Clem's Duck Breast Poached in Spiced Soy Sauce Stock
 

Chinese restaurants keep a spiced soy sauce master stock for a long time, re-using/re-heating it over months/years. A mature stock is of value to the restaurant because its taste has been developed over time with the various things which have been braised in it.

Home chefs can also do something similar viz. keep the soy sauce stock which they make for a dish in the refrigerator or freezer and roll it out for use many times later. I had made some braised soy sauce pork some weeks ago and this is the first time that I have re-used the stock. A reminder here that if the stock is not frozen, you will need to take it out of the refrigerator and re-boil it every few weeks in order to prolong its shelf-life.

Tonight's protein is duck breast.

Here's how to do it:
 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 duck breast pieces.
  I bought these in a pack on the refrigerator shelf of a local supermarket.
   
• Stored Soy Sauce Stock.
  Here was how it was made:
  http://clemkuek.com/photoalbum/photo_696_8b.html
  
  I freshened up the stock by adding some more of garlic, ginger, and to give it a more SE Asian or Teochew taste, I added some slices of galangal. I also made the stock sweeter by adding more sugar (I found that the sweetness was not much found in the protein which I previously cooked in it).
   
• Optional sides:
  Some pieces of fried tofu to use as a side.
  Bak Choy.
   

METHOD

• Let the duck come up to room temperature if you are going to cook it right away (instead of doing the next step beforehand).
   
• Cover the duck breast on all sides with dark soy sauce and a dusting of 5-Spice powder. Marinate for at least an hour (more is better).
  
  This is to give the duck a good colour and extra flavour.
   
• Heat up the soy sauce stock to boiling.
   
• Add the marinated duck breast pieces and let the stock come up to boiling again and then turn off the heat.
  
  If you are using fried tofu as a side, add this to the stock at the same time.
   
• Just let the duck sit in the stock with the lid of the pan on and you can either leave it in there until the stock cools down, or take out the duck after an hour or two.
  
  If the duck comes out too pink for your liking, the solution is to heat it up for longer, either in a re-heated stock or in a microwave oven.
   
• When you are ready to serve, make a soy sauce gravy with the stock by taking some out and adding a starch slurry over heat with stirring. The stock will thicken into a gravy which you can use to have with the duck.
   
• Let the duck pieces cool down substantially before slicing them up.
   
• Serve with sliced fried tofu and a green (I used bak choy dressed with soy sauce gravy) as sides.

ENJOY!!

www.clemkuek.com

09 September 2026
 

Cooking by Clem: https://clemkuek.com/photoalbum/photo696.html
 

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Created by Clem Kuek