Soy Braised Duck Legs With Bread Sauce & Roast Muscat Grapes

Ingredients

Soy Braised Duck Legs

4 duck legs
4 red onions
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves, smashed
2 leeks
2tbsp light brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
2 litres soy master stock
4 small bunches black Muscat grapes

Bread Sauce

1/2 onion, studded with 4 cloves
1/2 onion, finely sliced
1 garlic clove, smashed
10g unsalted butter
250ml whole milk
50g leftover bread, crusts removed, ripped into small chunks
50ml double cream
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of white pepper
Pinch of salt

Soy Master Stock

400ml water
200ml shaoxing wine
250ml regular soy sauce
3tbsp light brown sugar
3 star anise
3 bay leaves
3 garlic cloves
small knob ginger, sliced
3 sticks of spring onion, whole, tied into a knot
2 cloves
1 dry chilli
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp fennel seed
2 cracked black cardamom pods

Method

Soy Braised Duck Legs

1. Preheat oven to 215C fan.
2. Salt the duck legs with fine salt and leave at room temperature for 30mins.
3. Finely slice all the red onions and shallots; toss with the garlic, brown sugar, cinnamon, star anise, and a pinch of salt.
4. Put the onion mix in the base of an oven dish and lay the duck legs on top; place into the oven for 15mins to colour the skin.
5. In this time you can prep the leeks by cutting them into finger length segments, keeping the green tops for leek oil.
6. After 15mins, take the oven tray out. Nestle the leeks in between the legs, and fill the tray halfway with the master stock, making sure the tops of the duck legs are sticking out of the liquid.
7. Drop the temperature to 160, cover the tray and place back in the oven for 1hour.
8. After 1hour, take the cover off the tray and place back in the oven along with the whole bunches of grapes for 15mins.
9. Take out of the oven and leave to rest.

Bread Sauce

1. Sweat the sliced onion and garlic gently in the butter until soft over a medium low heat.
2. Add in the milk along with the clove onion and bring to the boil.
3. Turn off the heat and add the bread and leave to infuse for at least half an hour.
4. Remove and discard the clove onion, add the cream and spices, and blitz the bread mixture with a had blender until smooth.
5. Keep warm until ready (it’ll thicken over time so adjust the consistency as necessary).

Soy Master Stock

1. Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reducing heat and simmer for 20mins.
3. Turn off heat and leave to cool and infuse before straining.

Serving

1. Pour a few tablespoons of the bread sauce on the base of the plate.
2. Place a tablespoon of the onion mix on top of the bread sauce, and the duck leg on top of that.
3. Place a few whole leeks around the duck, and put a small bunch of roasted grapes on the stem just to the side of the duck.
4. Finish the plate with some pan sauce from the duck braise.

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