, hot or cold. If you are using it to make the many-flavor duck salad, see the recipe.