Yuan Style Pan Fried Duck Breasts & Other "Stuff"

Due to some terrible scheduling, I'm going to have to work on Christmas Day.....bummer. So the Missus and I decided to have our Christmas lunch/dinner (lunner?? dinch??) today. One of the items I made was a real easy pan-glazed duck breast dish, Kamo no Yuan-yaki. Yuan-yaki, is normally a grilling technique used for chicken or fish briefly marinated in a soy sauce-mirin-sake-citrus(Yuzu) marinade. Why Yuan? From what I could gather "Yuan" was a Tea Ceremony Master from the Edo period, and this dish is named after him. This preparation is a bit different; I didn't marinade the duck, opting for crisp duck skin, with a nice glaze.

 

Kamo no Yuan-Yaki

2 Boneless Duck Breasts with Skin
4 Tb Mirin
3 Tb Soy Sauce
2 Tb Sake
2-3 slices lemon rind(or even better Yuzu!)

1 - Place the duck breasts skin side up on a cutting board and score. This allows for excess fat to  cook off during cooking process, and the sauce to be absorbed.
2 - Mix together the rest of the ingredients
3 - Heat a frying pan on medium high heat, and place duck breasts skin side down and fry for 4-8 minutes until the skin is crisp. Lower heat, turn duck breasts, and cook for another2-4 minutes.

4 - Pour sauce over duck, bring sauce to a boil, turning duck over several times to coat completely.  Let sauce reduce, remove duck.
5 - Cut duck, and place over mizuna, watercress, arugula, or a similar greens. You may pour remaining glaze over the duck if desired.

Super easy!

We also had some Sukiyaki.

Like my meat presentation? I know you're not supposed to play with your food, but....

I used that nice chunk of fat to help "oil" the sukiyaki nabe. I couldn't find my trusty old cast iron Sukiyaki Nabe(sukiyaki pot), and had to buy a new one.....I couldn't find an old-fashioned cast iron version, only the lightweight aluminum, alloy version. When I inquired about the availability of a cast iron nabe, the lady smiled and said, using her most refined Grandmotherly tone,  "this is the 21st century.....people don't want cast iron any more. And, all of us are getting old, cast iron is too heavy!" I couldn't help but laugh.

And I thought all the lines were at the mall:

We were driving past Honey Baked Hams, and couldn't believe the lines. The Missus snapped a photo:

Sheesh.....

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope all the craziness didn't drive up a pole....like it did to Santa!

Happy Holidays!

Comments

[caninecologne]

Bummer you have to work! Have a Merry Christmas nonetheless!!!! Your duck looked fantastic!

[Vicki]

Is that mizuna underneath the duck? Where do you buy it in SD?

(Cast iron rules (especially 1950s enamel-coated like Descoware), even if it is heavy. Maybe because it's heavy, better heat retention & distribution.)

[Jenn]

Mmmmm nummy num - looks yummy! Marry Christmas to you and your family!

[Kat]

Boo! you have to work on Christmas. Your linner/dunch looks delicious!

[Carol]

Poo on the work tomorrow. Hope your Christmas evening will be terrific!

[Liver]

Happy holidays to you, the missus, and Sammy & Frankie! May we all be fortunate enough to have good food in our lives.

[Joanna]

MErry Christmas Kirk, the missus, Sammy and Franky!

Kirk, what is that green vegetable that's feature on this post?

[howie]

Merry Christmas, Kirk! The duck looks delicious! Don't work too hard.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Darn - working on Xmas! Bah Humbug on that.

That duck looks great.

I'm going to be making your (and the missus') Chinese roast duck stock soup for a pot luck today.

Merry Christmas everyone!

[elmomonster]

Oh bummer. Lovely duck though. Funny you posted that Honeybaked Ham pic. I was in that line yesterday (except the one in Tustin). Check it out here:

http://ocfoodblogs.blogspot.com/2007/12/honeybaked-ham-tustin.html

[Reid]

Kirk,

Happy holidays to you and the missus!

[RONW]

Merry Christmas, Kirk. Yes, scoring the duck's skin (perhaps even completely through) prevents the skin from lifting off in a single gulp. Since you sliced your duck in bite size portions, it wouldn't matter that much. But you know what I mean.

[Kirk]

Hi CC - Thanks and Merry Christmas to you and your family as well!

Hi Vicky - You can get Mizuna at both Nijiya:

Nijiya Market
3860 Convoy St Ste 109
San Diego, CA 92111

And Mitsuwa:

Mitsuwa Marketplace
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd Ste 119
San Diego, CA 92111

You should have no problem getting it(and probably a ton of other stuff) there.

Hi Jenn - Happy holidas to you as well!

Hi Kat - Thanks...it was a pretty god linner/dunch! ;O)

Hi Carol - I hope you have a great holiday as well!

Hi Liver - Happy Holidays! Nice to hear from you.

Hi Joanna - The big photo is a close-up of some watercress that the Missus enjoys in Her Sukiyaki.

Hi Howie - Merry Christmas! And like everything I make....super easy!

Hi Ed - Mmmmm sounds delish, I hope it turns out well.

Hi Elmo - In this case, I'm pretty sure that line for post-Christmas returns will be kinda short!

Hi Reid - Thanks...the same to you as well!

Hi RONW - Merry Christmas! There are a couple of reasons I score the skin on duck breasts:

Scoring allows some fat to escape from the meat into the pan, and allows you to cook it without adding fat. It also allows flavor to be introduced directly to the meat, rather than just to the skin. Finally, scoring also prevents the duck skin from curling up in the pan, which would make it cook unevenly...and not look as nice.

[rooney]

Hi. I googled cast iron nabe several sources. perhaps google is still rooted in the twentieth century.

[Kirk]

Hi Rooney - I wouldn't know...I'm sooo last century! ;o)

[Kathy]

Merry belated Christmas Kirk! :) Bummer about working on Christmas Day...but at least you had some delicious duck to tide you over - it looks amazing! :)