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Bao Buns
Vivian Chan-Tam
91 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
91
2 hours 25 minutes
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Trim the duck of any visible excess fat, especially from the tail area. Mix together the salt and five-spice powder, and season the duck all over, including inside the cavity, and marinate, refrigerated, for 2 hours or overnight. Rinse the duck with fresh water inside and out.
Place a large wok or Dutch oven over medium heat, and add the sugar. After it liquefies, watch it carefully as it caramelizes to a medium brown, swirling the pot occasionally to help it color evenly. Add the star anise, garlic and ginger, and stir to coat in the caramel, and to keep the caramel cooking until it’s a dark brown, but not burned. Stir in 1 cup of water to dissolve the caramel, then add the kecap manis.
Add duck, breast side up, then add water to come up halfway, submerging the legs. Raise the heat to bring the liquid to a boil, then turn the heat down to a very gentle simmer, just barely bubbling.
Cook for 15 minutes, then carefully flip the duck so the breast side is down. Cook 15 minutes, then flip again. Taste the liquid, and add salt or more kecap manis to taste. Cook 15 minutes, then flip so the breast side is down again. Cook another 5 to 15 minutes, until the breast is cooked to your liking. Traditionally it should be cooked through, but Tan’s spin is to remove the duck when the breast meat is 135 to 140 degrees, or medium. To use a traditional test, poke a chopstick in the thickest parts of the duck thigh and breast; if it goes through without too much resistance, it’s done.
Remove the duck to a platter or cutting board, and tent with foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and eggs to the sauce, and simmer them gently for 10 minutes, until stained and hot. Skim the sauce of any floating fat if necessary, and serve it all with rice and chile sauce.
Lived in Singapore for many years and saw variations of this dish with birds so glad to see a recipe. Used chicken and with some changes. Added lemongrass & a couple of cloves to give more woodsy tones. Also quartered the chicken for easier searing and would probably take the skin off next time because I don't think it adds anything. Also might be helpful to add a little neutral oil for cooking ginger & galangal. Note GF folks: "Bango" Kecap Manis is a suitable brand you
You can ,ale your own with soy sauce and brown sugar - just google it! I know there's a recipe at fussfreecooking.com
Yes. They actually taste best soaked in the braising liquid overnight, in my opinion, so the flavour permeates most of the whites. When you cut it in half the whites should be a light brown.
Did you try your local Hannaford? They usually have an "Asian" aisle, andcan order it for their next delivery. Or, next time you're out of town, find a Wal-Mart. There's another Hannaford in Keene, NH which isn't very far. I'll assume ducks are readily available at least part of the year. A bottle of keycap manis lasts a fair amount of time - it tastes something like soy sauce and molasses, so (like toasted sesame oil) a little generally goes a long way.
I live in Montana where there is not much of an Asian population and order most Asian spices & condiments, like keycap manis, through Amazon. Same for hard-to-find top quality Italian and French items and cheeses.
Great recipe, even better if cooked in advance & duck is allowed to cool in liquid & reheated. I removed the breasts and cooked legs/thighs longer.
After I removed the duck I used a fat separator/ strainer to get rid of the fat, (i saved it because all duck fat is precious…), put sauce back in pot and added eggs and tofu.
Made this last night with few variations (couple extra spices and quartered the bird for ease of flipping so much). It was fabulous! No complaints but I was wondering if anyone has done anything to crisp up the skin?
Made this with Cornish Hens for a fancy Sunday Lunch. Was a BIG hit. Served with rice and baby boc choy, and Chinese mushrooms.
I’m cooking this, and my only question is, when first putting the duck into the pot, the breast is up. So the legs are up as well. But it says add liquid until half way up AND the legs are submerged. So the whole thing is pretty much submerged? I’m going with half way up the legs, so I don’t end up diluting things too much
Finally, a chance to use some of the huge amounts of kecap manis I have in my pantry!
so good
1/4 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup and 1/8 cup palm or brown sugar are the equivalents to make on own. Just increase to get one cup.
If you can't find kicap manis (dark sweetened soya sauce), just use regular light soya sauce and add sugar. The dark color will come naturally with the caramelization of the sauce and the sugar. In fact, I prefer not using the kicap manis because some brands tend to be clawingly sweet and that spoils the flavor of the duck.
Great recipe, even better if cooked in advance & duck is allowed to cool in liquid & reheated. I removed the breasts and cooked legs/thighs longer.
Someone suggested removing the skin before cooking. My mother, the accomplished chicken soup cook, always says that the skin adds a lot of flavour - quite aside from any fat which can easily be removed.
Lived in Singapore for many years and saw variations of this dish with birds so glad to see a recipe. Used chicken and with some changes. Added lemongrass & a couple of cloves to give more woodsy tones. Also quartered the chicken for easier searing and would probably take the skin off next time because I don't think it adds anything. Also might be helpful to add a little neutral oil for cooking ginger & galangal. Note GF folks: "Bango" Kecap Manis is a suitable brand you
I prefer not to make my own sweet chili sauce. Anyone have suggestions for a bottled sauce available at a good Asian market?
I will say that once you have the ingredients together, this looks like a not-so-difficult recipe - and very sapid.
Frances Lam: Any chance Nicholas Tang would share the Singaporean curry recipe you mention?? Sounds delicious.
Are the boiled eggs shelled?
Yes. They actually taste best soaked in the braising liquid overnight, in my opinion, so the flavour permeates most of the whites. When you cut it in half the whites should be a light brown.
I wish you'd tell us how to adapt this recipe to use ingredients that are available in the boonies. I could never find keycap manis in Lake Placid, New York, but I'd love to try this recipe.
Simply go on Amazon and order it.
You can ,ale your own with soy sauce and brown sugar - just google it! I know there's a recipe at fussfreecooking.com
or, make kecap manis ... there are a number of recipes on the web
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