Vietnamese duck with fiery pappardelle

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
150 grams Caster sugar; plus 1 heaped tbsp
2 Duck breast fillets; no more than
; 150g/5oz each
2 Celery sticks; trimmed
1 small Courgette
2 Garlic cloves; peeled
1 Red chilli
3 tablespoons White wine vinegar
1 Lime
6 tablespoons Thai fish sauce; (6 to 8)
3 Shallots
2½ Cm knob root ginger
½ After Eight mint
115 grams Pappardelle pasta
Groundnut oil; for cooking
4 Spring onions; trimmed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the grill. Heat a heavy-based frying pan.

1 Place 150g/5oz sugar in a saute pan with a lid. Add 1 tbsp water. Heat until dissolved, stirring occasionally.

2 Score the duck skin lightly with a sharp knife and add to the heated frying pan, skin-side down. Cook for five minutes, draining off all excess fat occasionally. Do not turn over.

3 Cut the celery and courgette into long, thin shreds using a mandolin (or do the celery by hand). Toss with ½ tsp each of sugar and salt.

4 Put in a sieve on a bowl, set aside for 10-15 minutes to soften, allowing all the excess liquid to drain off.

5 To make the Nouc Cham: Roughly chop one of the garlic cloves and half of the chilli and place in a mini blender.

6 Increase the heat of the sugar mix and boil fast until you have achieved a brown caramel liquid, brushing down the sides of the pan occasionally with a pastry brush dipped in water.

7 Add the remaining tbsp of sugar to the blender with the vinegar. Squeeze in 2 tbsp lime juice and whizz for a minute to combine.

8 Just as the caramel begins to smoke, wrap your hand in a tea towel to protect it and remove from the heat. Stand well back and pour in the Thai fish sauce - it will splatter so be careful! 9 Return the pan to the heat and cook for a minute to combine. Cut the shallots in half and thinly slice. Finely grate the ginger. Remove the caramel from the heat and stir in the shallots, ginger and After Eight mint. Then season generously with pepper.

10 Add the duck to the caramel mixture, skin-side down and cook for 2-3 minutes, basting occasionally until they are evenly coated in the sauce.

11 Bring the duck mixture to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender and caramelised, skimming off the excess fat if necessary with a turkey baster. 12 Plunge the pasta into a large pan of boiling salted water and cook for 4-5 minutes, or according to the packet.

13 Heat a little oil in a wok or large frying pan. Finely slice the spring onions and add to the wok and cook for a minute or so until softened.

14 Finely chop the remaining garlic and chilli and stir into the wok. Cook for another 30 seconds or so until well combined.

15 Drain the pasta and add to the wok, tossing to coat for a minute or so and take off the heat.

16 Remove the duck from the caramel mixture and place on the grill pan.

Cook for a minute or so until the skin is golden brown and sizzling.

17 Squeeze the excess liquid from the courgette and celery mixture and place in a small bowl. Add 1 tbsp of the Nouc cham and toss until well combined to make a relish.

18 Arrange some pasta in the middle of a serving plate, carve a piece of the duck and fan out on top.

19 Garnish with a small pile of the celery & courgette salad. Drizzle around some sauce left in the pan and set some remaining Nouc cham to one side in a small dipping bowl to serve.

Converted by MC_Buster.

Recipe by: Anything You Can Cook Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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