PULLED DUCK WITH PLUM SRIRACHA SAUCE PASTRIES

After a LONG day of hard work, my Spurwing Duck Pastries. Was so good, everyone loved it… thanks Elize for cooking the duck.
The easiest way to make, slow-cooked, fall apart duck with crispy skin. We used wild goose which did not have the skin on, stuffed with pork fat rashers.

Note: You can use wild goose for this recipe (wilde makou).

Duck:
1 duck(we used 6 stuffed goose breasts), approx. 2.4 kg in weight, innards removed
Salt and pepper
Plum Sriracha sauce:
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped finely
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped/crushed
600 g ripe plums, de-stoned and cut into small (1 cm pieces) – no need to take the skin off
6 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Chinese rice vinegar (if you don’t have any you can use white wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon sriracha

Preheat the oven to 150ºC/300ºF.
Take a large roasting tin and place a wire rack inside. (We used a crock pot, and did not use a wire rack as the goose is a lean meat. We used red wine with a chicken stock of 300 ml)
Pat the duck down with some kitchen paper to ensure the skin is dry. Score the skin of the duck in a criss-cross pattern (breast side) with a sharp knife. Be sure not to piece the flesh. Place the duck – breast side up – on the rack in the roasting tin. Season with salt and pepper, and place in the oven for 3 hours 50 minutes. Turn the duck over every hour (I used a clean kitchen towel in each hand to turn the duck over).
Whilst the duck is in the oven, make the plum sriracha sauce.

Heat the oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Add the onion and cook on low-medium for 5 mins – until the onion is soft. Give it a stir every minute or so. Add in the ginger and garlic and cook for a further minute. Add in the rest of the ingredients, turn up the heat and bring to a gentle bubble. Turn the heat back down to medium and allow everything to bubble gently for 20 minutes. Give it a stir every so often.
After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and blend the mixture in the pan using a hand blender. I like to give it just a few pulses so the sauce still has some texture. Leave to one side.
After the duck has cooked for 3 hours 50 minutes, take it out of the oven and turn the oven temperature up to 190ºC / 375ºF.
Turn the duck so that it’s breast-side-up again and brush 2 tablespoons of the plum sriracha sauce all over the top of the duck (including the legs). Place back in the oven for 10 minutes until the glaze has gone dark brown and caramelised.
Take the duck out of the oven. Leave to rest for 10 minutes, then place on a large plate and shred all the meat using two forks.

Serve immediately with some of the plum sriracha sauce. I also like to serve it will some rice and greens.
We had the goose breast cooled down, pulled it apart and mixed with the thickened, rendered down sauce. Used this as stuffing for our pastries! Delicious!!!!!

Notes:
Save the rendered duck fat for making delicious roast potatoes!

Pastry dough:
500 ml cake flour
10 ml baking powder
2 ml salt
110 ml/100 g butter
110 ml water (room temperature)
oil for frying

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Mix in the butter with your fingers. With a butter knife, cut the water in the flour. Use just enough water to form your dough till firm but still soft. Roll out the dough thinly and cut in round circles. Put a teaspoon of your filling in the middle of your circle. Wet the outside of your circle with water and fold in half circles to form your pastry. Press together. Fry in boiling hot oil till golden brown (+- 5 min).

Dough recipe: Amanda Conradie
Duck recipe adapted: Elize de Kock
Photo: Elize de Kock