Christmas Recipes: Main Dishes. No.9 of 12 - Duck with Cardamom Sauce

Ho Ho Ho! Whilst you won't find the hype and shopping madness of Western countries, in major cities you'll see lights, trees and Christmas decorations on the streets and in stores. Christmas Day is not even a bank holiday in China, although it is in Hong Kong and Macao.

Christmas recipe serves: 6 calories per serving: 400 preparation time: 15 minutes cooking time: 2hours 30 minutes suitable for freezing after step 3.

Christmas recipe ingredients:

• duck legs, 6, about 2 kg (4.5 lb)
• onions, 350 g (12 oz)
• root ginger, fresh, 5 cm piece, (2 inch)
• butter, 125 g (4 oz)
• caster sugar, 15 ml (1 tbsp)
• green cardomom pods, 8 whole
• chicken stock, 1.7 litres (3 pints)
• ginger wine, 300 ml (10 fl oz)
• dry white wine, 150 ml (5 fl oz)
• salt and pepper
• orange juice, 45 ml (3 tbsp)
• lemon juice, 15 ml (1 tbsp)
• oil, 5 ml (1 tbsp)
• sea salt, coarse 10 ml (2 tsp)
• garnish, coarse fresh coriander

Ho Ho Ho! You can vary this basic dough to make a wide variety of Christmas cookie recipes. Add other flavorings like maple, ginger or cinnamon.

Christmas recipe instructions:

1. Simmer the duck legs gently in a large pan of boiling water for about 2 hours.
2. To prepare the sauce, fry peeled, chopped onions in 50 g (2 oz) of the butter for about 10 minutes or soft. Add peeled and grated ginger, with the sugar and csardomom seeds from one pod. Cook until the color of the mixture turns dark golden brown.
3. Add the stock and boil until the volume is reduced by half. Reduce by half again till syrup like after adding the white wine and dry ginger. Add salt and pepper and orange juice to taste.
4. Stir in 25 g (1 oz) of the butter into the sauce at boiling point. Separate the onions from the liquid and combine with the rest of the butter. Keep.
   Ho Ho Ho! Then you have your not so traditional Christmas cookies. This is where people get to be a little more creative and yet still add that Christmas touch.
5. Remove excess water from the duck and put over a roasting tin on a rack. Brush the duck with oil and sprinkle with salt and the remaining cardomom seeds.
6. Roast until the skin is very crisp. About 20 to 25 minutes at gas mark 8. (230 degrees centigrade, 450 F). Add the reheated butter and onion and serve the food with heated cardomom sauce. Garnish with coriander.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) Paul Curran, CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and webmaster at Gifts-for-Christmas.com, bringing you recipes and unique gifts for christmas including their online home collectibles and russian gifts stores.

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