Duck braised with tea tree mushrooms, with brown rice
Dried tea tree mushrooms soaked and slowly braised with duck — earthy, crunchy and well seasoned; with the skin and fat removed and brown rice alongside, it clears damp without heaviness.
- 1 hr 10 min
- Serves 2
- Braise
- Easy
Why it suits you: Phlegm-damp types feel heavy, puff up easily and have a thick, greasy tongue coating, and Chushu's humid heat leaves the spleen easily bogged down by damp. Duck drains water and reduces swelling, tea tree mushrooms strengthen the spleen and leach out damp, and tangerine peel dries damp. With the skin and fat removed, it's never greasy, and brown rice keeps it light.
Method
Prep 25 min · Cook 45 min- 1Trim the tough ends of the mushrooms, soak for 20 minutes until soft, squeeze dry and cut into lengths, keeping the soaking water. Soak the tangerine peel and scrape off the pith.
- 2Pull off most of the duck skin and fat. Put the duck in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, blanch for 3 minutes, then rinse and drain.
- 3Fry the duck in a dry pan over a medium heat until lightly browned, pour off the excess fat, then add the ginger, garlic and tangerine peel and splash in the wine.
- 4Add the mushrooms, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, soaking water and water, bring to the boil, cover and braise over a low heat for 35 minutes. Reduce the sauce and serve with brown rice.
Cautions
- Duck is cooling, so skip it at the start of a cold or when you have diarrhoea; the soy and oyster sauces are salty enough, so add no salt.
Chef's tips
- Grit collects at the base of soaked tea tree mushrooms, so rinse each one; browning the duck in a dry pan renders out the fat so the braise isn't oily.
The TCM view
Duck is sweet, salty and slightly cold, nourishing the stomach and draining water — the Bencao Gangmu says it 'greatly tonifies exhaustion, clears toxic heat and promotes urination'. Tea tree mushrooms are sweet and neutral, strengthening the spleen and leaching out damp; tangerine peel dries damp and resolves phlegm; ginger warms the middle and tempers the duck's coolness; brown rice strengthens the spleen and boosts qi.
