1 store-bought chopped roast duck*
4-6 star anise (6 if you have big ones or 4 if you have small ones)
1 cinnamon stick
2 dried bay leaves
1 small white onion
1 small piece of fresh ginger – around 2 inches – sliced
A few dried shiitake mushrooms – rehydrated in a bowl of warm water and remove stems
1 quarts homemade chicken broth
3 quart water
Salt, rock sugar, and mushroom seasoning to taste
Maggi seasoning to taste
**For the bowl:**
Fresh Chinese egg noodles
1 small bunch cai lang
Scallions, and cilantro for garnish
Thai chilies, minced
On sauté mode, add oil, add gingers and sauté for a couple mins. Then add star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves. Stir quickly and allow spices to become aromatic. Add 1 small onion, homemade chicken broth, and water. Season with 1 ½ tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning, 1 tablespoon of Maggi or soy sauce, 1 small piece of rock sugar. Add all the pieces of roast duck that you don't plan to eat, as well as, all the juice from the roast duck. I save all the meaty pieces for topping. Soup mode, NPR. Season again to taste.
In the meantime, cook the egg noodles per package instruction. On a separate pot, bring water into a rapid boil. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Add cai lang. Cook until tender to your liking – shouldn’t be longer than 5 mins. Remove from pot into an iced cold container to stop the cooking. Done!
Photo: Erik Putz