Meal
Five spice duck bao with chilli plum sauce and pickled carrots
Soft steamed buns filled with tender glazed duck, sharp carrots and crisp cabbage.
Clear and checked
Method
- 01
Read, weigh and prepare
12 minHands-onRead the full method and weigh the listed ingredients. Prepare the meat and vegetables as described in the ingredient list, keeping sauce, starch, garnish and working ingredients separate. Clean hands, boards and utensils after handling raw meat.
- 02
Start heating the oven
1 minHands-onHeat the oven to 150°C fan / 170°C conventional.
- 03
Allow the oven to heat
14 minHands-off · check as directedAllow about 15 minutes in total, checking the oven has reached its setting.
- 04
Arrange duck braise
4 minHands-onRub duck legs with five-spice and duck salt. Put skin-up in a snug casserole with duck ginger, duck garlic, duck soy and stock. Cover.
- 05
Load the oven
2 minHands-onBring the filled casserole to a simmer, cover and carefully transfer to the heated oven.
- 06
Braise covered
67 minHands-off · check as directedBraise covered for 2–2½ hours until tender.
- 07
Check and turn
1 minHands-onCheck the liquid is still moist enough; add the listed top-up water if needed and replace the lid.
- 08
Finish the braise
67 minHands-off · check as directedContinue covered until the stated tenderness cue is reached. Extend cooking if it still resists a fork.
- 09
Check and take out of the oven
2 minHands-onCheck the stated readiness cue using a probe for cooked meat where specified. Carefully take the dish out and set it on a heatproof surface.
- 10
Shred the duck
8 minHands-onLift out duck and shred, discarding skin, bones and tough tissue. The braising liquid is not used for the bao filling.
- 11
Crisp shredded duck
6 minHands-onHeat crisping oil in a wide pan. Fry duck in uncrowded loads for 2–3 minutes, letting some edges crisp.
- 12
Prepare carrot pickle
3 minHands-onDissolve pickle sugar and salt in pickle vinegar and add prepared carrots. Keep cabbage, spring onions and coriander separate.
- 13
Pickle carrots
30 minHands-off · check as directedLeave refrigerated for at least 30 minutes.
- 14
Make chilli plum sauce
6 minHands-onSimmer plum jam, sauce vinegar, sauce soy, chilli and sauce water for 5–7 minutes until glossy, stirring and supervising. Taste for sweetness and acidity; use listed top-up water if too thick.
- 15
Start heating steamer
1 minHands-onStart heating the listed steaming water in a covered pan.
- 16
Heat steamer water
5 minHands-off · check as directedAllow the water to reach a steady boil.
- 17
Load bao
1 minHands-onArrange frozen bao in the steamer with space to expand and clear of the water. Cover and follow the packet.
- 18
Steam bao
10 minHands-off · check as directedSteam for 8–12 minutes or according to the packet until soft and steaming hot throughout. This plan assumes the buns fit together in a large multi-tier steamer; use further loads for a smaller one.
- 19
Lift out bao
1 minHands-onCarefully lift out bao and keep covered to stay soft.
- 20
Glaze the duck
1 minHands-onToss hot crisped duck with some chilli plum sauce, reserving the rest for serving.
- 21
Fill and serve bao
4 minHands-onDrain carrot pickle well. Fill bao with cabbage, hot duck, carrot, spring onions and coriander. Add extra plum sauce and serve immediately.
Equipment check
5 items required
- Digital scales
- Appropriate chopping board
- Probe thermometer
- Wide frying pan
- Oven and oven-safe dish
Check the listed equipment and capacity before you start.
Recipe diagnostics
Checked before you cook.
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