Braised Duck by Jana Tan


1) Buy duck from ntuc, remove from bag, drain off any liquid if any. rub all over with 3 tsp of salt and 3 tsp of five spice powder. Place prepared duck into a clean ntuc bag and keep in fridge for 2 days.

2) When prepared to cook, let duck come to room temperature. Also, gather these in a bowl n put aside.

Let's call them group A:
10 cloves garlic
2 cinnamon quills
2 star anise
2 small slices of tanggui
3 tbsp of five spice powder
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Ingredients group B
100g blue ginger bruised n sliced
100g young ginger, bruised and sliced
2 stalks spring onions
Two cluster of garlic unpeeled
1 cup sugar
0.75 cup dark soy sauce
1.5 cup water
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3) Heat oil in wok, fry the two types of ginger till fragrant, add the white sugar and fry on low heat till it caramelises. Your patience will be rewarded. 

4) When sugar is bubbling n turns brown in color.. Add water. Be careful. Will splatter. And also will smell really good. 

5) Then in goes the good quality dark soy sauce. Add the garlic and ingredients group A. Bring to a boil. It smells really good at this point already. 

6) Lower the duck into the wok. It will be half submerged. Never fear. Use a ladle to bathe the duck in the good dark sauce. Keep heat at a simmer.

7) Continue until u r tired... Feel free to walk away to wash up the dirty dishes. Just rem to turn the duck every fifteen mins. You will be rewarded with oh-my-goodness yum yum quack quack in 1 hour! 

8) Important: once you feel the meat is cooked enuff to taste the broth, do so! N adjust the taste with salt, sugar or five spice powder as you like. For me, I added lots more five spice powder.. To me, that's how to get my grandma' taste.