Mì Vịt Tiềm - Vietnamese Duck Noodles Soup
Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup (Mi Vit Tiem) includes slippery noodles, fall-off the-bone duck legs and a dark-colored broth.
Ingredients
For the Duck Legs
- Four duck legs (about 2.25 1 lbs or 1kg)
- Two thumb-sized pieces of ginger broken into pieces
- 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
- 1/2 cup wine from rice (or sake white wine)
- 1 teaspoon crushed chopped shallots
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed and chopped garlic
Other Ingredients
- 7 cups water (see the notes)
- 8 red dates
- 1 1/2 tablespoons goji berries
- 8 dried Shiitake mushroom dried (about 0.35oz which is about 10 grams)
- 4 star anises
- 1 black cardamom pod that has been crushed open
- 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds (or three fresh cilantro stems or roots)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 5 cloves of garlic peeled
- 3 shallots peeled
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1 onion Peeled and cut into pieces
- 2 teaspoons of rock sugar (to the taste, or consult the note on subsituting)
To Serve
- Yellow wheat-based pasta (such eggs or ramen-style)
- blanched green vegetables blanched (such like baby bok chop)
- thinly-sliced scallions
- finely-sliced cilantro thinly-sliced
Instructions
Make the Duck Legs
- In a mixing bowl, place duck legs and massage it with broken ginger, rice wine and crushed ginger. This can help remove any gamy smells. Rinse thoroughly and dry. Then, marinate the duck legs with five-spice spice powder as well as dark soy sauce, crushed shallots, and garlic for 20-30 minutes.
- Set the oven's broiler on high. Scrape off any aromas in the marinade of the duck legs and place the skin of the duck legs face down on a rack with a wire over an oven tray lined with baking paper. Bake until the skin is blistered and golden , with some spots of darkening (about 10-15 minutes).
Making the Noodle Soup
- When marinating the duck legs and legs, soak the dates in red Goji berries, red dates, and dried Shiitake mushrooms at room temperature water for approximately 10 minutes. Rinse and take them out to drain.
- After the legs of the duck are cooked then add red dates, water Goji berries, red dates, dried Shiitake mushrooms, star anises and black cardamom pods coriander seeds sauce, dark soy sauce oyster sauce, ginger garlic cloves and shallots, and onions to a pot with a heavy bottom. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the legs of the duck, and then reduce it to the simmer.
- The broth should be simmered with the lid ajar until the duck's meat is soft and easily removed with chopsticks (about 80-90 minutes). Make sure to remove foams from the simmering. If the soup has too much duck fat remove the majority of it in case the dish turns out to be too oily.
- Check the broth for taste and add rock sugar according to your taste and adjust the seasonings according to your preference. If you find that too much liquid has been lost in cooking, return the water in a small amount.
To Serve
- Add the noodles and blanched green vegetables to bowls for serving. Put a leg of a duck in each bowl, and sprinkle cilantro and scallions on top. Ladle hot soup into the bowls , and serve right away.
Notes
- If you want a thicker broth, include necks or bones of duck and cook along with the legs of the duck. An alternative is to add some bones from chickens or replace half of the water by chicken stock.
- If you don't wish to use rock sugar, substitute 1/2-1 cup of water for the fresh juice of coconut. This will bring an element of sweetness that is natural to the broth.
- The nutritional information doesn't mention the nutritional values of the noodles.