Ming Tsai’s ‘Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Mushroom Fricassee’
My sister Leanne gave me a wonderful cookbook recently from the kitchens of Ming Tsai, a Massachusetts-based chef, restaurateur, and TV celebrity whose culinary focus is integrating tastes from Asia with tastes from his second home in the Eastern United States. The cookbook, Simply Ming in Your Kitchen is filled with a bundle of appealing recipes that showcase his style of cooking to the ‘t’. There are so many dog-eared pages in this book, I was having a hard time deciding which recipe to try first. Eyeing two duck breasts in our freezer, I finally settled on his unique ‘Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Mushroom Fricassee.’ To me, there is nothing like a perfectly seared duck breast—tender, flavorful meat and that crispy duck skin…you can’t go wrong. I loved this recipe in addition to the nicely cooked duck breast because you are using the duck fat that renders from the breasts to cook the yellow potatoes and the mixture of oyster and shitake mushrooms. A simple splash of dry red wine to deglaze the pan really makes a lovely flavor pairing with the mushroom fricassee. This is definitely a cookbook I recommend you look into buying, you won’t be sorry you do!
Searing the duck breasts
(To view Ming Tsai’s recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
‘Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Mushroom Fricasse’
Ingredients:
- Recipe Courtesy of Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm, from the book ‘Simply Ming in Your Kitchen’
- 4 duck breasts (about 10 ounces/280g each)
- Kosher or sea salt
- Black pepper
- 2 large Yukon Gold (Estima) potatoes
- 2 shallots
- 1 head garlic
- ¾ pound/350g shiitake mushrooms
- Dry red wine
- ¾ pound/350g oyster mushrooms
- 1 bunch chives
Directions:
- Recipe Courtesy of Ming Tsai and Arthur Boehm, from the book ‘Simply Ming in Your Kitchen’
- Score the skin side of the duck breast in a crosshatch pattern, slicing only halfway through the fat layer.
- Heat a large heavy sauté pan or cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Season the breasts with salt and pepper, turn the heat to low, and cook, skin side down, until brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board skin side up, and set aside. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat into a heatproof bowl and reserve.
- Return the pan to medium—high heat. When the fat is hot, add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook the potatoes without stirring until browned, 3-4 minutes. Turn over and brown the other side. Continue to turn and cook the potatoes until at least 3 sides are browned and the potatoes are cooked through, another 6-7 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels and set aside.
- Put 2 Tablespoon of the reserved fat in the pan and swirl to coat. When the fat is hot, add the shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the shitakes and sauté, stirring until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan. Add the oyster mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and sauté, stirring, until golden and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Taste to adjust the seasoning. Return the potatoes to the pan and add all but the reserved chives. Stir, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and transfer to a platter.
- Wipe out the pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of fat and swirl to coat the pan. When the fat is not, add the breasts meat side down and cook until medium-rare, 1-2 minutes. Flip over and cook to re-crisp the skin sides, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, slice and place on top of the potatoes. Garnish with the reserved chives and serve.
- For a touch of color on the plate, I served the dish with some peppery arugula.
Tagged: Arugula, chives, duck, duck breasts, duck fat, Ming Tsai, mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, potatoes, scallions, seared duck, shitake mushrooms
So glad you are enjoying it! We’ll have to go to one of his restaurants next time you are here. Mary Lauren and I tried one this summer and it was fabulous.
I love it! Thanks again! You should see how many dog-earred pages there are…I want to make everything. This would also be a nice dish with pork… Yes, we should totally go next time we are in Boston. 😀