Spicy Braised Duck Neck
Mala (spicy and numbing) braised ready-to-eat dish made with duck neck as the main ingredient, seasoned with a blend of aromatic spices.
Ingredients
Bagged fresh frozen duck necks (skinless)
5000 g
Dried millet chilies (cut into sections, seeds retained)
400 g
Ginger pieces (50g for marinating, rest for brine)
100 g
Scallion sections (50g for marinating, rest for brine)
120 g
Star anise
20 g
Sand ginger
10 g
Cinnamon bark
8 g
Fennel seeds
10 g
Tsao-ko (Amomum fruit)
10 g
Sichuan peppercorns
10 g
Cloves
5 g
White cardamom
8 g
Cardamom
12 g
Vetiver root
5 g
Bay leaves
5 g
Refined salt (100g for marinating)
200 g
MSG
15 g
Curing salt (for marinating, do not overuse)
1 g
Red yeast rice (simmered with 1200g water to extract color)
50 g
Cooking wine
100 g
Fresh broth
5000 g
Refined cooking oil
2000 g
Instructions
1
Initial Duck Neck Processing
Thaw the duck necks and rinse thoroughly, then mix with 50g ginger pieces, 50g scallion sections, 100g refined salt, cooking wine, and curing salt. Marinate for approximately 12 hours, then rinse with water and blanch in boiling water.
2
Brine Preparation
Cut dried chilies into sections, and briefly soak other spices in clean water before draining. Simmer red yeast rice with 1200g water to extract color, strain and reserve the liquid. Heat a clean pot over medium heat, add oil and heat to low temperature (30% heat), add dried chili sections, spices, and remaining ginger and scallions, and stir-fry lightly. Add fresh broth and red yeast rice liquid, season with refined salt and MSG, bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat and simmer for 2 hours until fragrant and spicy. The brine is now ready.
3
Braising
Place the pre-processed duck necks into the boiling brine, braise over medium heat for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat. Let the duck necks continue soaking in the brine for 20 minutes, then remove, let cool, chop into pieces, and serve.
