Almost everyone who knows me knows that the food is my passion. But most people are mistaken about my passion for food. Most of them thought that I think about food all the time. What they don’t understand is I used to cook to shut down my busy brain. Cooking -and baking was a meditation for me. There is no time to asks a question and thinking about life when I have to focus and follow the instructions and step-by-step process.
Cooking is still and always be a meditation for me. But cooking also became an escapade and as a medium for restoring the lost memories. Like this pulled duck salad that inspired by my trip to Bali in 2015.
Balinese-Style Duck Salad
Originally betutu dishes use whole chicken or duck and slow-cooked for at least 8-24 hours.To cut the cooking time I use duck leg instead whole duck. I shredded the meat and combine it with green beans and grated coconut for the texture. For a healthier option you can use duck breast but for me, dark meat tastier and have a better texture than white meat.
Ingredients
- 500-gram duck leg
- 200-gram green beans
- 80 gram cooked edamame
- 50-gram grated coconut
- lime juice
Braising Ingredients
- 3 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped
- 25 g large red chilli
- 50 g shallots
- 30 g garlic
- 15 g galangal
- 10 gr ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tsp roasted coriander seeds
- 2 g nutmeg powder
- 3 pcs long pepper
- 2 pcs lime leaves
- 2 pcs Indonesian bay leaves
- 3 stalk lemongrass, white part only
- 1 L chicken stock
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 3 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
- Salt
Cooking Direction
- Braising spices: Grind shallot, garlic, chillies, galangal, ginger, turmeric powder, coriander seeds, nutmeg powder and long pepper with mortar and pestle into a paste. You can use a food processor for this step, just don’t over blend the spices because we want spices paste with a little bit chunk.
- Bruised the lime leaves, Indonesian bay leaves and lemongrass. Set aside
- Season duck leg lightly with salt on all sides. Heat 2 tablespoons coconut oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat. Fry the dug leg, skin side down first, until crispy on both sides. Remove duck leg, set aside.
- Cook spice paste, lime leaves, bay leaves and lemongrass in the drippings left behind from the searing, adding more oil if the pan seems dry. Add salt and sugar cook over a medium-high heat until fragrant and turn into deep brown colour, stir frequently to avoid the spices scorched.
- Pour the chicken stock into the pot, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the duck leg to the pot. Cover the pot and braise on low heat until the leg is soft about 45 minutes. Remove the duck leg.
- When the duck leg is cool enough to handle, shred the meat.
- Strain the braising liquid through a sieve. Reserve the spices from braising liquid, discard the bay leaves, lime leaves and lemongrass. Add grated coconut and reserved spices to the medium bowl, mix well to combine.
- Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and blanch the green beans for about 1 minute until crisp-tender. Remove with slotted spoon and plunge into ice water. Drain and slice into bite-sized pieces, set aside.
- Add duck, green beans and edamame into the spices coconut. Combine all ingredients, drizzle with lime juice, garnish with sliced red chillies and serve.
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