Seared Duck Breast with Shiitake & Truffle Miso Ramen


A long simmering broth made of Shiitake mushrooms and Miso, topped off with thinly sliced crispy seared duck breast, fried shallots and jalapeño, arugula, red cabbage, scallions, cilantro and truffle oil. Try also to substitute arugula for some charred bok-choy or gai-lan.

What you need

+ 1 Duck Magret (skin on duck breast)
+ Fresh Ramen Noodles
+ 1 Egg
+ 8 cups Chicken Stock (or homemade bones stock)
+ 2 tbsp White Miso Paste
+ 4-6 Shiitake Mushrooms
+ 1 Potato
+ 2 Carrots
+ 4 Garlic Cloves
+ 2 Scallions
+ 1 piece of Ginger
+ 2 star anise
+ 1 tbsp Mirin
+ 2 tbsp Soy Sauce (low sodium)
+ 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
+ 1 tbsp Wakame
+ 1 tbsp Truffle oil (or sesame oil)

+ Toppings choices: Charred Baby Bok Choy, Soft boiled egg, Arugula, Red Cabbage, Thinly Sliced Scallions, Fried Jalapeño or other type of chillies, Cilantro, Chili Oil, Fresh Bird Chillies, Crispy Shallots

Preparing the Broth…

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a heavy sauce pan.

Wash all the vegetables, and roughly cut the carrots, potato, scallions, shiitake mushrooms and ginger.
Peal the garlic cloves and smash them with a knife to easily remove the inside green germ.

Once the broth has come to a boil, throw in all of the above. Add 1 tbsp cut Wakame, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp Mirin and 2 tbsp white miso paste, giving it all a good stir.

Simmer on low heat with the lid half off for 30 min, up to 3 hours.

Straining the broth…

If you chose to long simmer the broth for a couple hours, then you will want to strain it and remove all the vegetables from it. Don’t throw them away, freeze all that stuff to make stuffing or patties for exemple.

If you were out of time and only simmered the broth for 1/2 hour, then you may serve some of these vegetables in the soup.

Regardless, reserve at least one shiitake and slice it for serving.

Preparing the noodles…

In another big pot, bring enough water to a boil to cook the ramen noodles, following the directions on the package. Drain them well and leave in a colander covered with a cloth until you are ready to serve.

This is a good time to prepare your choice of toppings. Like a soft boil egg, thinly slice scallions, fry some shallots, jalapeno or both in hot oil for a couple minutes then sprinkle with salt, or charred baby bok choy.

Cooking the duck…

Pat the duck super dry with a paper towel and score the skin every 1/4 to 1/2 inch diagonally.
Season it with salt and pepper all over.

The trick for perfect crisp duck skin without smoking up the kitchen…

You must lay your duck breast, skin side down in a cold pan. Then turn the heat up to medium only, and cook without moving for 10 to 15 min. You want the skin to be golden and not burned as it renders the fat.

Then flip it over and cook for another 3 to 5 min.

Usually duck magret is prepared medium rare and is absolutely best that way, especially that it will further cook in the broth. But if you must, then cook it for a bit longer on the flesh (not the skin) side.

Once the duck has reached desired temperature, remove it from the pan and let it rest for 5 minutes on a wooden board. If it looks a bit too undercooked to you, then pitch a foil tent over it while it rests and renders the blood out.

Final Steps…

Remove the broth from the heat, and stir in 1 tbsp truffle oil (or sesame oil).
Slice the duck thinly right before serving.

Assemble the bowl

Place the noodles at the bottom of the bowl, pour the broth over, add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and other toppings of choice. Finally, place the sliced duck on top. Drizzle with truffle oil, chili oil or both.

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