By: Chef Paumuanlal Tangpua, Culinary Designer Associate,Pullman New Delhi Aerocity
On the Menu of: “Honk”- Pan Asian restaurant at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: Approx 2 hours
Serves: 4
About
A local duck dish from Nanjing, China. The classic recipe of this duck involves salt rubbing and keeping it aside for a couple of hours before proceeding to prepare further.
Nanjing cuisine, also known as Jinling cuisine, is a part of Huaiyang cuisine one of the four culinary heritages of China, alongside Cantonese cuisine, Shandong cuisine and Sichuan cuisine. (https://thewoksoflife.com)
The Honk twist to the traditional recipe is by processing the Duck in two ways. The first being similar, which is braising the duck for hours. the second process involves deep frying of the duck, to attain a crispy texture and the use of Soy Sauce. The modern- art plating is also something which the restaurant prides itself on.
Ingredients
- Duck leg – 1 Kg
- Cherry tomatoes – 2 pcs
- Pickled radish – 2 slices
- Mix lettuce – 2 gms
For Braising
- Bay leaf – 15 gm
- Cinnamon stick – 15 gm
- Star anise – 15 gm
- Dry red chilli –10 gm
- Whole ginger – 20 gm
- Whole garlic – 20 gm
- Scallions – 20 gm
- Oyster sauce – 20 gm
- Light Soy – 50 ml
- Shaoxing wine (a Chinese rice wine)– 100 ml *
- Salt – 20 gm
- Sugar – 20 gm
- Aromat seasoning– 30 gm
- Water – 4 ltrs
* you can use either a Pale Sherry, Dry White Wine or Gin as a substitute
For Frying
- Oil
- Corn Flour
Preparation
Clean duck, blanch and keep aside.
For braising stock :
• Heat oil in a pot.
• Sautée ginger, garlic & all ingredients on a slow flame.
• Add water, wine, soya sauce and other seasoning.
• Simmer the stock for 10 mins, then add Duck leg.
• Cover the pot with silver foil to make a tight seal.
• Simmer for 1 – 2 hours.
• Once done, separate the Duck leg from the stock .
Next…
• Heat oil in a frying pan.
• Dust the Duck leg with corn-flour.
• Once heat attained, fry the duck leg until brown and then remove.
• Meantime, take the stock in a pan and thicken with potato starch.
Plating:
• Pick up 2 to 3 types of lettuce.
• Apply dressing to the lettuce.
• Place the fried duck leg on the bed of lettuce.
• Pour the prepared sauce on top.
• Garnish with blanched cherry tomatoes and pickled radish.
Wine Pairing
Going by the simple dictum of robust food- powerful wine, the ideal accompaniment to this dish would be somewhat like a Bordeaux blend, a fine Burgundy, Super Tuscan, Barolo, Barbaresco, Rioja and wines of a similar temperament from elsewhere. I sampled it with the Greek Megas Oenos 2013– a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) Peleponnese wine, an interesting blend of Aghiorgitiko and Cabernet Sauvignon from Skouras Winery.
The deep ruby coloured wine had a gourmet nose flush with ripe black fruit, spice and a hint of smoke. It had powerful yet silky tannins, balanced acidity and a great structure that stood up to our “full of character” Nanjing Style Duck rather well.
About the Chef
Chef Tangpua graduated from National School of Management Studies (NSMS), Durgapur, West Bengal and set asail to pursue his dreams in the world of cuisine- quite literally!.
He gained his first appointment aboard the The Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, where he got exposed to various global culinary traditions. During this tenure, he got trained under Chefs like Soumya Goswami, Rohit Gambhir, Augusto Cabrera, Asep Hendra, Ng Choy… to name a few.
At Taipan (now Baoshuan), 360 degrees and 361 degrees restaurants of The Oberoi, the chef super-specialised in South East Asian cuisine, where he along with the team created some outstanding dishes with the finest ingredients.
Now at Pullman & Novotel Aerocity, working as Culinary Designer Associate Chef Tangpua is taking care of the operations at HONK, the Asian Bistro style restaurant.
Here too, Chef Tangpua’s menus are a reflection of quality produce and innovative technique with a cutting-edge method of food presentation.
