22 hours ago, Duvel said:May I join as well ? Pllleeeaaaase ?
Aww, that's sweet of you. It was so nice to have some simple soup. Not to disparage rich xmas food, but If I have to look at another tomato cheese casserole or giant haunch of anything I'm going to run screaming from the table. I had some duck broth frozen, so literally this meal's biggest challenge was figuring how how much udon to boil for two people. The Japanese seem to love the number five. The udon I like comes in five bundles to a package; the bundles are always too much for one person and not enough for two.
I admit that I make duck broth by the cheater's method: I buy whole roast duck in Chinatown and have them chop it. I make a simple noodle dish and top it with the best meatiest pieces of the duck. Or, if I can't resist, we just go at it when we get it home. Okay, this is gross but it's all in the family: I save the bones from the gnawed on duck. Then I make a stock using those bones and all the pieces we didn't eat. I might add a pork neck bone if I have one frozen (I do this if I have a duck and a half or two ducks; I don't want to dilute the flavor too much.) After two hours or so the stock is rich and the bonus is there is a reasonable amount of duck meat on the bones that is still very tasty and no worse for wear. I pick it off, save it, and then strain and defat the soup, saving the duck fat as well. The leftover shredded duck works well in a stir fry or wonton soup or whatever.
Chinese roast duck is the gift that keeps on giving. A word to the wise: it often comes with a little container of sauce. This is very salty and very potent. DO NOT add it to the duck broth. I portion it out and use it as part of a stir-fry sauce or as an ingredient in a sauce for noodles.
Happy new Year!
I should amend the post. I just looked at some of the scrumptious meals pictured above. Outstanding, all of it. Give me a couple of weeks to recover and then I'm there.
