ITEK SIO

Serves 4

This duck dish may seem simple but it requires practice to perfect it. To ensure you get the best flavour from this dish, try roasting your own coriander seeds to make ground coriander. To do this, dry-fry coriander seeds in a wok over low heat until fragrant. Leave the seeds to cool before grinding them into a fine powder. You can do this using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. This dish must have a good balance of sweet and sour tastes with a good aroma from the ground coriander. Itek sio is typically served at family gatherings.

Duck drumsticks with thigh 1 pair, about
500 g (1 lb 1½ oz)

Cooking oil 150 ml (5 fl oz)
Plum sauce 2 Tbsp

Marinade

Shallots 300 g (11 oz), peeled and
ground into a paste

Ground coriander 3 Tbsp
Sugar 4 Tbsp
Dark soy sauce 1 Tbsp

Tamarind pulp 30 g (1 oz), mixed with
400 ml (13⅓ fl oz / 1⅔ cups) water
and strained

White vinegar 1 Tbsp
Sea salt 1 tsp
Ground white pepper 1 tsp

1.   Combine ingredients for marinade in a casserole pot. Add duck, cover and leave
to marinate for at least 1 hour.

2.   Place casserole pot on the stove and simmer until duck is tender, adding water
to top up marinade as it evaporates if necessary.

3.   Remove duck and leave to cool. Continue to simmer until gravy is quite thick.
Set gravy aside.

4.   Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry cooled duck until brown.
Remove duck and add gravy to pan. Cook, stirring, until gravy is fragrant.
Adjust to taste with plum sauce, adding more sugar and pepper if desired.
Remove from heat.

5.   Cut duck into smaller pieces and place into pan of gravy, mixing to coat duck
with gravy.

6.   Dish out and garnish as desired. Serve hot with rice.

68

peranakan heritage

Cooking