I love it when I get surprised by low carb hacks I discover by accident. This week I had lunch with kid#1 at Nanjing Impressions at Plaza Singapura. I felt like having some soup and as usual we scanned the menu for non-carby items. I discovered that they had a dish called heritage duck soup with bean curd shreds, and when the dish came out I was amazed that they had used strips of beancurd skin to look like noodles in the soup! And it was amazingly rich and good and I knew I had to try to reproduce it at home.
Now I was way too lazy to try to make roasted or salted duck on my own and so I picked up half a braised duck at Whampoa market (the guy at the wet market sells amazing roasted or braised duck). The soup stock at Nanjing Impressions was so good and thick and flavourful, and I knew I would never be able to fully replicate it, but I decided to wing it and try to make it as rich as possible with some pork bones. In the end, the verdict was also a very rich soup, which was pretty much what I was aiming for, and I think it’s really one of the highlights of this dish.
The “noodles” I used were sheets of “Baiye Tofu” which are easily found in the supermarket. They needed to be unpacked and unfolded, then rolled up and finely sliced. The tofu shreds in Nanjing Impressions were so fine that I swear they must have a special slicer or something! My finest noodle strips were not as fine as what they had, but it still felt like we were eating legitimate noodles.
I think this recipe is a keeper. I did cut corners by using pre-cooked braised duck, but it tasted so good I would definitely do it exactly the same way again.
Low Carb Braised Duck Noodles
Ingredients
- SOUP STOCK
- 300-400g large pork bones
- bones from the duck
- 1 knob of ginger (about 1 inch), peeled and sliced
- 1 carrot, peeled and cut into big chunks
- 2 red dates
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2-2.5 L water
- 1/2 braised roast duck, meat shredded (bones go into soup stock)
- 150-200g of milk cabbage (nai bai), trimmed
- 2 packets of Baiye tofu, sliced as thinly as possible
- 1 sprig coriander (optional)
- chilli and soy sauce on the side (optional)
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Directions
- Strip the duck of meat and cut into small pieces.
- Put the pork bones, duck bones, salt, peppercorns, ginger, fish sauce, dates and water into the Instant Pot. Seal the pot and put on manual high pressure for 90 minutes.
- Allow natural pressure release. Drain the stock into a large pot and heat up on the stove over medium heat.
- Boil the baiye tofu strips for about 3-5 minutes till softened. Distribute the noodles into 4 bowls.
- Blanch the nai bai cabbage in the stock for 2-3 minutes, then arrange the nai bai on the noodles. Distribute the shredded duck meat on top of the noodles as well, then pour hot soup on top.
- Serve hot topped with coriander and with some cut chilli and soy sauce on the side.
Still Feeling Peckish 