One cuisine type that I’m really looking forward to trying more frequently in 2013 is Asian-inspired food. It’s often pretty healthy for you, and radically diverse depending on which regions you are looking to pull ideas from, but I’ve always found it a bit intimidating. Furthermore, I learned to cook and get a feel for flavors with my grandmother. We didn’t cook or really eat a whole lot of non-American or German foods, and it is always difficult to cook things when you don’t necessarily have a full understanding of the taste you are trying to replicate. Especially when you realize that General Tso’s Chicken takeout doesn’t exactly qualify as “authentic Chinese dining.”
It hasn’t been until the past few years that I’ve ventured out to try and eat more adventurously with foods from that particular portion of the world. I now want to try and re-create some of these flavors at home. There has been some trial and error, as with all things (my Pho recipe is a work in progress). I felt really fortunate to have stumbled upon this gem after buying smoked duck for another dish when inspiration struck.
Walking to the grocery store in our neighborhood, I wasn’t feeling particularly creative. Thinking, “meh – smoked duck sandwiches with brie and apples.” However, the muse came just before checkout when I saw that they were having a sale on bok choy and I thought – well hell, why not, let’s try something a bit different, it is a totally new year, after all
What you’ll need:
- Smoked Duck – 1/2 pound (I used D’artagnan’s Smoked Magret Duck Breast), chopped
- Bok Choy – 2 cups, white and green parts, chopped
- Broccoli – 2 cups, cut into florets
- Green Pepper – 1 cup, sliced length wise
- Red Onion – 1 cup, chopped
- Garlic – 1 clove, minced
- Soy Sauce – 1 1/2 cup
- Vegetable Oil – 1/4 cup
- White Vinegar – 1/8 cup
- Red Pepper Flakes – to taste
- Sugar – 1 tbsp.
- Pepper – to taste
- Cooked White Rice – 2 cups
- Heat oil over medium high frying pan. Once hot, add bok choy, broccoli, green pepper, onion, garlic and red pepper. Cook for 4 minutes until vegetables are almost fully cooked.
- Turn heat to low and allow pan to cool for about 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and pepper and stir until vegetables are well coated. Cook over low heat for 25 minutes, if mixture seems close to burning – add a bit of water and stir around.
- Once vegetable mixture is close to done, add smoked duck to the pan to coat in the sauce and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Place rice in bowl and cover with vegetables. Serve immediately.
* Add a dash of sriracha, if you prefer a little more heat.
Roxie Ginger 