Fragrant crispy duck (heong soh ngap)

My absolute favourite "Fragrant crispy duck"
Ingredients:
1 Whole duck
Peanut oil for deep frying
Plain flour for dusting

Marinade:
2 black cardamoms, cracked with the seeds and shells reserved.
2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
2 star anise
2 teaspoons five spice powder
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons fine sea salt
3 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine

Serve with:
1 carrot, cut into batons
1 cucumber, cored and cut into batons
3 spring onions, halved lengthwise and cut into batons
Mandarin pancakes
Sweet sauce

Directions: Duck part
Day1:

Clean the duck thoroughly. Using a mortar and pestle, pound cardamom seeds, Sichuan peppercorns and star anise to a fine powder (Alternatively you can use herb grinder). Rub the marinade all over and inside the duck and place the cardamom shells in the cavity. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight to marinate.

Day 2:
Remove the duck from the refrigerator at least an hour prior to steaming to bring it back to room temperature.

Bring water to boil in a large steamer. Place the duck on a plate in the steamer and steam for two hours over medium heat until the meat is tender. Leave the duck to cool down then remove the duck to a wire rack and dry it in a cool and dry place for 1 day (Alternatively you can dry the duck with an electric fan blowing straight at in constantly for 2-3 hours or until it's skin is thoroughly dry)

Day 3:
Just before serving. In a large wok, heat oil to 180c. Lightly dust the duck with flour, shaking off excess flour. Carefully place the duck in a pan and deep fry until the skin is crisp and golden brown. Drain the duck on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Sweet Peking duck sauce:
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste (Smooth peanut butter or Tahini paste will do just fine if you can't find the Chinese version)
2 tablespoons Shao Xing rice wine
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
120ml water

Directions:
Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and gently bring to the boil on low heat, simmering until thickened. Leave to cool and keep refrigerated in an airtight container until needed.

Mandarin Pancakes
Ingredients:
250g low-protine or cake flour, sifted.
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon fine salt, sifted
160ml boiling water
Sesame oil for brushing

Direction:
Using an electric mixer, mix the sifted ingredients on low speed with a dough hook. Slowly pour in hot water while mixing to form a rough dough.

Remove dough to a lightly floured surface. Kneed until smooth and soft. Divide the dough into two and shape into cylinders. Cover and rest for an hour.

Divide the dough to small balls weigh 30g each. Flatten the dough on a lightly floured surface with an oiled palm to roughly 4mm thickness. Brush the top of the pancakes with sesame oil and roll out to a 15cm circle. Repeat with remaining dough, cover the pancakes with a towel or cling wrap to prevent them from drying out.

In a flat pan on low medium heat. When hot, brush the pan with sesame oil then cook the pancakes for 30 seconds on each side or flip over when blisters start appearing. Remove from the heat, and while the pancakes still hot, pull it apart at the seams to form two thin layers.

Stack cooked pancakes on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Refrigerate if not using immediately; Just before serving, wrap the pancakes in aluminium foil. Steam for 10 minutes or until warm.

Serve:
Shred the duck meat and skin. Arrange some duck meat, carrot, cucumber and spring onion on a pancake. Drizzle with sweet sauce and roll up. Serve with extra sweet sauce on the side.

Rib eye fillet with potato gratin and balsamic jus

Rib eye fillet with potato gratin and balsamic jus

Serves 4
Prep 30 mins
cook 1 hr

Ingredients
4x 180g beef eye-fillet steaks, at room temperature
oil, to brush
Salt and pepper, to season
Vegetable oil, to deep fry
3 parships, shaved
25g butter
2 tbs olive oil

Potato gratin
300ml thickened cream
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 rosemary sprigs
Salt and pepper, to season
4 potatoes, peeled, thinly scliced
50g butter, chopped
1tbs rosemary leaves

Balsamic Jus
250ml balsamic vinegar
70g brown sugar
4 rosemary sprigs
3 garlic cloves, crushed
50g butter

Method
1. To make potato gratin, place cream, garlic and rosemary in a medium saucepan over low heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Arrange a layer with one-third of potatoes over base of lamington pan. Cover with one-third of cream mixture. Repeat with remaining potatoes and cream mixture to form 3 layers. Sprinkle butter and rosemary levels on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 30 minutes or until tender. Set aside for 10 minutes, then cut into 4 rectangles.

3. Meanwhile, to make balsamic jus, place vinegar, sugar, rosemary and garlic in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds. Add butter and stir to combine. Set aside.

4. Preheat oven to 200C. Brush steaks with oil and season with salt and pepper. Preheat a large frying pan over high heat. Add steaks and cook for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to an oven tray and roast for 5 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, fill a deep-fryer on large saucepan one-third full with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat to 180C (or until a cube of bread turns golden in 10 seconds). Deep-fry parsnip for 1 minute or until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel, then season with salt and pepper.

6. Place a square of potato gratin on each serving plate. Add steak and drizzle with jus and top with parsnip crisps to serve.