I accidentally created something wonderful tonight. I got home late to find a roast duck had been cooked for dinner (yum!) and the duck neck was simmering away to create a stock for later.
After I had reheated my dinner the duck was looking a little dry so I thought I’d whip up a quick sauce by stealing some of the bubbling duck stock. At this point it had been simmering for about an hour; only water and duck neck. I tipped some stock into another pan and started reducing it while thinking of how I was going to turn it into a sauce. I looked for sherry, none. I looked for some appropriate fruit (cherry sauce and duck, yum!), none. I did happen to find some shiitake mushrooms that I bought at Bondi Farmers Markets last sunday. Hmmm duck and shiitake, that sounds like a brothworth combination! I quickly turned the temperature down, added a bit more stock from the main pot, added half a clove of garlic, the other half went into the main pot. I cut off the woody stems of the mushrooms and popped them into the main stock pot, no point in wasting perfectly good umami flavour, sliced the mushrooms and threw them into my broth. A dash of light soy, a pinch of my Murray River pink salt flakes and a healthy grind of pepper and we are close to done. I thank the principles of permaculture zoning when I dash out into the incessant rain to gather some shallots from my zone 1 garden bed outside the kitchen window. Sliced into 1cm lengths they are thrown into the broth, a quick taste and it is in need of some finishing love. Half a teaspoon of white sugar, a tiny pinch of Chinese five spice and another grind of pepper and it is perfect. Add a little more pepper than you usually would, it will go well with the rich mushroom and duck flavours.
My very well meaning father got a little heavy handed with the Saxa salt when he roasted the duck which luckily led me to perfecting this dish! I shredded some of the duck meat and put it into my broth. The silky mushrooms like little slugs trying to escape my mashing molars, the fatty and yielding dark duck flesh and the subtle hint of spice in the meaty broth, perfect and accidental!
As with many of my favourite dishes, this one unfortunately did not survive long enough for picture taking. However, a quick dig into an embarrassingly growing collection of photos of myself eating revealed some sumptuous duck eating to inspire you towards your next duck purchase.
