Great Slave Lake Ginger Duck

by Dan Coombs

Yellowknife is not in a major waterfowl fly way but that doesn’t mean the opportunity to bag a bit of waterfowl escapes us. You can find plentiful ducks and geese in the marshes and creeks of the North Arm of Great Slake as they start their migration south. Here is our spin on the classic staple of Northern Asian restaurants, Ginger Beef. In this recipe we use some mallard ducks, but it is equally delicious with any wild game. The trick is to slice it thinly paying attention to the grain direction of the muscle, cutting strips across it.

 

INGREDIENTS

Makes four servings

  • 4 medium to large duck breasts (about 2lbs of any wild game of your choosing)
  • 1 cup Coombs & Co. Canadian Classic
  • ½ tablespoon Chinese five spice (optional)
  • One egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • Grated carrot
  • 2 green onions
  • Heavy bottom pan, pot or skillet
  • At least 1/2 cup canola, peanut or other high heat oil for frying
  • Add more oil as needed

 

Ginger Sauce

This is all about balancing flavours, while letting the ginger shine through If you need to scale up just taste the sauce as you go:

  • 1/3 cup hoisin
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh grated ginger (add as much ginger as you want, you can substitute jarred or powdered but add to taste)
  • Some sort of chili spice…I like a chili garlic or jerk paste…add to taste
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar

DIRECTION

Slice meat into thin strips (something that can be handled in no more than two bites). Coat strips with 1/3 of the batter. Whisk egg and milk together in a separate bowl to make an egg wash, place coated strips into the egg wash. Mix remaining batter and five spice together with any remaining batter from the first coating. Remove strips from egg wash and coat evenly with the batter. Feel free to add more batter if it looks you are running out, we want these well coated. Set aside to rest for at least 10 minutes.

In the meantime let’s make the sauce. In a small sauce pan whisk together the sauce and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce easily coats the back of a spoon. The sauce should be sweet tasting so balance as needed with a bit of sugar, soy sauce or vinegar.

 

Time to fry the strips! Add enough oil to coat the bottom of a pan (half inch or a couple centimeters deep). Heat the oil on a medium high heat until the oil reaches around 350F or you can use a small piece of batter to test the oil. The batter should fry vigorously when dropped in. Try not to over crowd your pan, the strips will fry quickly so keep an eye on them. Fry to golden and try to keep wild game strips to a medium well doneness, some wild meat will be much tougher due to its lean nature if overcooked (but still delicious).

Remove cooked meat to wire rack or plate with paper towel to drain. In a bowl mix fried strips and sauce together, serve over rice, sprinkle the grated carrot and chopped green onions over the top for garnish.

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