Janice Tripepi

Crispy duck breast in Hoisin sauce is another Tripepi fave!  I have tried cooking the whole duck a la Peking Duck and it it just too much fuss and bother – for little return.  The trick to cooking crispy duck breast is to dry the breast out for a day.  I place them on a roasting rack and cover with a net and leave them out to dry out from the morning to when I cook them in the evening.  This quick and easy recipe always delivers max flavour and you can vary the veggies in the noodles according to whats in season and bursting with flavour and easy on your pocket.   If you don’t like chilli just leave it out of the noodles.

For the Hoisin Duck Breasts

Duck breasts – left out to dry nicely

Hoisin Sauce

Once the breast have dried out nicely – score the fatty skin in a criss cross patern.  The closer the criss cross

the better – this allows all the fat to render out when you fry it and you get a

crispy sking.  Place them fat side down in a non-stick frying pan that is nice and hot and do most of the cooking on

the skin side.  I like my duck nice and pink – so I turned them once and only cooked the underside

for a few minutes.  When the skin has crisped up nicely brush a good dollop of Hoisin Sauce over the skin

and finish them off under the grill.  Be CAREFUL not to burn and ruin the breasts.

Once nicely sticky and sweet and crispy remove them from the pan and allow to rest.

Don’t cover them – if you do this the crispy skin will go

soggy   Keep the duck fat to stir fry the noodles in – it’s bursting with lovely flavour.

For the Chinese Chilli & Ginger Noodles

One packet of Egg Stir Fry Noodles

finely chopped Garlic – Chilli and Ginger

Mange Tout Peas

Florets of Broccolli

Quartered Patty Pans

Chopped Spring Onion

Chopped Garlic Chives

XhaoXhing Rice Wine (or dry sherry)

Sesame Oil

Peanut Oil (or sunflower oil)

Sweet Soy Sauce

Golden Mountain Sauce

Soy Sauce

Black Pepper

Soak the noodles in plenty of boiling water for 20 minutes.  Drain them and toss them lightly in some sesame oil to keep them from sticking together. Set aside.

Heat your wok up till it is smoking hot – you need to have all the ingredients ready to go – as you must work

quickly.

1.  In a little peanut oil flash fry the garlic, chilli and ginger

2.  Add the brocolli – patty pans and mange tout peas with some sweet soy sauce – golden mountain sauce, soy

sauce and XhaoXhing rice wine or dry sherry – about 2 table spoons of each. 

Cover your wok with a large saucepan lid and steam the

veggies for about 2 minutes until they soften slightly.  You want to keep the crunch in the veggies.

Remove them from the wok.

Using the rendered duck fat from the breasts – add the noodles to this and give them a good

stir fry.  When they are ready add the veggies back, give it a quick toss and check for seasoning.

Remove from the pan and sprinkle with the chopped

spring onions and garlic chives.

Serve a bowl of noodles topped with one sliced duck breast

per portion.

Yum Yum!!!!

 PS: These plump – juicey breasts were purchased from The Duck Lady – their products are available at

The Food Market Durban North or The Shongweni Market on a Saturday Morning.