Preparation time
less than 30 mins
Cooking time
over 2 hours
Serves
Serves 4
Enjoy fantastic contrasts in this zingy salad – salt, sweet and sour flavours combine with warm duck and chilled fruit.
By Tom Kerridge
From Tom Kerridge’s Best Ever Dishes
Ingredients
- 4 large duck legs
- ½ chilled watermelon, skin removed, flesh chopped
- 1 fresh pomegranate, seeds only
- ½ bunch fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly torn
- large bunch coriander, leaves picked and stalks chopped
- 1-2 red chillies (to taste)
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 2 limes, juice only
- ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160C/350F/Gas 4.
- Place a wire rack on a roasting tin and place the duck legs on top, skin-side up. Roast the duck legs on the rack for 1¾-2 hours, or until the skin is crisp and the meat is cooked through (when the duck is cooked, the juices should run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the leg). Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes, reserving the duck fat on the baking tray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the chopped watermelon and pomegranate seeds. Stir in the mint leaves and coriander and the sliced chillies, to taste.
- When the duck legs have cooled, flake the meat from the bone and add it to the watermelon and pomegranate mixture. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and a little of the reserved duck fat, to taste, if desired. Season with Sichuan pepper and gently toss.
- Serve the salad immediately, while the watermelon is cold and the duck meat still warm.
Recipe Tips
Tip: To remove the seeds from the pomegranate, cut the fruit in half. Hold the seeded side against your palm over a large bowl, then bash the skin with a wooden spoon until the seeds fall out.