Beer Duck (啤酒鸭) – Omnivore’s Cookbook

Beer duck is a conventional Chinese language dish that includes tender juicy bone-in duck items braised in beer with savory sauces with plenty of aromatics. It’s a festive principal dish that may simply be ready forward of time and loved later. Whether or not for a dinner gathering, New 12 months celebration or meal-prep for the week, it’s an ideal principal dish. 

What’s beer duck

Chinese language Beer Duck (啤酒鸭, Pi Jiu Ya) is a conventional dish that originated in Hunan and Sichuan, however has gotten common throughout China. It’s recognized for its wealthy taste and fragrant spices. 

To make beer duck, an entire duck is lower into huge bite-sized bone-in items. Then it’s braised in a broth that makes use of beer as an alternative of water, together with soy sauce and numerous spices and aromatics. As soon as executed, the duck is tender and juicy, lined in a aromatic brown sauce that’s barely spicy and bursting with umami. 

Beer duck is a typical dish for gatherings and is commonly loved with household and buddies. And it’s generally ready for particular events and celebrations.

Good thing about consuming duck

Duck is a well-liked ingredient in Chinese language cooking as a result of its scrumptious style and numerous well being advantages.

Duck is a high-quality protein that’s wealthy in nutritional vitamins A and B, iron, zinc and antioxidants. Consuming duck in the summertime is a practice as a result of its TCM traits. Duck meat itself has cooling properties, which assist regulate the physique’s warmth and supply aid in the course of the sizzling summer season months. Consuming duck may also help restore steadiness and forestall points like dehydration and heatstroke.

Duck meat is wealthy in vitamins that assist preserve power ranges and total well being, which might be particularly helpful in summer season when folks may really feel extra fatigued because of the warmth.

Components for beer duck

Which lower of duck to make use of

Historically, beer duck is made with bone-in items of a complete duck. However to make the method simpler on a decrease price range, and with out compromising on taste, this recipe makes use of bone-in duck legs. 

To make the braised duck extra flavorful and shorten the cooking time, I extremely advocate chopping the duck leg into giant bite-size items. 

To cut the duck, separate the thigh and drumstick on the joint, so it’s simpler to chop. Then you should utilize both a cleaver or a pair of poultry shears to chop the bone-in items. I often lower the thigh alongside the bone first. Then hack the drumstick and the thigh throughout the center into 4 items in whole.

In the event you don’t have correct cooking instruments to chop the bone-in items, it is best to at the very least separate the thigh and the drumstick utilizing an everyday kitchen knife.  

Mise en place

Whenever you’re able to cook dinner beer duck, your desk ought to have:

• Minimize up duck items
• Beer
• Aromatics and spices (inexperienced onion, garlic, ginger, dried chili pepper, star anise, cinnamon sticks)
• Sugar (rock sugar or common sugar)
• Soy sauce (gentle and darkish)

This recipe makes use of darkish soy sauce so as to add shade and a light-weight caramelized taste. However you can even use common soy sauce as an alternative. 

cook dinner beer duck

One phrase on the cookware

I used a large wok on this recipe. A wok is one of the best pan for cooking Chinese language braised dishes as a result of:

1. You may simply brown the meat with out sticking (and in contrast to a heavy dutch oven, you should utilize increased warmth and fewer oil)
2. The form of the wok lets you use much less water (or liquid) to cowl all of the meat, which helps season the meat extra successfully and promotes even cooking.
3. The massive floor space reduces the broth simply, creating a pleasant sticky sauce from the braising liquid in a short while. 
4. The spherical form of the wok makes it simple to scoop the meat whilst you’re decreasing the sauce, making it much less prone to stick and break aside the tender braised meat.
5. A wok heats up rapidly and maintains excessive temperatures, which may also help scale back the cooking time. 

That being mentioned, you can also make this dish with a high-sided skillet, a heavy obligation pot, or a dutch oven. Whenever you use a pot or a dutch oven, you may want so as to add extra liquid to cowl the duck, to make sure even cooking. And it’ll take longer to cut back the sauce. You may also contemplate eradicating the duck items earlier than decreasing, so that you don’t have to fret concerning the duck sticking to the pan.

Cooking course of

Cooking beer duck is kind of simple. 

1. Brown the duck
2. As soon as the duck begins to brown, decrease the warmth so the duck renders extra fats
3. Switch the browned duck to a plate
4. Take away a number of the duck fats from the pan
5. Cook dinner the aromatics till aromatic
6. Use the beer to deglaze the pan
7. Add again the duck and all of the seasoning to braise
8. As soon as the duck turns tender, scale back the sauce till sticky 

serve beer duck

Beer duck is a satisfying principal dish that may be served by itself together with different sides, or served over steamed rice. You may also prime the duck over noodle soup to make a scrumptious one-bowl meal. It additionally tastes nice after it’s cooled off. You may serve a small plate of chilly duck as an appetizer.  

Beer duck refrigerates and freezes effectively too, making it an incredible dish for cooking forward or meal prep. To reheat, you possibly can merely microwave the leftover if refrigerated. For frozen duck, it’s greatest to warmth it up in a steamer for even heating and to retain moisture (if with out thawing upfront).

Listed below are some facet dishes which can be nice with beer duck:

Different scrumptious braised dishes

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Beer Duck (啤酒鸭)

Beer duck is a conventional Chinese language dish that includes tender juicy bone-in duck items braised in beer with savory sauces with plenty of aromatics. It’s a festive principal dish that may simply be ready forward of time and loved later. Whether or not for a dinner gathering, New 12 months celebration or meal-prep for the week, it’s an ideal principal dish.To make this dish gluten free, use tamari to interchange the sunshine and darkish soy sauce.

Writer: Maggie Zhu

Course: Principal

Delicacies: Chinese language

Key phrase: homestyle

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time: 1 hour hour

Whole Time: 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Components

• 4 (2 lb whole) duck legs (or 1 entire duck)
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 3 inexperienced onions , halved crosswise
• 1 thumb ginger , sliced
• 3 cloves garlic , smashed
• 2 dried Chinese language chili pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 tablespoon rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon white sugar)
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (or soy sauce) (*Footnote 1)
• 2 cans (whole 24 oz / 700 ml) beer
• Sliced sizzling chili pepper for garnish (optionally available)

Directions

• Use a pair of hen shears or a big heavy knife (ideally a cleaver) to chop the duck leg into giant bite-size items.

• Warmth oil in a wok (or a dutch oven, or a big deep skillet) over medium-high warmth till sizzling. Swirl the wok so the oil covers the underside. Add the duck items with out overlapping, pores and skin facet down. Cook dinner in batches if wanted. Let cook dinner with out transferring till the underside turns golden brown. Flip to cook dinner the opposite facet till golden. Then flip to medium or medium-low warmth. Flip the duck often as you proceed to cook dinner for five to six minutes to render the surplus fats. As soon as executed, switch the duck items to a plate and put aside.

• (Non-obligatory) If there’s an excessive amount of oil in your pan, you possibly can fastidiously take away some utilizing a ladle. Go away about 3 tablespoons of oil / rendered duck fats.

• Add the inexperienced onion, ginger, garlic, chili pepper, cinnamon stick, and star anise. Cook dinner and stir to launch perfume till the aromatics are flippantly charred.

• Pour within the beer and instantly use a picket spatula to scrape the underside, releasing any brown bits.

• Add the sunshine soy sauce, darkish soy sauce and sugar. Cook dinner over medium-high warmth till the broth involves a boil. Then cowl the wok. Flip down the warmth so the broth maintains a low boil. It’s necessary to make use of sufficient warmth so the broth is just not simmering, so the fats will emulsify into the broth, making a thick sauce on the finish. Cook dinner till the duck turns tender (however not fall-off-the-bone tender), 30 to 40 minutes. In the event you used bigger duck items (unhacked thighs and drumsticks, you may have to braise a bit longer).

• Uncover the pan and switch to medium-high warmth. Cook dinner to cut back the broth, till it’s thick sufficient to coat the again of a spoon, 10 to fifteen minutes. You must watch carefully throughout this step, and use a spatula to scoop the duck from the underside, to forestall sticking and burning. You may style the duck and the sauce throughout this course of, and add a little bit of salt if wanted.

• (Non-obligatory) As soon as the sauce has diminished, add the recent chili pepper, if utilizing.

• Combine every thing effectively so the duck is evenly lined with the sauce. Switch every thing to a deep plate or bowl and function a principal dish over steamed rice, or by itself.

Notes

1. The darkish soy sauce provides a darkish brown shade and lightweight caramel style to the duck. You should utilize common soy sauce as an alternative, however the dish will come out with a lighter shade.

Diet

Serving: 1serving, Energy: 253kcal, Carbohydrates: 8.1g, Protein: 28.7g, Fats: 5.6g, Saturated Fats: 1.3g, Ldl cholesterol: 98mg, Sodium: 672mg, Potassium: 70mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 1.2g, Calcium: 18mg, Iron: 2mg