Duck With Vietnamese Style Noodles

I’ll start off by saying this in no way is a 100% authentic to one culture recipe. I hate that I have to preface that, but some people tend to get outraged. I’ll also mention the cuisines I pulled from when making this dish. The duck is cooked in my favorite style – French, but dressed with a Cantonese style fermented black bean sauce. The rice noodles are based on a recipe I learned in Phu Quoc, Vietnam from my homestay host, although the chili is Georgian. Make of this duck with Vietnamese style noodles what you will.

The great thing about this dish is that it tastes just as delicious hot or cold. I personally prefer to eat it cold on a hot day like I would Japanese Soba, but it’s totally up to you. If you want it to be hot just know that the noodles only take a couple minutes to cook, so you can actually start boiling them after you pull the duck to rest.

Best Way To Cook Duck Breast

The best way to cook duck breast is the classical French method. To start, salt both sides of the duck and place skin side down in a cold, thick pan. Put the flame on the lowest setting to begin rendering the fat under the skin. This is the same method I use for all my duck breast recipes, like duck breast with plum sauce and my yakitori suck salad with rocket and figs.

Because the heat is low, you will render the fat from under the skin without overcooking your duck breast. This is imperative because, while some fat can remain un-rendered, too much fat makes the duck tough and unpleasant to eat.

Slowly increase the fire about 10% a minute. Once the fire is at the hottest setting, lift the meat and check the skin. If it has started to get golden and crispy then flip the duck and cook the meat for 1 minute skin side up.

Flip the duck skin side down and place in a pre-heated oven at 215 Celsius for 3 minutes. This has worked for me perfectly with my kitchen set-up, but you may need to fiddle with your settings over a few duck breasts to perfectly figure out what works for you. Pull the duck from the oven and place on a cutting board to rest for 5-6 minutes (just as you would a steak).

Vietnamese Style Rice Noodles

In a pan boil your preferred brand of rice noodles according to package instructions. Usually this takes no longer than 2-3 minutes. While boiling the noodles you can make the sauce. For two people I use 200 grams of noodles. A bit more traditional would be vermicelli, but alas I had none on hand.

In a bowl add two tablespoons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, two teaspoons of fish sauce, a teaspoon of sesame oil, three cloves of minced garlic, one finely diced chili pepper, and a teaspoon of sugar. You can adjust this sauce to taste or change ingredients as you wish.

Toss the noodles in a bowl with the sauce, and some thinly sliced red bell pepper and shallot. Taste for seasoning and make more sauce as you see fit.

So What’s The Deal With The Duck And Black Bean Sauce?

Because the noodles are tossed in such a light sauce, I wanted to do something funky for the duck. I simply whisked up a tablespoon of black bean sauce with a quarter cup of chicken stock (you can use duck stock if you want) and a teaspoon of rendered duck fat.

Finally slice you duck breast skin side down to prevent slippage. Try to go for 1/2cm slices, about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick. Use a food brush to spread a very thin layer of the black bean sauce on one side of the duck. Next, just plate the noodles and place the duck slices on top for presentation.