Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Stewed Duck/Lor Ark

This is what I had simmering away on the stove when I locked myself out of the house the other day. Check out the story here I really like duck but I never learn how to cook it. I remember my mom and grandmother used to cook this for us when we were young and we get to eat this only during festive season. My mom said it takes too long to cook and is not easy cleaning their feathers either. Yes, we used to raise our own chickens and ducks a long time ago.

I bought a duck last week when I went to Philly Chinatown and decided to cook half of it. My favorite way of cooking duck is to stew it or us Hokkien called it 'Lor Ark'. Here is the recipe for cooking the whole duck.

Ingredients :

1 whole duck - around 3 pounds
2" of galangal (I replaced it with ginger since I don't have it)
6 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
3 tsp of 5 spice powder
3 pieces of star anise
3 tbsp of thick dark soy sauce
some rock sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
enough water for simmering

1) Clean duck throughly and pat dry. Rub the 5 spices powder all over the duck.
2) Slice galangal thinly, clean and peel the shallots,garlic and leave them whole.
3) Heat up some oil and stir fry the galangal, shallots and garlic until lightly brown.
4) Put in the duck and pan fried it until the duck shrink and lightly brown on both side. Add in dark soy sauce, star anise, salt, pepper and sugar.
5) Add in enough water to cover half the duck and bring to boil. Lower down the heat and let is simmer.
6) Check and turn the duck every 15 min for at least an hour or until tender. Add more water if the gravy dries out.
7) Remove the duck and let it cool. Skim off the oil from the gravy and if the gravy is too thin increased the heat and let it reduce until gravy thicken.
8) Cut the duck and drizzle the gravy on top. Serve warm.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yo Gert, itik pun bolehkah? Pandai moi! Working on duckling is too complicated for me, love to eat but aiyoh.....kankohlah. :-D

Anonymous said...

hmm...yummy. I haven't had this for a long long time. Too bad significant other don't like duck nor will he knows how to appreciate lor ark. :( This is so good with a bowl of porridge :)

Cat Cat said...

Wah Gert, sedapnya your stew duck... Lunch time pulak ni, where to find duck here... Alamak, Gert... Laparnya...

Beachlover said...

Gert..Lor Ark!!..Yahooo!!..Look like my mom punya lor ark!!...I'm not a fan of itik but I don't mind lor ark bcoz of the sauce!!..Look so good!!

Rita Ho said...

David wanted to buy a duck for our New Year dinner but I stopped him not having any recipes in mind. I won't be saying "No" the next time. :)

Gert ... is this the same as the popular "low-ngap" sold alongside 'peh-pah' or something-roasted ducks by vendors in vans parked along Jalan Ceras? Those were really delish.

Sylvia said...

Your duck looks wonderful , I alwys do duck at the same way ...with orange , like so much your recipe

Aiyah Nonya said...

Wow my MIL makes Lor Ark every CNY.
My favourite duck with sour plum sauce. I have yet to master it though. :(

ICook4Fun said...

Choy, this dish is easy. Give it a try and I am sure your family is going to like it.

Ninja, I just cooked some porridge to go with the leftover duck :)

Cat, too bad you live so far away. If not can drop by for lunch :)

Beachlover, I like the 'chup' a lot :)

Rita, yeah is called 'low-ngap' in cantonese. They are the same :)So now you can ask David to get the duck and cook this dish :)

Sylvia, thanks for stopping by. Maybe you can cook this Chinese version of duck the next time :)

Nonya, I like duck with plum sauce too. Maybe I should cook the other half of the duck that way :)Great idea.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Looks delicious, so suitable for CNY. Too bad my picky hubby doesn't eat lor ark, he only wants crispy skin duck.

JUN said...

hmm..can try on chicken x Gert? u know what, my sister in law used to bring her inlaws rendang itik u know..Negeri 9 style one..maybe can try rendang next time? hehehe
not coming back for CNY this yr?

Anonymous said...

The lor ark looks incredibly scrumptious.My sister and I was just debating what to cook for the CNY.We wanted a duck dish.She might attempt this if she has the time.
I am an avid reader of this blog.Thanks for sharing all the wonderful recipes. So far we have tried ayam merah, kuih keria and bingka and were quite pleased.I cant cook so Im the appointed sous chef.I look for recipes.

Sue Sue said...

Aiyor lor ark nice leh. I love it so much especially the on in PJ State. Only open at night and eat with porridge. Wah best.

ICook4Fun said...

LCOM, how come all our husband such a picky eaters :) don't eat this don't eat that. A bit susah for us to cook isn't it :)

Jun, you can cook this with chicken and it cook much faster too. Still half a duck left and thinking of what to cook next. I tak balik for CNY. Planning to go back in June and hope to see you then :)

Lee, thanks for you comment and glad that you tried out some of my recipe. Do try out this lor ark for CNY and I am sure your family will enjoy it.

Sue, you also like lor ark. I prefer this with porridge (typical Hokkien) than roast duck :)

bigfish_chin said...

Hi, came over from CookingMonster blog!
My God...this is really what i love! Duck... Ducksss... Duckling!
Mom is a Teow Chew... she will definately make her Lor Ark for this coming CNY too leh!

Big Boys Oven said...

oh this is gorgeous! quek! quek!

sweet chempedak said...

Actually i found your blog through CAT CAT's blog.
I actually never bake before. After reading your blog i got inspired.
A lot of my cookies and cakes are based from your recipes.
And my family enjoyed it a lot.

ICook4Fun said...

Bigfish, thanks for stopping by. I think the Hokkien and Teow Chew dishes are quite similar.

BBO, quak quak back :) :)

Hooi Li, thanks for the comment. Glad that you tried some of my recipes. Hope you see you again.

Anonymous said...

I just buy our CNY Pak Lo dock from Tracy's Kitchen. at Jalan Abell (next to AmBank Padungan Kuching) just like my mom hakka pak lo duck