Beautiful Duck Pancreas (Meiren Gan)

Name: Beautiful Duck Pancreas (Meiren Gan)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Duck pancreas (blanched in boiling water for about ten minutes, then cooled and the gristle removed), to taste; Chicken breast, shredded, to taste; Egg white, to taste; Wet cornstarch, to taste; Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin, to taste; Winter bamboo shoots, sliced thin, to taste; Chicken broth, to taste; Fine salt, to taste; Shaoxing cooking wine, to taste; MSG, to taste; Chicken fat (drizzled on the finished dish), to taste; Duck fat (used for slip-frying), to taste

A traditional specialty from Jiangsu, made by lightly sautéing duck pancreas as the main ingredient with shredded chicken breast. The dish has a milky-white color and a tender, glossy finish.

40 min

Easy

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Ingredients

Duck pancreas (blanched in boiling water for about ten minutes, then cooled and the gristle removed) to taste

Chicken breast, shredded to taste

Egg white to taste

Wet cornstarch to taste

Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, sliced thin to taste

Winter bamboo shoots, sliced thin to taste

Chicken broth to taste

Fine salt to taste

Shaoxing cooking wine to taste

MSG to taste

Chicken fat (drizzled on the finished dish) to taste

Duck fat (used for slip-frying) to taste

Instructions

Preparing the main ingredients

Blanch the duck pancreas in a pot of boiling water for about ten minutes, then lift it out and transfer it to cold water to cool. Pull off and discard the gristle, then place the pancreas in a shallow dish. Add the shredded chicken breast to the same dish and toss everything together with the egg white and wet cornstarch until the shreds are lightly coated. Slice the rehydrated shiitake mushrooms and the winter bamboo shoots into thin pieces and set aside.

Slip-frying

Heat the duck fat in a wok over medium heat until it reaches about 40% hot (roughly 250 °F / 120 °C). Add the duck pancreas, shredded chicken breast, sliced bamboo shoots, and sliced mushrooms. Gently push the ingredients around with a spatula so they glide through the oil. As soon as the oil begins to foam on the surface, lift everything out and drain briefly in a fine strainer.

Thickening the sauce and finishing

Return the wok to the heat and pour in the chicken broth. Season with the fine salt, Shaoxing wine, and MSG. Stream in a slurry of wet cornstarch while stirring to thicken the sauce into a light glaze. Tip the drained duck pancreas, chicken breast, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots back into the wok, toss the wok briskly to coat everything evenly in the glaze, drizzle the chicken fat over the top, and serve immediately.