Miso Duck Magret and Mushroom Fried Udon

Miso Duck Magret and Mushroom Fried Udon

Thursday is usually my busiest day in the week as the children and myself have ECAs in the afternoon and I would be driving around non-stop bringing everyone everywhere. So dinner usually has to be something simple or prepared in advance.

You may notice from my recipes this week that...I have mushrooms to use up. Muriel told me off for using them in my minestrone, but besides the fact that I like mushrooms, I do have alot of them to use up. So I went to bed thinking of mushrooms and woke up still thinking of them. M m m...and somehow I thought of miso, remembered the duck magret that I have been keeping for ages in the fridge (I bit into the raw meat to make sure that it was still ok), dug and found my packet of udon noodles and voilà this Miso Duck Magret and Mushroom Fried Udon!

This reminded me a little of those brainstorming sessions that I used to go on when I was a volunteer with the elderly in my youth. Anyway this dish was a hit with the children, I must have cooked at least 5 packets of udon noodles. "It's super good, mum!" slurped Baby Boy away.

Miso Duck Magret and Mushroom Fried Udon :

The duck :

Duck Magret (skin poked with a fork)

1 Tbsp red Miso paste

100ml hot water to dissolve it in

2 Tsp Shoyu or light soy sauce

1 Tbsp Sake or Chinese cooking wine

2 Tsp Sugar

1/2 Tsp Sesame oil

The udon :

Udon noodles (cooked and drained)

1 Onion or third of a Leek (sliced)

1 slice Ginger (julienned)

1 Garlic clove (diced)

150g Champignons de Paris (sliced) or better, Chinese or Japanese mushrooms

3 Tbsp Mirin

2 Tsp Shoyu

1 Tsp Sugar

A few drops of Sesame Oil

150ml Chicken or Dashi stock

Salt and Pepper to taste

Chilli flakes, seaweed and toasted sesame seeds mix

Poke the skin of the duck magret with a fork so that the marinade will penetrate the flesh better. Marinate with the miso and seasoning sauces for a few hours.

Heat up a non-stick frying pan and grill the duck skin-side down on medium-low heat. It will take about 10 minutes to sear the skin and render the fat. Do not throw away the miso marinade, add it to the seasoning for the udon.

The Miso Duck

Turn the duck over, turn up the heat to medium and cook the meat for another 10 minutes. Remove, slice the magret and set aside. The flesh is normally pink.

If there are burnt bits in the pan, remove them. In the same frying pan, in the miso duck fat, fry the onions/leek, ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add the mushrooms and the seasoning.

In the pan

Add the udon noodles and gently stir-fry for a minute to coat them evenly in the sauce. Pour in the hot chicken or dashi stock. Cook till the ost of the stock has been absorbed by the udon. Salt and pepper to taste.

Return the duck slices to the pan and give it a stir.

Garnish with chilli flakes, seaweed and toasted sesame seeds and serve hot.

I have been thinking alot recently about the joy and futility of living. Going through painful birth, usually mundane living, and frightening death cycle. Increasingly, I fear arriving (if God wills) at a ripe old age and looking back to find a wasted life, low karma and a lack of achievement behind me. Though I know I have it better than those people living in civil, holy war-torn, poor and/or corrupted countries, that within first world nations I do not have it too bad either. Especially for a female.

Will I have the courage, wisdom and will to forge a more fruitful and useful life for myself and my children? I am still thinking. In the meantime, bon appetit!