SAVORY NAM YUE DUCK STEW (FERMENTED BEANCURD)

Hi there

Over the Chinese New Year, we have cooked a few dishes which we usually cook once a year, and Nam Yue Duck Stew which is a really simple dish is very popular among the adults. Ingredients are simple and you can use other cuts of meat to replace duck.

Actually many people find duck has this distinguish gamey taste that might deter them from trying it, but rest assure this dish is prepared in such a way you will not even get a hint of the gamey taste. 🙂

Ingredients as usual is very simple (I prefer to keep it simple especially during Chinese New Year when there are many dishes that need to be prepared)

• Duck x 1 (wash and cut into 4 parts – you can go to the supermarket like Fairprice to ask the staff to chop it up for you, all you need to do is just to clean it)
• Ginger x half bowl finely sliced
• Garlic x 8 cloves peeled
• Nam Yue x 1 – 1 and half block (you can find this from supermarket or Yue Hwa at Chinatown, cost around $2.50 per bottle)
• Brown bean Paste x 1 tablespoon
• Rock Sugar x 1 slab

For Nam Yue which is fermented beancurd, be aware that it has to be Nam Yue and not just the regular fermented beancurd that is used for frying vegetables, always look out for “Nam Yue” (南乳) which is Chinese Character “South” , and not “Fu Yue” (腐乳), where you can eat it off the bottle when you have plain congee.

Directions :

1) Heat about 2 tablespoon of oil in the wok at high heat and placed the duck (skin side down) into the oil until skin is slight brown. This is the important step of eliminating the gamey smell and also extract the excess duck fat (you will find the duck skin shrinked after frying, and the oil will increase, a good sign that the duck fat is depleting)

 

2) Scrap off the burnt bits in the wok after sieving out the duck and oil. Pour in the ginger slices and garlic and fry it till fragrant.

3) Pour in the mixture of Nam Yue and beanpaste and fry for about 15 secs, and pour in 1 to 1 and a half bowl of water

4) Place the slab of brown sugar into the watery mixture and followed by the duck pieces.

5) Coat the duck with the sauces and then cover with wok to let it stew for around high heat for 5 mins and low fire for 15 mins.

Once it is cooked, you can keep it overnight to let the flavour sip in further, or you can serve once it is cooked.

After the duck is cooked, you can then cut or chop it into pieces, it is not recommended to cut into small pieces during cooking because the meat can become too tender and fall apart. I personally prefer to cut into bite size before serving and drizzle the sauce all over it. This dish is really nice with hot steam rice.

Sometimes you might also find difficulty finishing up the whole bottle of nam yue, however it is actually quite versatile, you can use it to marinate meats, like pork belly. What you need to do is to marinate the pork belly with nam yue and cooking wine, let it stay over night in the fridge and pat some corn flour, deep fried and chop into bite sizes.  Serve it with some fresh crunchy lettuce 🙂

Happy Cooking!

For latest news on restaurants, supermarkets, food fairs, or simply check out some of my simple recipes & reviews, please visit us at singaporesupermarketrecipes.com or subscribe to our mailing list for more details.

Cheers,

Dawn