Urban Reef Bournemouth Restaurant Blog

Oriental duck dish

Our Exec Chef Nigel let us have this yummy recipe, so we thought we would share it with you fab folk. This dish is a great one for preparing the day before, so if you’re having a dinner party or eating ‘al fresco’ it saves any hassle!

The following recipe will serve two.

Ingredients

2 duck legs
Handful of watercress for the garnish

For the sauce mix together

200g plum sauce
200ml of orange juice
40g Chinese five spice
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
30g ground ginger

For the cabbage ball

1 Savoy cabbage
100g sliced button mushrooms
100ml double cream
½ small onion or two spring onions
A dash of salt and pepper

For the cous cous

A cup of cous cous
¼ red pepper
¼ orange pepper
½ red onion

Method – The duck

• To start preheat your oven to between 120°c and 130°c.
• Seal your duck legs quickly in a hot pan, remove them and place to one side.
• In a separate saucepan add your plum sauce, orange juice, Chinese five spice, white wine vinegar and ginger. Give it all a little stir and slowly bring the pan to the boil. This will help all the yummy flavours to blend together.
• In a small roasting pan or a saucepan without the handle, place your duck then pour the sauce over. Cover the duck by placing some foil over the top and then place in your preheated oven. You’ll need to cook it for about 2 hours to ensure all the flavours sink in.
• If you’re cooking your duck the day before, a top tip for you is to strain your sauce and place it in the fridge overnight. This will ensure that any fat surfaces to the top and underneath the fat you’ll have a wonderful jelly like sauce! Discard the fat – or use it for your roast potatoes on Sunday

Method – Cabbage ball         

• At this time of the year we like to serve this dish with a cabbage ball.
• Take the leaves off your Savoy cabbage and cook them separately. You’ll then need to chop the heart out of the cabbage and cook it.
• Slice your mushrooms and chop your onions and cook them together in a little bit of cream.
• Lay the large outside leaf out on the table with the veins showing. Then spoon the creamed mushrooms, chopped onions and some chopped cabbage into the leaf.
• Fold the leaf over the mixture and fold tightly into a ball. You can use a tea towel wrapped around the cabbage ball to give it an extra squeeze. Once you’ve done this, wrap it in cling film and once cooled, place in the fridge.

Method – Cous cous

• Cous cous is lovely and fresh at this time of the year, so we’d recommend it as the perfect accompaniment with your duck.
• Place your cous cous into a bowl, then mix in your peppers and onion and pour on some boiling water. Not too much, you only need a fine covering, so be sure not to swamp it.
• Cover it with cling film and let it stand for ten minutes.

Plating up

• Now you’re ready to plate your food up, you just need to pull all the different elements together!
• Place your duck legs back into the oven on 130°c for half an hour. While the duck is warming up, you’ll need to heat your sauce for a few minutes in a pan and your Savoy cabbage in some boiling water for 3 minutes.
• Heat a plate up then, then pop your cous cous into a cup and then onto the plate. You’ll then have a little cous cous castle!
• Place the cabbage ball next to the cous cous and then rest one of the duck legs onto the ball. Drizzle some of the sauce over the duck and garnish with a bit of watercress. Grab a bottle of lovely cold white wine (and two glasses) you’re then ready to tuck in!

 We hope you enjoy it