Sichuan Vegetable Duck Soup
This Sichuan vegetable duck soup (四川菜鸭汤) is my mum’s specialty dish. It’s so good, that whenever I see fresh half cut duck available at the supermarket, I consider it my lucky day and will buy it without hesitation to make this soup.
This duck soup is salty, savoury and very appetizing (开胃). After simmering in the crock pot for hours, the soup is really rich and the duck meat is so tender that it just falls off the bones.
It may seem like a straight-forward Chinese soup where you dump everything in the pot to simmer, but the duration of soaking the Sichuan (Szechuan) vegetable can be tricky. The vegetable is preserved in a very salty brine. If you do not soak it prior to using, it will be too salty for consumption.
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On the other hand, when over-soaked, the Szechuan veg becomes tasteless and useless for the soup. So my mum’s method and duration of soaking (explained in the printable recipe) is really precise for making this soup a success.
I also followed my mum’s tradition of using a slow cooker (crockpot) to cook this soup. Duck meat takes a longer time to cook than other meats like chicken, so the slow cooker is really useful for this recipe. With the slow cooker, one doesn’t have to spend hours watching the stove and topping up the water constantly.
Szechuan Vegetable Duck Soup Recipe
For best results, use a slow cooker (crock-pot) to make this soup. However, you can also simmer the soup over stove top for at least two hours (top up the water regularly whenever needed).
Ingredients:
- 1 piece Sichuan vegetable (about 100 grams)
- half duck (about 900 grams)
- 2 sour plums
- 20 grams block peeled ginger slightly bruised
- 8 cloves old garlic do not peel or bruise
- 1 litre boiling water
- 1 tomato cut to 6 wedges; optional
- fine sea salt only if needed; to taste
Serving Suggestion
- sliced chilli padi
- dark soy sauce
You also need
- a slow cooker (crock-pot)
Directions:
- Rinse Sichuan vegetable, slice thinly and soak in a bowl of water. After 10 minutes, gently knead the slices to press out excess salt and change the water. Soak for another 10 minutes. Taste a small piece of vegetable to test the saltiness. If it is still too salty, soak for another 5-10 minutes. Tip: Do not oversoak or the sichuan veg will become tasteless. Recommended soaking time: 10 (first round) plus 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the duck. Remove and discard the skin and fats. Cut to bite-sized chunks. Blanch duck pieces for 5 minutes in a small pot of boiling water. Drain and rinse the duck pieces.
- In a crock-pot slow cooker, add 1 litre boiling water, Sichuan veg slices, blanched duck, sour plums, ginger and old garlic. Cook at “High” for at least two hours (starting from the time when the soup starts bubbling, then set to simmer at “Low” or “Auto” for a few hours or until the duck is so tender that the meat falls off the bones easily. Top up with a small amount of boiling water occasionally if required.
- Add tomato only at the last 10 minutes of cooking. Season with a tiny bit of salt, only if required. Serve with steamed rice and a condiment of sliced chilli padi in dark soy sauce.