Smoked Duck Breast
Smoked Duck, Asian Pickles, Tomato Pearls, Hawaiian Black Salt.
This dish is meant to be a replica of Sushi Kaji plate from Renee's latest set.
I smoked duck breast over oak saw dust for just a few minutes, brushed it with marinade made with light and dark soy sauces, Xaioxing wine, Five Spice powder and a touch of Kafir lime leaves ( similar marinade sans kaffir lime, is usually used in a Chinese dish called "Smoked Fish", although fish is not smoked at all, but rather gets said flavor from five spice mixture). The duck breast was then poached Sous-Vide at 61F for about 35-45 minutes, and served with home-made Asian pickles ( carrot, turnip, shitake mushrooms, pickled in rice vinegar with Rock sugar, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and smoked chilies - I wanted to enhance smoked flavor, without using a lot of actual smoke). Also, I added a touch of pickled eggplant , but kept in on the side - a nod to a common friend SiFu Renka and I happen to have.
Plain tomatoes would be a little boring, so I made Beefsteak Tomato Pearls for garnish, and added a touch of black salt for color contrast.
This dish would pair very well with sake, but today I opted for Belgian Kriek Cherry beer , which worked really well.
Overall, this was an outstanding plate - great flavors, texture and secondary flavors. Will do again in a hearbeat!
Smoked Duck Breast
Smoked Duck, Asian Pickles, Tomato Pearls, Hawaiian Black Salt.
This dish is meant to be a replica of Sushi Kaji plate from Renee's latest set.
I smoked duck breast over oak saw dust for just a few minutes, brushed it with marinade made with light and dark soy sauces, Xaioxing wine, Five Spice powder and a touch of Kafir lime leaves ( similar marinade sans kaffir lime, is usually used in a Chinese dish called "Smoked Fish", although fish is not smoked at all, but rather gets said flavor from five spice mixture). The duck breast was then poached Sous-Vide at 61F for about 35-45 minutes, and served with home-made Asian pickles ( carrot, turnip, shitake mushrooms, pickled in rice vinegar with Rock sugar, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns and smoked chilies - I wanted to enhance smoked flavor, without using a lot of actual smoke). Also, I added a touch of pickled eggplant , but kept in on the side - a nod to a common friend SiFu Renka and I happen to have.
Plain tomatoes would be a little boring, so I made Beefsteak Tomato Pearls for garnish, and added a touch of black salt for color contrast.
This dish would pair very well with sake, but today I opted for Belgian Kriek Cherry beer , which worked really well.
Overall, this was an outstanding plate - great flavors, texture and secondary flavors. Will do again in a hearbeat!