Almost anything with duck is a favourite dish of mine, Peking Duck, Duck Confit, Duck on Pork Belly with Lentils (an old Bayswater Brasserie favourite) – even a duck terrine. Having said that I don’t actually cook with it alot, because the very few times I have tried to, I have been very disappointed. This recipe is an exception to the rule being that the duck is already cooked so it is impossible to get wrong.
This salad was well suited to a Friday night dinner being quick and easy after an afternoon of picking blossoms and chasing butterflys in the park. Once you get your hands on a succulent Chinese roasted duck, it’s a only a matter of mixing up the dressing and throwing all the ingredients together.
The fresh and distinctly asian flavours in the dressing really bring the other ingredients to life beautifully and although duck is quite a rich meat, this dish in its entirety remains very light. Scattered with some capers (that you cannot see because they went in after the photo’s – pooh!) to add a slightly salty touch and a little shaved fennel that contrasts nicely with the peppery watercress, this salad is designed to please with a medley of flavours and textures.
It’s Friday night and I am kicking up my heels, I’ve savoured my salad and my glass of wine, watched the Royal Wedding, the girls are in bed – as is Mr Man…now what?
Ingredients
1 Whole Chinese Roasted Duck
1 large fennel bulb, shaved
4 handfuls picked watercress sprigs
3 tablespoons dry sherry
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (1 juicy orange should do the trick)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 heaped tablespoon small salted capers, rinsed and drained
Preheat your oven 160c/315f. remove the skin from the duck and, usinga pair of kitchen scissors, cut the skin into thin strips. Put the strips on a baking tray and into the hot oven for 10 minutes or until the skin starts to become crisp. Remove and place onto paper towels.
Pull the flesh from the duck and roughly shred it. Place the duck flesh and crispy pieces of skin into a large bowl and add the shaved fennel and half the watercress.
In a small bowl combine the sherry, orange juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then drizzle over the salad. Arrange the remaining watercress on a serving platter or in a bowl and top with the duck salad. Toss lightly then sprinkle with capers and serve.
Notes: You may have noticed that I have not used watercress, the only bunch I could find looked like it had been run over by the delivery truck – so I substituted it with a mixture of mache and arugula. Also, if you do not have a shaving devise for your fennel then a vegetable peeler will do the trick.
Source: Michele Cranston
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
