Duck, Cantonese style ~ Bat Bow Chin Ngap

Ingredients :

• 2.5kg duck
• peanut oil
• 4 tbsp lean pork, cut into thin strips
• pinch salt and sugar
• 4 tbsp canned water chestnuts
• 1 large spring onion, cut into 1½" lengths
• 6 tbsp shelled ordinary chestnuts
• 1 dspn ginger sherry
• 4-5 tbsp chicken stock
• 3 tbsp lotus nuts
• 3 tbsp sliced lean roast pork
• 3 tbsp sliced canned bamboo shoots
• 3 tbsp sliced canned awabi
• 1 tspn sesame oil
  Garnish :
• 4-5 Chinese mushrooms
• carrots
• lettuce heart leaves
• mustard and cress or watercress or other salad vegetable available

Preparation and Cooking Instructions

1. Bone duck if desired. Place prepared ingredients, side by side, on a large platter, with the cooked pork apart from the others.
2. Heat a tbsp of the oil and fry the pork in it for a minute, moving pieces around pan. Add a pinch of salt and sugar and ½ tspn soya sauce. Continue to cook for 3 minutes, tossing the pieces. Transfer to a plate.
3. Wipe out the pan. Add another tbsp of oil and cook the water chestnuts and spring onions in it for a minute. Add the ordinary chestnuts, sherry, stock and lotus nuts and toss the mixture over good heat. Again add a pinch each of the seasonings, then add the roast pork, bamboo shoots and awabi and continue to cook for ½ minute. Add the sesame oil and, if necessary, further seasoning and soy sauce. Don't overdo them.
4. This stuffing must be moist so if the moisture has evaporated add a little hot water. (Further stock may make it too salty).
5. Sew up the small opening at the vent, then lay the duck on the table and place the filling in it. Pack it loosely because some of the ingredients will go on expanding and this could cause the skin to break. Tie the neck securely, turning the end over and tying it again.
6. Have a pan large enough to hold the duck in a flat position. Pour enough peanut oil into it to come one-third up the duck. Heat it to 180°C. Place the duck in a frying-basket or on a long-handled skimmer and lower it into the hot oil.
7. Baste the breast for 3 minutes with a large spoon. Remove and leave to become cold. This 'firming' process is to prevent the skin bursting. Return the duck to the hot oil and baste it until the breast is a warm golden brown.
8. Transfer it to a steamer with boiling water coming 1½" up it, cover tightly and steam for 2 hours. Remove the duck, let it settle for a few minutes, then remove string and serve as below.
9. Meanwhile prepare the garnish. Have ready the Chinese mushrooms and boil for 6 minutes in chicken stock. Drain well. Cut thinly sliced carrots into fancy shapes or nick the edges all round with a knife. Cook them in oil without browning.
10. Place the duck on a heated serving dish and garnish it with the mushrooms, carrots, heart leaves of lettuce, mustard and cress or watercress or salad vegetables.
11. Cooks notes : This recipe originally calls for the duck to be boned. If it isn't boned you may find it won't hold the stuffing when immersed in water. Make sure you sew up the openings well to prevent this from happening.