MK Suki is a popular hot pot restaurant chain in Thailand that's known for their Chinese roast duck. But their duck is different from your typical Chinese BBQ duck that you might get from Chinatown in N. America because this is done "Thai style". That means that the duck comes with a delicious aromatic gravy full of spices and enriched with coconut milk. The duck is pretty great, but the gravy is everything in this recipe and is what makes it unique.
Watch the Video Tutorial!
Instead of doing a whole duck, I'm roasting only duck breasts to make it more convenient for home cooking. It's really quite easy, and the gravy can be made well in advance and kept in the fridge for at least a week. If you've got lots of people to feed, add to the feast my popular Chinese BBQ pork (char siu)!
A Few Key Ingredients
A couple of key ingredients you may not be familiar with:
- Five-Spice powder, which you can buy, but if you have a pretty well-stocked spice cabinet, it's super easy to make with this homemade five-spice powder recipe.
- Taojiew - Thai fermented soybean paste. This is what I call the Thai miso. It has the same beige colour as the Japanese miso but it comes in a bottle and is much runnier. It is harder to find at a generic Asian grocery store, but if you have a Thai grocery store near you, they will probably have it. You can substitute half the amount of Japanese miso or Korean doenjang. P.S. I use Healthy Boy Brand taojiew, and it's the only brand I have seen available outside of Thailand.
Make Tossed Duck Noodles
Even though I served it with jasmine rice in the video, my favourite way to enjoy the gravy is actually with egg noodles! When I go to MK Suki I always put the duck gravy over egg noodles and toss them. I then eat the noodles with the duck and all the other proteins in the hot pot. Try making this "dry noodle soup recipe" and then use this gravy to toss with the noodles instead!
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Chinese Roast Duck Thai Style (MK Duck) เป็ดย่าง MK
- Yield: 2-3 servings
Ingredients
The Duck
- 2 duck breasts
- ½ tsp five spice powder, store bought or homemade
- 1 tsp brown sugar, dark or light
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ginger powder (or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger, see note)
- 3-4 drops red food colouring (optional, see note)
- 1 tsp water
- A pinch of salt
Notes:
Ginger powder will make the rub much easier to apply as fresh ginger will make the rub moist and harder to distribute.
The food colouring is just to recreate the classic look of Chinese roast duck with red skin. It is completely optional
Duck Gravy (this makes enough for 4 breasts)
- ½ tsp white peppercorns (use only ¼ teaspoon if serving kids)
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¾ inch piece ginger, chopped
- 5 cilantro sprigs, stems finely chopped, leaves picked
- 2 Tbsp taojiew (Thai fermented soybean paste)
- 1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp black soy sauce or dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp five spice powder
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ¾ cup unsalted chicken stock or water
- ¼ cup coconut milk
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds, crushed
Note: Serve with some rice or egg noodles. I also like to serve with some fresh cucumber to help cut the richness of this dish.
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Instructions
Prep the Duck:
- Remove the tender and silver skin from duck breasts as much as you can. (Save the tender for snacking, do not throw it!)
- Trim off excess skin/fat around the edges of the breasts.
- Score the duck skin shallowly on a diagonal about 1 cm apart, making sure not to cut through to the meat.
- Make the dry rub by combining five-spice powder, brown sugar, salt and ginger powder.
- Sprinkle the rub evenly onto the meat part of the duck only; try not to let the rub touch the skin. Use any leftover rub on the tenders. Flip the rubbed duck meat side down on a plate and pat the skin dry.
- Combine the food colouring with the water and a pinch of salt and brush this onto the duck skin.
- Let the duck marinade for at least 45 minutes, uncovered to let the skin dry. If you're marinating for less than 2 hours, you can leave the duck at room temp and put a fan to it to help it dry out. If marinating for longer than 2 hours, put the duck in the fridge uncovered, for up to one day.
- Meanwhile make the gravy.
The Gravy
- Pound peppercorns until fine in a mortar and pestle.
- Add garlic, ginger, cilantro stems and pound into a fine paste.
- Add taojiew and five spice powder and mash everything together.
- In a small pot, add a little bit of oil and the herb paste and saute on low heat for about 2 minutes until aromatic and thickened.
- Deglaze with chicken stock, then add all remaining ingredients, whisking to break up the herb paste.
- Simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more dark/black soy sauce as needed to adjust the colour.
- Stir in sesame seeds, and when you're ready to serve stir in cilantro leaves.
To Roast the Duck
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205 °C).
- Dry the breasts on paper towel, trying your best not to let any of the juices or the marinade touch the skin.
- Heat a flat skillet over medium heat just briefly (don't let it get too hot), then add the duck skin-side down. Let the duck fat from the skin render slowly over medium heat. As duck fat collects in the pan, you can pour this off into a bowl and save it for cooking if you wish.
- Sear duck for about 5-6 minutes or until the skin has browned slightly and much of the fat has rendered off. (Tip: I used a non-stick pan, but if using a stainless steel pan, the skin might feel like it's sticking in the beginning. Don't worry, it should release after the skin is browned, with a bit of help from a spatula.
- Transfer the duck, skin-side up, onto a rack set on a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast the duck until desired doneness; I roast them for 12-15 mins for medium doneness (135°F internal temp). Timing will depend on the size of the breast, so it's a good idea to have a meat thermometer handy. This is my favourite meat thermometer.
- Let the duck rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Slice thinly for serving, then pour the gravy over the duck and serve with jasmine rice or egg noodles. Enjoy!
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Katie Garner says
This duck is unreal best duck dish I’ve ever cooked. I love Thai food and I’m so excited now to carry on trying your recipes!
Anjali Varma says
Pailin you are truly a godsend. My kitchen game has transformed since I came across your channel. Simply the best recipes. I lived in Thailand all my life and moved to Sweden, and thanks to your recipes, I never have to crave thai food as much. You are the best! This is my first time cooking duck and I followed your instructions to the letter. It turned out amazing! MK duck is literally one of my favorite foods. Thank you for this!
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Aw thank you so much for your kind words!! So glad to hear!
Mpal says
How would you modify this for a whole duck?
Pailin Chongchitnant says
I haven't tried it myself, so I can't say. But you can certainly use other whole roast duck recipes and use the spice rub on it and see how that goes.
Betty Visser says
I used to be scared to prepare duck breast. Afraid of screwing it up. One day I gave this recipe a go. I followed the recipe exactly and it turn out to be the most delicious, juicy, duck breast ever. I could not believe I made it. This is my go to recipe for preparing duck breast. Do not be scared!
Tim says
My first time with duck breasts. The procedure looks complicated, but it turned out great on the first try following Pai’s instructions. And she’s right - the sauce us amazing!