7th Day of Chinese New Year

7th Day of the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) is everybody's birthday. Happy birthday everybody!

正月初七, 是人日, 人人的生日, 祝福大家, 生日快乐, 体健安康。

To celebrate the day, we cooked a simple meal for our lunch. Our menu for the day is braised duck, marinated with five spice, salt and pepper. We also had a stir fried chinese cabbage. I got the recipe for the braised duck from my mother in law. I found another recipe that is almost similar to my mother in law's here.

Braised Duck 滷鸭 Recipe:

Ingredients:
duck (cleaned, dried, marinated with a teaspoon of five spice powder, salt & pepper)
a small piece (about an inch or two) of galangal ginger (pounded)
2 stalks of lemon grass (smashed)
2 tbsp of brown sugar
2 tsp of five spice powder (amount goes according to the size of poultry)
1/2 cup of soy sauce
2 bowls of water (amount may be increased as needed)

Method:

I marinated the duck with five spice powder, salt and pepper. I refridgerated it for more than 24 hours.

Then heat up the wok, add in vegetable oil (I used half a tablespoon of vegetable oil), light fry the galangal ginger until fragrant. Add in the lemon grass, five spice, water, soy sauce, brown sugar and let it simmer. I added, some black peppercorns, a little bit of cloves and anise and cinnamon because of this I reduced the amount of five spice used to a teaspoon.

Once the liquid mixture is boiling, reduce the flame to medium heat (you can used small flame if you wish so but it will take it a bit longer to cook).

Gently, lower the duck into the wok. I lowered it with the breast side down. The liquid mixture should be about halfway up the duck. Add more water if needed.

Baste the duck every now and then (every 3 minutes) for about 20 minutes. So that the duck will have an even colour.

As you can see, the top part of the duck is slowly changing colour. Cover the wok and let it simmer. Always check the water level, add more if needed. Cooking time should be around 1 hour or more. Half way through cooking, flip the duck.

The breast side down of the duck is now facing up and the colour has darkened to a golden brown. 

The duck is simmering away. My duck was done in 50 minutes time. I put a ceramic spoon into the wok, it's a trick I learnt from my mother in law. ( My late mother too taught me to put a ceramic spoon into a pot of boiling congee/porridge to get a smooth porridge). I am not sure if it really works but the duck meat was soft and tender when it was done!

Poke the duck with a fork or a knife or a satay stick and if the juices run clear, the duck is done.

Here is the beautifully done duck.

A simple stir fried chinese cabbage with salt and pepper. Very frugal.

 The done duck is off to the chopping block.

Nicely cut duck on a platter.

The left over of the liquid mixture from braising the duck can be used as a dipping sauce. You can thicken it as you like.

 Happy eaters.

 Our freshly squeezed lime juice bought from Lime Tree Hotel Kuching. Seedless South American lime.

 A very refreshing glass of lime juice!

My brother in law's product for sale, Sarawak pepper, black or white in a beautiful packaging.

That is it for today. Happy cooking.