Braised Duck with Star Anise

Name: Braised Duck with Star Anise
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: Duck; Light soy sauce; Shaoxing wine; Caster sugar; Fresh ginger; Garlic; Spring onions; Star anise

Braised Duck with Star Anise, plated as one serving.

280 kcal a serving, against 885 for the traditional version. That is 605 kcal off, or 68%, with 32.5g of protein. Serves 6. 2 hours.

What the traditional version is

A whole duck, complete with its thick layer of skin and subcutaneous fat, simmered slowly in a rich bath of soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar and whole spices. The fat renders entirely into the sauce over a long cooking time, creating a heavy, glossy glaze that coats every piece of meat.

What changed, and what each change costs

1200g of whole duck with the skin on for 1000g of skinless duck meat

Duck skin is famously fatty. Stripping it away before cooking removes an enormous amount of fat from the pot while keeping the lean muscle intact. You'll keep the protein but ditch the grease.

What it costs you. You'll miss out on the best part of eating duck. Braised duck skin is wonderfully soft and flavourful, and without it, the dish feels much leaner and far less luxurious.

Cooling the broth and skimming the fat instead of serving it straight away

Even skinless duck releases fat as it braises. Chilling the liquid lets the fat solidify on top so you can lift it off easily, leaving a pure, intensely flavoured broth behind.

What it costs you. It adds a lot of waiting time to the recipe. You've got to cook it, chill it, skim it, and then reheat it before you can actually sit down to eat.

50g of sugar down to 15g

The traditional braise relies on a heavy hit of sugar to create a sticky glaze and balance the salty soy. Dropping the sugar sharpens the anise and ginger notes significantly.

What it costs you. The sauce is much thinner. Call it a dark, savoury broth rather than a rich syrup that coats the meat and you'll be about right.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Duck
Light soy sauce
Shaoxing wine
Caster sugar
Fresh ginger
Garlic
Spring onions
Star anise

How it starts

Put the skinless duck pieces into a large heavy pot.
Slice the ginger thickly and bash the garlic cloves with the flat of your knife.
Bring the pot to a steady boil, then drop the heat to low.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Chinese.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	885	280
Protein	25.5g	32.5g
Fat	79g	10.2g
Saturated fat	26.5g	3.9g
Carbohydrate	12.3g	8.7g
Protein per 100 kcal	2.9g	11.6g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Chinese prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. gluten, soybeans, sulphites.

The method is in the book

This braise requires absolute patience, but the payoff is brilliant. Stripping away the skin and skimming the broth leaves you with an incredibly pure, savoury flavour. The star anise and ginger punch through without being muffled by heavy grease, making every bite sharp and clear. Yes, you'll lose the luxurious texture of the traditional skin, and I openly admit that's a real sacrifice. Braised duck skin is a magnificent thing. But the lean meat is meltingly soft and takes on all those dark, aromatic spices perfectly. It takes a bit of planning to allow time for the chilling step, but it completely transforms a heavy banquet dish into something you can eat on a wet Tuesday night. Serve it with some plain steamed rice and plenty of the dark broth spooned over the top.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Chinese, along with 55 more. Buy the paperback