Stir-fried rice vermicelli with shredded duck and jicama
In-season jicama cut into fine strips and stir-fried with skinless duck breast and rice vermicelli — the jicama crisp and juicy, the duck tender, and nothing greasy.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Stir-fry
- Easy
Why it suits you: Yin-deficient people are short of fluids, with a dry mouth, throat and skin and hot palms, and Hanlu's noticeably drier air drains yin further. Juicy, sweet jicama generates fluids and quenches thirst, and duck nourishes yin and the stomach, a classic for moistening autumn and winter dryness. Skinless and quickly stir-fried with little oil, it moistens without being heating and makes a filling lunch.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 10 min- 1Soak the vermicelli in warm water for 15 minutes until soft, then drain and snip shorter. Peel the jicama and carrot and cut into fine strips.
- 2Remove the skin and fat from the duck breast, cut into fine strips and mix with 1 tbsp of the soy sauce, the wine and cornflour; leave for 10 minutes.
- 3Heat 1 tbsp oil and stir-fry the ginger and duck over a high heat until it changes colour, then lift out.
- 4Add the remaining oil, stir-fry the jicama and carrot for 2 minutes, add the water and bring to the boil. Add the vermicelli and remaining soy sauce and toss with chopsticks until the liquid is absorbed.
- 5Return the duck, add the spring onions cut into lengths and the sesame oil, toss and serve.
Cautions
- Only the root of jicama is edible — its seeds, pods and leaves are toxic — so peel it before cooking.
Chef's tips
- Removing the duck skin and fat keeps the dish from being greasy; once the vermicelli is in, toss with chopsticks rather than pressing with a spatula so it doesn't break.
The TCM view
Jicama is sweet and cool, entering the lungs and stomach, clearing heat, generating fluids, moistening dryness and relieving the effects of alcohol. Duck is sweet, salty and slightly cool, entering the spleen, stomach, lungs and kidneys, nourishing yin and the stomach — the Mingyi Bielu says it 'tonifies deficiency and clears lingering heat'. Carrot aids digestion and rice vermicelli settles the stomach.
