Seybak with Duck (a Eurasian Christmas Salad)
Seybak is a delicious, festive Eurasian salad popular amongst the Portuguese Eurasian community in Singapore and Malaysia. Here, I'm using duck legs, instead of the customary pork belly and chewy pig ears.
Ingredients
Marinating the Duck Legs
- 2 duck legs about 400-500g (roughly 1 lb)
- 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp French mustard it's tangy, unlike English mustard
- 2 dashes ground white pepper or black
Braising the Duck Legs
- 1 medium onion about 120g/4oz pre peeled weight
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 1 lemongrass
- 2.5 cm galangal omit, if unavailable
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 1 cinnamon stick about 7.5cm/3in long
- 1 whole star anise
- water as needed
Chilli Sauce
- 10 fresh red chillies
- 4 medium cloves garlic
- 2.5 cm ginger
- 3 Tbsp white wine or clear vinegar
- 2 Tbsp white sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
Salad Ingredients
- ¼ small head of lettuce or 2 large handfuls loose leaves any variety: iceberg, batavia, little gem, loose leaves
- 2 medium tomatoes or 8 cherry tomatoes
- ⅓ cucumber
- 8 pieces puffed tofu (tau pok) see explanation in post above
- 1 small red onion or 2 spring onions don't like raw onions in your salad? Leave it out.
Instructions
Marinate the Duck Legs (for at least 1 hour)
- Place the duck legs in a bowl and add all the ingredients.2 duck legs, 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp honey, 1 tsp French mustard, 2 dashes ground white pepper
- Mix thoroughly, getting under the skin.
- Cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate for at least 1 hour. Overnight, in the fridge, if you have time, is good.
Prep Work for Braising
- Bring the legs out of the fridge if they were marinating overnight, while you get all the other ingredients together.
- Peel and quarter the onion.Smash the garlic with the back of your knife, peel and set aside.Bruise the lemongrass. Click here on how to do this.Scrub the galangal and slice it in 2-3 pieces. No need to peel. (I'm using homemade galangal paste).1 medium onion, 1 medium clove garlic, 1 lemongrass, 2.5 cm galangal
Let's Braise the Duck Legs
- Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the star anise and cinnamon stick for 30 seconds.1 Tbsp vegetable or peanut oil, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 whole star anise
- Add the onion, garlic, lemongrass and galangal and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the duck legs and all the marinade and stir the legs around for 1 minute to absorb some flavours.
- Next pour in as much water as needed to completely submerge the duck legs. Increase the heat and bring to a boil.Reduce the heat to medium-low or low, and simmer, uncovered, for 1½ hours. Turn the duck legs over 2-3 times during this time.While the duck legs are braising, let's get the chilli sauce done.water as needed
Seybak Chilli Sauce
- Slice the red chillies and drop them into a food chopper.Peel the garlic and add to the chopper.Slice the ginger and add to chopper.10 fresh red chillies, 4 medium cloves garlic, 2.5 cm ginger
- Add 2 Tbsp of the vinegar and chop everything to a fine paste, pushing down the sides of the chopper to get everything.3 Tbsp white wine or clear vinegar
- Pour this chilli mix into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Add the sugar and salt and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook for 3 minutes.Taste the chilli sauce. If you'd like it tangier, add the last Tbsp of vinegar. Likewise, add a little more sugar if you want it sweeter, and more salt if you need it.When done, take it off the heat, and leave aside until needed.2 Tbsp white sugar, ¼ tsp salt
When the Duck Legs are Done
- Take the duck legs out onto a large plate and leave to cool down for 30 minutes.While waiting, cook down the braising liquid and prepare the salad vegetables.
- In the meantime, increase the heat to medium and cook off the braising liquid until you have a dark, syrupy sauce. Take if off the heat and pour this liquid into a shallow bowl to cool down. You don't want it hot as you'll be adding it to the salad vegetables.Scoop out as much of the fat that's floating above as you can. (Store that fat in the fridge for up to 2 days - it's great in stir fries).Pick out the star anise and cinnamon stick and discard.
- When the duck legs have cooled down, shred the meat with 2 forks and discard the bones. Tip the shredded meat into a large salad bowl.
Salad Vegetables
- Cut the lettuce into long slices and drop into the salad bowl over the shredded duck. I forgot an image for this stage, but you can see the lettuce below the tomatoes in the next picture.¼ small head of lettuce or 2 large handfuls loose leaves
- Cut the tomatoes up into quarters. If using cherry tomatoes, halve them. Add to the salad bowl.2 medium tomatoes
- Quarter the cucumber lengthwise and cut into little quarters. Place in the salad bowl.⅓ cucumber
- Peel, halve, then thinly slice the red onion and add to the bowl.1 small red onion or 2 spring onions
- Quarter the puffed tofu and add to the salad bowl. I like to use a pair of scissors for this.8 pieces puffed tofu (tau pok)
Assembling the Seybak
- Drizzle 2 Tbsp of the chilli sauce all over the salad.
- Follow this with the reduced braising liquid. You shouldn't really have more than 4 Tbsp of the braising liquid. You can add half or all of it. I use it all up for maximum flavour.
- Toss the seybak ingredients, mixing everything thoroughly, ensuring that the duck, tofu and vegetables are all covered in the sauces. Add more chilli sauce if you like.I sometimes finish if off with a light squeeze of lime juice. I'll leave this up to you, as it doesn't actually need it. This is why it's not in the list of ingredients above.Serve immediately, but will keep, covered, for 2 hours at room temperature.
Nutrition
Calories: 207kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 18gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 66mgSodium: 397mgPotassium: 455mgFiber: 3gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 1183IUVitamin C: 118mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 3mg
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