Back when I was living in New Haven, I used to frequent a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant called Pot au Pho. Especially on those cold winter afternoons, mi vit tiem, egg noodles with braised five-spice flavored duck and shiitake mushroom, was my go-to order. I think the restaurant has closed down now, and even here I haven’t been able to find local restaurants serving this particular dish. Well, I guess if you wanna eat something you can try to make it yourself, so here we were.
I pulled ideas from recipes by Delightful Plate and Delectabilia, with a few modifications of my own. I also used my trusty Philips HD2137 All-in-One Cooker to substantially reduce the cooking time. The star of this dish are the duck legs, marinated in dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, five-spice powder and aromatics, broiled in the oven then braised in a herbal broth until fall-of-the-bone tender. I used 100% fresh coconut water for that lovely natural sweetness, and added some duck bones for a richer, more flavorful broth. Best served with springy noodles like ramen or wantan noodles and topped with blanched siew pak choy for a complete meal. These duck legs were so tender, you can pick ’em clean with chopsticks and spoon. So happy with the outcome!
Jump to RecipeSet your oven to broiler mode at 260 degrees C fan (max setting on my oven)
In a large mixing bowl, add the duck legs, vinegar and ginger. Rub the ingredients all over the duck, to remove any gamey smell.
Rinse the duck and pat dry.
In a clean large mixing bowl, add the duck legs, five spice powder, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, reserved ginger juice, shallots and garlic, and toss to coat evenly. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, up to 2 hours.
While marinating the duck, begin preparing the soup. In a large bowl, soak the red dates, goji berries and mushrooms in water.
Shake off any excess marinade from the duck, and place skin-side up on a wired rack over a lined baking tray.
Transfer the duck to the oven and broil, until skin is blistered and golden, 10 minutes.
While the duck legs are in the oven, rinse and drain the red dates, goji berries and mushrooms. Add the ingredients to your pressure cooker pot.
Add the coconut water, star anise, black cardamom, coriander, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic cloves, shallots, onion and carrots. Bring the mixture to a boil using the Saute/Sear (High Temp) function or equivalent.
After the duck legs have been broiled, transfer the duck legs to the pressure cooker pot, and the duck bones if using.
Close and lock the lid and cook, using the Meat/Poultry setting or equivalent, 30 minutes.
When the timer is up, let the pressure release naturally. Carefully unlock and remove the lid, and skim off any excess fat from the liquid.
Add the rock sugar if using, and adjust seasonings to taste, adding the fish sauce if necessary.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Add the siew pak choy and cook, 30 seconds. Remove from the water.
Add the noodles and cook, 1 minute. Do not overcook. Remove from the water and rinse briefly under running cold water to remove excess starch and prevent the noodles from clumping up.
In deep bowls, add the noodles and blanched siew pak choy.
Place a duck leg in each bowl.
Ladle the hot soup into the bowls, topping each bowl with a couple of mushroom caps.
Garnish with the green onions and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Vietnamese Duck Noodles (Mi Vit Tiem)
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
For the duck
- 1 kg whole duck legs 4 pieces
- 2 thumb-sized pieces fresh ginger finely crushed, add remaining juices to the marinade
- ¼ cup black vinegar
- 1 teaspoon five spice powder
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce kicap pekat
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 shallots finely crushed
- 2 cloves garlic finely crushed
For the soup
- Duck bones or necks
- 8 red dates
- 1 ½ tablespoons goji berries
- 8 dried mushrooms
- 4 ½ cups fresh coconut water OR water see note
- 4 pieces star anise bunga lawang
- 1 black cardamom pod pelaga hitam, crushed
- 3 coriander root akar daun ketumbar
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce kicap cair
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce kicap pekat
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 5 garlic cloves peeled
- 3 shallots peeled
- 1 thumb-sized piece ginger halved lengthwise
- 1 onion peeled and halved
- 1 carrot peeled and quartered
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 to 2 teaspoons rock sugar gula batu, omit if using coconut water
For serving
- Water for blanching
- 300 grams fresh yellow noodles OR ramen OR egg noodles about 4 servings
- 1 Siew pak choy leaves picked
- 1 stalk Green onions finely chopped
- 1 bunch Cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
- Set your oven to broiler mode at 260 degrees C fan (max setting on my oven)
- In a large mixing bowl, add the duck legs, vinegar and ginger. Rub the ingredients all over the duck, to remove any gamey smell.
- Rinse the duck and pat dry.
- In a clean large mixing bowl, add the duck legs, five spice powder, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, reserved ginger juice, shallots and garlic, and toss to coat evenly. Marinate in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
- While marinating the duck, begin preparing the soup. In a large bowl, soak the red dates, goji berries and mushrooms in water.
- Shake off any excess marinade from the duck, and place skin-side up on a wired rack over a lined baking tray.
- Transfer the duck to the oven and broil, until skin is blistered and golden, 10 minutes.
- While the duck legs are in the oven, rinse and drain the red dates, goji berries and mushrooms. Add the ingredients to your pressure cooker pot.
- Add the coconut water, star anise, black cardamom, coriander, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic cloves, shallots, onion and carrots. Bring the mixture to a boil using the Saute/Sear (High Temp) function or equivalent.
- After the duck legs have been broiled, transfer the duck legs to the pressure cooker pot, and the duck bones if using.
- Close and lock the lid and cook, using the Meat/Poultry setting or equivalent, 30 minutes.
- When the timer is up, let the pressure release naturally. Carefully unlock and remove the lid, and skim off any excess fat from the liquid.
- Add the rock sugar if using, and adjust seasonings to taste, adding the fish sauce if necessary.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add the siew pak choy and cook, 30 seconds. Remove from the water.
- Add the noodles and cook, 1 minute. Do not overcook. Remove from the water and rinse briefly under running cold water to remove excess starch and prevent the noodles from clumping up.
- In deep bowls, add the noodles and blanched siew pak choy.
- Place a duck leg in each bowl.
- Ladle the hot soup into the bowls, topping each bowl with a couple of mushroom caps.
- Garnish with the green onions and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
- One (1) fresh young coconut yields about 3 ½ cups coconut water. You can either add more coconut water, or top up enough water to make 4 ½ cups liquid.
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