Ugliest Food Photo Ever - NSFW - Shrimp Paste Roast Duck - Bebek Panggang "Terasi"

Warning! Offensive food photo!
Don't look if you're anti ugly food photo!

What is it with me and posting bird's ass pictures?
My apologies. I should've posted pictures of the duck after it's been carved, perfectly styled on pretty little plates with steamy rice, gorgeous placemats, cutleries, condiments, etc.

But...
...apparently, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO CARVE A DUCK!
...and I am LAZY!

So, I literally ripped the duck apart before I figured out how to get the duck breast meat off its bones using a knife.

Oppps.

Ugly and all...it was delicious AND super easy to make ;)

Recipe
- 1 whole duck (hmmm, medium size?) or you can use fillet, or your can use chicken (whole or thigh fillet, preferably with skin)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 cm ginger, crushed
- 2 cloves shallot, halved
- salt, pepper, sugar, shrimp paste (I used Lee Kum Kee)

Preheat oven to 180C, clean your bird, place some salt, sugar, shrimp paste and pepper into a small bowl. Rub your bird all over with the shrimp paste, salt, sugar, and pepper combo. Be generous, we want flavors! Remember to rub the inside of the bird. Now stuff the garlic, ginger and shallot up the bird's ass and seal the bird's ass shut with satay skewer. Place the bird in a roasting tray, cover with aluminium foil and roast covered for 1.5-2 hrs. Crank up the heat to 250C, take the bird out, uncover, baste the bird with more shrimp paste and put the bird back in, roast until golden brown, flip once.

Perfect with rice and some chilli paste.

Now...to compensate the ugliness, here's something that I think is rather pretty...

Happy Monday, y'all~!

Super Simple Roast Duck

I love Jamie Oliver's recipe, each and every single one that I tried were easy enough for idiots like me, and the results, oh the results...I love the result, and SC's always so happy with the results, he might agree to let me purchase a whole new cabinet-ful of shoes (and a new cabinet to store them too).

I made this roast duck simply following a sentence (ONE sentence!!!) I heard on Travel & Living Channel, it was something like this...(I can't remember the exact words)...
This will make this sentence the shortest "recipe" ever posted here?
Rub lots of salt and pepper all over the duck, grill in a preheated oven, 180C for two hours, flip once after around 1 hour.

Since I love stuffing things up my bird's butt and my mini herb garden is still alive and kicking..in went some rosemary and thyme, as well as half a lime (I needed the other half for my drink :p).

I thought I'd never say this, but my bird's butt smelt fantastical!

Serve with carbs and greens of your choice, but I really wanted to rip this hot bird apart with my bare hands, and consumed it with a plate of hot steamed rice and Indonesian sambal (chilli paste), one of my legs up on my dining chair :D

Peking Duck Dinner at Cheung Kee, Wan Chai

We don't really celebrate Thanksgiving in Hong Kong, but yesterday's dinner certainly involves...
- Birds (a couple of them)
- and something extra special to be thankful for (our good friends, Athena & Joe, are expecting their first child! Yay!)


The cold appetizer platter of vegetarian rolls, smoked fish, jellyfish and pork meat. I was so excited about the fish, I quickly bit into them and was not pleasantly surprised with the many many many sharp fish bones. Beware!


The first bird, Shan Dong Chicken was excellent. Juicy, tasty chicken with even tastier sauce. I gnawed on the neck and any remnants my fellow diners didn't consume.


The spicy stir fried string beans (四季豆) was wonderful as expected. I love my veggie spicy.


The braised pork ribs...were out of this world fantastic! Sweet, sticky, tender, juicy!


...and the ultimate birdie of the night...the Peking duck, was rather disappointing. The meat was thin, dry, and the skin wasn't crispy. Absolute nono for a peking duck.


So I cleverly chose the bits with most fat :D slathered the duck, cucumber and chive with lots of hoisin sauce...


Folded and consumed. Noticed how I didn't fold the top? I placed more filling than what the wrap could handle.
As always.


The claypot wonton and vegetables in chicken broth.
Not too bad, but we all prefer the one from American Peking Restaurant.


Scrambled Egg white with Crab Meat. I am not into egg white, but the crab meat and a drizzle of vinegar made it all good. The restaurant won't deliver your orders based on the intensity of flavors, so you gotta eat in a sequence that you prefer. This dish tasted rather bland after all the tasty ducks and meat served earlier.


Stir fried snow pea shoots. Always love this nutty veggie, always look forward to it every winter.


For dessert, we were served this bowl of water and ice, and a tong. Whatever happened, don't drink it and don't dip your hands into it.

They were for this...

Apples and bananas deep fried in batter, dipped into sugar and crystalised in iced water.
Check out those tiny strands of sugar...couldn't help but released some ooohhh and ahhhh, even if we have seen it before.


...and the server will do this...


and you'll get these.
Some of my friends complained that they got soggy ones, but I snatched the one with most sugar, and it cracked wonderfully...


and led me to this soft banana....oh heavens!


I couldn't help but post this photograph.
I had a focusing light jealousy.
Why don't my Canon have this? T_T

To conclude, Cheung Kee isn't bad, but I'd still prefer American Peking Restaurant. Oppps.

Cheung Kee Restaurant
1/F, 75, Lockhart Road,
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 25290707
Wanchai MTR, exit C
We spent about HK$170 per person for this meal.

Check out Athena's post for this dinner (in Chinese).

Duck & Red Wine - The Double Sequels

Making a sequel of something fantastic is surely challenging.
It kinda reminded me of how I recently fell asleep watching Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, despite loving the first one and losing interest in Gossip Girl Season 2, despite going crazy over the first season. Gosh, I wish I could do a legendary sequel, just like the Dark Knight (sequel to Batman Begins).

Sigh...*pressure pressure*

After doing a fantastic Bebek Kalasan, what else I could do with the rest of my duck?

I remember seeing an episode of Martha Stewart's TV show, where the guest chef did something with duck and red wine...his duck legs looked fantastic, they glued me to my morning TV and I ended up arriving late for work. However, I also remember it for being rather labor intensive...with multiple steps and long period of marinating and braising. So, I decided not to do his recipe, but simply do an encore of my previous beef and red wine, I bet the flavors used on the beef would work well with duck too.

So there you go, double sequels!
Duck and Red Wine

Recipe
(adapted from here)
- duck breast, halved (mine with bones, or half a duck, or duck breast fillet)
- 4 cloves of garlic (peeled, crushed)
- 1 whole onion (cut into large chunks)
- 2 sticks of celery (cut 1 cm thick pieces)
- 1 carrot (cut into 1 cm thick pieces)
- thyme (I used dry)
- 3 bay leaves (I used dry)
- chicken stock (I used powdered version, 2 tsp)
- red wine (the recipe called for 1 whole bottle, but I used just 1-2 cups)
- bacon (I skipped this, cos I didn't have any, but it's still delicious)
- olive oil, hot water (just enough to cover everything), salt (1 tsp), black pepper, sugar (2 tsp)

While preparing the ingredients, I browned the skin of the duck breast pieces. Lightly season the skin with salt and black pepper, then lay them skin down on a frying pan, no oil necessary, until golden brown, set aside. Keep the duck oil if you wanna use it for other purposes later.

Once the rest of the ingredients are ready, saute garlic and onion in olive oil, add duck, I kept the skin side up so it won't get soaked so much, add carrot and celery pieces, add seasoning, stock and wine, cook until meat is tender (again I cheated by using pressure cooker for 20 minutes ^_^).

Once done, crisp skin by quick grilling under high heat (I used 220C oven, in an oven proof bowl lined with foil), include a bit of juices to keep the duck meat moist.

To serve, you can slice the duck breast into thick chunks, but nothing beats gnawing on the tender bits of meat between the bones.

It was quite a successful sequel, but to me, Dark Knight is still one of the best sequels ever. Maybe I should eat this sequel while watching it.

Indonesian Grilled Duck in Coconut Water and Spices - Bebek Kalasan

I've learnt a very important shopping lesson - the hard way:
"IF SOMETHING SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY IS"

That's right! Bold, italic, all caps!

I've always wanted to cook the perfect duck. Thus, I was always looking out for good duck deals, and I thought I saw one at Park'nShop's frozen meat section. US premium frozen duckling, ready to cook, and the price label said HK$24.90!!!

WOW! I had to look at the price label a few times! Normally, ducks at local frozen meat shops are sold at HK$39.90, I couldn't believe it! I just had to have it! I don't care if I couldn't find any ways to cook it, for HK$24.90, I could afford a failure, or so I thought.

I have a bad habit of not paying attention to prices at supermarket check outs (very bad habit) and hardly ever even look at the receipt. I knew I was buying quite a few items, but I was shocked by the total amount I had to pay. Wayyy more than what I expected. I checked the receipt, and found out that the duck costs me more than HK$120! Uh oh! They must have overcharged me, or displayed the wrong label. I was gonna go back to the cashier and ask. SC saved me from embarrassment by pointing out that the duck was sold at HK$24.90 PER 100 GRAMS, not for HK$24.90 for one whole duck!

Sigh...then and there, I felt burdened. HK$120 dramatically exceeded what I normally spend for meat, except for special occasions where I would buy pricey steaks. For HK$120, there's no way I could fail the duck. I'd better cook the duck's ass off and make sure it turned out bloody delicious....or so I hoped.

Indonesian Grilled Duck in Coconut Water and Spices - Bebek Kalasan

How the heck I should cook the duck? SC repeatedly reminded me (not gently) that I should NOT fail the duck. *Pressure pressure pressure*

I shouldn't cook the duck Chinese roast style, because you can get a Chinese style perfectly roasted duck here for just HK$88 (sobbing violently)...there's no way I could master that, in my home kitchen, at my first try. No. Freaking. Way.

So I was thinking...something Indonesian, something I haven't tried and I've missed for a long time. Bingo! Kalasan style!

Recipe
- half a duck (I used the legs and wings only, I wanted to try the other half in another style - making the most of it)
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 6 cloves of shallot, peeled
- 1 stalk lemongrass
- coconut water (not coconut milk, it's the juice that comes out of the coconut) from 1-2 coconut (about 2 cups)
- 1 piece of palm sugar, dissolved in a bit of hot water
- salt, white pepper, olive oil

If you have a food processor, pulse garlic and shallot until fine. If not, use mortar and pestle, or simply finely chop them. Saute garlic and shallot in olive oil, add duck, add coconut water, add lemongrass, palm sugar syrup and season with salt and pepper. Add more hot water if you can't cover most parts of the duck. Cook until the juice is reduced and duck meat's tender. I used a pressure cooker and cooked the duck for 20 minutes. Once done, you can let it marinate or immediately grill/deep fry to brown the skin.

If you wanna grill it (like I did, as I hate hate HATE deep frying), preheat oven to 220C. Place duck in a non stick baking pan and add a bit of the juices to keep the duck moist. Grill until golden brown.

If you wanna deep fry it, drain the duck, pat dry and deep fry until golden brown.

You can also brown the duck skin before cooking in coconut water, simply season with salt and pepper. After cooking, simply throw into oven for a few minutes to crisp the skin.

Fragrant, flavorful, with a subtle sweetness to it. Taste great with rice, especially with a killer chilli paste. This recipe can also be done with chicken. I used fresh coconut water, but if you can find the canned/boxed version, give it a go.

What did I do with the other half of the duck?
I didn't do a duck sashimi, that's for sure.
Stay tuned to find out ^_^

Roasted Duck with Orange Honey Glaze - My Sweet Ugly Duckling

Weird. Isn't this Hong Kong? The land where ducks and geese, roasted or preserved, are just hangin'...at almost every street corner? Yeah! The last time I checked, it still is!

So, I thought finding fresh duck meat might be easier than finding the perfect, comfy high heeled shoes (which is equal to the quest for the holy grail for my troublesome feet), but boy, I was so wrong. Carefully, I searched the fresh poultry stands in wet markets, the frozen sections of supermarkets....I found whole chicken, black chicken, chicken legs, wings, breasts, skin on, skin off, bone on, bone off...but I didn't see no duck, AT ALL!

Naturally (I think you know this annoying human nature), the harder it is to find...the more you want it. A friend told me that chilled duck meat is available (at HK$28/half a duck) in a luxury supermarket far far away (in Western District, like 1 hr and 15 minutes traveling time from my place. In Hong Kong, that's practically a different planet). Do I want it that bad? I was contemplating jumping onto a bus one weekend to get that piece of hot duck azz, then thought better of it and planned to just get a chicken instead.

Surprise, surprise, what did sous chef find lying helplessly at the corner of poultry section of the frozen shop? Bags after bags of frozen whole duckies, at HK$28 for a whole duck! HAHA! Score! By the way, I am crossing the phrase "great attention to detail" off my resume.

I was thinking how to beautify my ugly duckling...and thought of oranges. Hold it. I need to manage your expectations here. This is by no means the classic Duck a L'Orange, baby! This is just my way of perfuming my ugly duckling.

Roasted Duck with Orange Honey Glaze


Recipe

Tenderizing
- 1 duck, defrosted
- 5 cm ginger, crushed, or ginger powder
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 3/4 onion, sliced into big chunks
- 2 oranges, sliced into big chunks
- hot water, olive oil, salt, white pepper
Trim duck's excess fat (wish I could do the same to mine), wash duck, rub inside out with salt and pepper. Saute garlic, ginger, onion with a bit of olive oil, add duck (I cut the duck into quarters), add orange pieces, add water just enough to cover everything. I used a pressure cooker for 20 minutes. If you are not using pressure cooker, cook until duck meat is tender and you get creamy colored, tasty stock (use the stock for other purposes later). Set the bird aside for grilling.


Glazing

- 1 clove garlic
- 1/4 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cm ginger, julienned
- juice of 1 orange
- orange peel (of 1 orange)
- orange chunks (of another orange)
- honey, salt, white pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, olive oil, a bit of hot water
Saute garlic, onion, ginger in a bit of olive oil, add orange peel until everything's fragrant, add honey, orange juice, a bit of hot water, orange chunks, salt, white pepper, a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, let it caramelized a little. Use some to give the duck a rub, set aside some for sauce.


Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C. Throw the duck on an oven tray (I lined mine with foil - for easy cleaning later), place bits and pieces of glaze in, outside, and all around the duck, sprinkle a bit of salt and white pepper. I added extra honey/glaze from time to time to get more beautiful golden brownage. Grill until golden brown.

It ain't no Gisele...but my ugly duckling was sweet.