Scary. The mere thought of cooking duck frightened me as I remember the rubbery texture of braised duck cooked at home by my dad ages ago. But I had been dreaming about it for quite sometime now since I watched the 1st Masterchef NZ’s duck challenge.

Oh I love duck and I can’t get over authentic Peking duck during our long stay in Beijing. I remember reading somewhere that all you have to do is cook it the way you cook your steak. Well, that did the trick.

Ingredients:
Duck legs/thighs (leg and thighs attached)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp mustard
3 tbsp yoghurt (or cream)
2 tbsp honey
Salt and pepper
A pinch of sugar (optional)
A leaf or two of fresh mint leaves, chopped (optional)

Score the skin, taking care not to cut the flesh, to allow the fat to render during cooking. Pat dry. Rub salt and pepper all over and leave for at least an hour.

Spray very little oil on a non-stick pan to moisten it a bit and heat the pan. Fry the duck skin side down over medium to high heat for about 5 minutes; fat melted and skin crispy YUM. Flip over and fry for another 5 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a cutting board and leave for 5 to 10 minutes.

Take out excess duck oil from the pan. Over low heat, deglaze pan with red wine vinegar. Add mustard and mix thoroughly. Stir in yoghurt, salt, pepper and honey. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped mint leaves.

Slice duck meat off from the bones (ala-Peking duck) and serve with the honey-mint sauce. I gave the boys other condiment options – ketchup (our favorite TUImato sauce) and sweet chili sauce.

So, so busy I couldn’t blog what I cooked but I will always share no matter what. I love this blog!

Iska

I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.

My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.

Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.