Warm Duck Salad with Soy and Ginger Dressing

This warm salad is ideal for a simple special supper for two and it will easily stretch to serve four as a light lunch or starter.  Cooking the duck couldn’t be simpler with a Zyliss Ultimate Pro Non-Stick Frying Pan as it’s oven-safe up to 230C/450F, so once you’ve seared the duck in the pan on the hob you can just pop the pan straight into the hot oven to roast!

Kitchen tools needed:

• Zyliss Ultimate Pro Non-Stick Frying Pan
• Zyliss Smooth Glide Y Vegetable Peeler
• Zyliss Cook’s Knife

Prep: 20 mins, plus 30 mins marinating

Cook: 15 mins

Difficulty Easy

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter

Ingredients

• 2 duck breast fillets
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp five spice powder
• 1 tbsp runny honey
• 1 tsp grated root ginger
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, plus extra to sprinkle
• juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges, to serve
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 head Chinese leaves, chopped (see Tips)
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
• 1/2 red chili pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
• 15g cashew nuts, lightly toasted
• handful fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/2 small cucumber
• 1 small carrot, peeled

Method

1. Place the duck breast fillets in a shallow dish, rub the five spice powder into the skin and and pour over the half the soy sauce, turning to coat. Cover and leave to marinate at room temperature for 30 mins. Preheat the oven to 220C, 425F, Gas 7.
2. Heat the Zyliss Ultimate Pro Non-Stick Frying Pan over a high heat until very hot. Remove the duck breast fillets from the marinade and add to the hot pan, skin side down. Cook for 1-2 mins on each side until seared and browned. Turn the fillets skin side up again and drizzle over the honey.
3. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 8-10 mins until the duck breasts are golden brown and just cooked (see Tips).  Using oven gloves, remove the hot pan from the oven. Transfer the duck breasts to a chopping board, cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 mins.
4. Carefully pour all the hot pan juices into a heatproof jug. Whisk in the remaining soy sauce, ginger, vinegar, lime juice and sugar.
5. Toss together the Chinese leaves, spring onions, chili and cashew nuts. Using the Zyliss Smooth Glide Y Vegetable Peeler, pare the cucumber and carrot into ribbons. Add the ribbons to the bowl with the cilantro leaves, sprinkle the salad lightly with a little extra rice wine vinegar and toss gently to mix.
6. Arrange the salad on a serving platter or divide between individual serving plates. Using a Zyliss Cooks Knife thinly slice the warm duck breasts. Arrange the slices over the salad and drizzle over some of the warm dressing. Serve with the extra dressing in a small bowl and with lime wedges.

TIPS

Chinese leaf is a variety of cabbage which can be eaten raw or cooked. It’s perfect for this salad as the leaves don’t go soggy when the warm dressing is added. If unavailable, use baby spinach leaves instead.

As duck skin contains a lot of fat there is no need to add oil to the pan before cooking. Heating the pan before adding the duck will ensure the skin sears and browns quickly. Depending on the thickness of the duck fillets the roasting time may vary slightly and the timing given is for slightly rare cooked fillets, add a few extra minutes if you prefer your meat well done.

To toast the cashew nuts, spread on a baking tray and pop into the preheated oven for 2-3 mins until light golden.