Cate Taylor knows how to cook for a large family. This delicious and deceptively easy duck salad will have them all asking for seconds.

Recipe Cate Taylor | Photograph Aubrey Jonsson

Smoked roast duck salad with hot and sour dressing
Serves 5-6 people as an entree

 2 duck breasts
110g rice of your choice
25g black tea leaves
2 ½ tbsp of caster sugar
1 star anise, coarsely ground
1 French shallot, finely sliced
1 Lebanese cucumber, seeds removed, cut into batons
2 Chinese cabbage leaves, finely shredded
1 handful coriander leaves
1 handful Vietnamese mint leaves
80g unsalted cashew nuts, toasted and roughly chopped

dressing
3 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 small red chilli, seeds removed, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2cm piece of ginger, finely grated

To make the dressing, mix all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Remove the duck from the fridge 20 mins before smoking. Pat the skin dry and score it three or four times. Combine the rice, tea, sugar and star anise in a bowl and mix well. Line a wok with two layers of foil, add the rice mixture and rest a wire rack on top.

Cover with a tight-fitting lid, turn the heat to medium-high and allow the wok to heat up and smoke. Place the duck, skin-side up, on the rack and cover with the lid and foil to seal tightly. Turn heat down to medium-low and smoke for 8-9 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to stand for 3 minutes. Remove duck and discard rice mixture.

Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat, add duck, skin-side down, and cook for 5-7 minutes, until golden and fat is rendered. Turn and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Toss together vegetables, herbs, cashews and dressing and place small amount on each plate. Slice duck and place on top with a little more dressing and coriander to serve.

 

To read about a dinner party Cate Taylor’s held for a group of friends at her home in Port Pirie, click here. 

This recipe first appeared in the February 2020 issue of SALIFE magazine.