When the wife is away, ZenKimchi’s gonna play–in the kitchen.

EJ is spending some time with her family this week, and I have been using this as an opportunity to cook the foods I’m not allowed to cook/eat and do some experimentation in the kitchen.  I hadn’t roasted a duck in a few years, so I thought I’d take a crack at that.  I was further inspired by Chef Anna Kim’s suggestion that Korea’s omija berries have a similar flavor profile to cranberries.  In the past, I have had some success (and failures) with yuja tea “marmalade” as a poultry glaze–the stuff that has that orange-y Christmas taste.  So I wondered what these would taste like together on a nice fatty duck.

I got a duck from a new local butcher.  As you can see, Donald hadn’t been totally cleaned/eviscerated.  Nice poop chute.

After removing the duck’s anus (that’s a line you don’t hear every day), I reached inside the cavity to see what other goodies were left for me.  Looked like a heart, the remains of a liver and a trachea.  I haven’t yet found a culinary use for a trachea, but I put the heart and liver into a pot…

Along with the fatty neck and trimmed wing tips.

After adding around two tablespoons of water, I simmered it over the flame for two hours to render some fat for later.

For the main part of the duck, I threw together a simple rub of sea salt, fresh black pepper and smoked paprika.

Rubbed the duck and roasted it slowly.

Took the duck out and let it rest before carving.

I drained the pan drippings into my fat rendering pot, removed the innards and strained it all into a jar.  Normally I would have done something more with the heart, but I had a feeling it was on the gamey side, and I wasn’t in the mood for that.  In fact, I just put the duck in the refrigerator to eat the next evening.  Sometimes when you have to do a little extra butchering and dealing with innards, you don’t feel like eating the finished product.  At least I don’t.

The next evening, I took out some duck meat and put it in the oven with some sliced mushrooms.  I made a sauce with the following ingredients:

• Rendered Duck Fat
• Yuja-Ginger Tea “Marmalade”
• Omija Berry Extract
• White Wine
• Flour
• Salt and Pepper

I melted a tablespoon of fat and added some flour.  In hindsight, I should have added less.  I stirred vigorously until it mixed and started changing color.

I then added around three tablespoons of Yuja-Ginger Tea, three tablespoons of Omija Extract and a cup of white wine.  Boiled to reduce.  Seasoned with salt and pepper.  It surprisingly turned out.

Next up were the potatoes.  I had a regular potato and a “hobak” sweet potato.  Cleaned and sliced them around the width of french fries.

Giant dollop of duck fat.  You know what’s coming next.

White and sweet potatoes fried in duck fat.  Seasoned with salt and pepper.

Since I worked so much on this one, I thought I’d try to plate it a little nicely.  Still a clumsy sauce schmear, but anyway.  I layered the potatoes on the bottom, then the mushrooms, then a little bit of kimchi to combat the fattiness of the duck (ended up being a good match) and then some architecturally arranged duck meat.

That was a great dinner, and the leftovers weren’t that bad either the next day.