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Jiang mu ya
薑母鴨 (jiang mu ya): Taiwanese winter ginger-duck hot pot with black sesame oil and rice wine
Jiang mu ya is Taiwan's winter warmer, sold from steaming restaurants and night-market stalls from the first cold snap until spring, where diners add cabbage, mushrooms and noodles to the pot at the table. Thick slices of old ginger are fried slowly in black sesame oil until shrivelled and golden, then duck is browned in the same oil and simmered for over an hour in rice wine and water with jujubes and goji. The broth is rich, warming and gingery. It cooks with a lot of rice wine; for an alcohol-free version use chicken stock with an extra 50 g ginger. The usual mistake is frying the ginger over a high heat: sesame oil turns bitter, so keep it low and patient. Chef's tip: use old, fibrous ginger with thick skin, not young ginger, for the proper heat.
- Total time
- 120 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 7 oz old gingerunpeeled, sliced 3 mm thick
- 4 tbsp black (toasted) sesame oil
- 3 ¼ cups Taiwanese rice wine
- 3 ¼ cups water
- 1 tbsp dried goji berries
- 1 tsp rock sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 14 oz napa cabbagecut in large pieces
- 7 oz king oyster or shiitake mushroomssliced
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put the 7 oz old ginger and 4 tbsp black (toasted) sesame oil in a cold pot and heat gently over a low heat. Fry for 10–12 minutes, stirring, until the edges curl and turn golden but not dark.
12 minStep 2: Pat the 3 ⅓ lb duck, chopped into 5 cm pieces on the bone dry, add to the pot and raise the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes, turning, until the skin is golden and some fat has run out.
10 minStep 3: Pour in the 3 ¼ cups Taiwanese rice wine and 3 ¼ cups water, add the 6 dried red jujubes and 1 tsp rock sugar and bring to the boil. Skim the fat and foam.
5 minStep 4: Cover and simmer gently for 1 hour 10 minutes, until the duck is tender and comes off the bone, well above 165°F.
70 minStep 5: Add the 1 tbsp dried goji berries, 1 tsp salt, 14 oz napa cabbage and 7 oz king oyster or shiitake mushrooms and simmer for 8 minutes, until the cabbage is soft. Serve from the pot at the table, adding more vegetables as you eat.
8 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 690 kcal
- Protein
- 34 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 49 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does jiang mu ya take?
- About 120 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 100 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of rock sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
- What can I use instead of napa cabbage?
- Savoy or spring greens, same weight.
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