Eight-Treasure Duck

八宝鸭

Eight-Treasure Duck — a Jiangsu-Zhejiang Chinese recipe made with duck leg, ready in about 270 minutes. Step-by-step instructions with photos.

Ingredients

• duck leg (skin-on, boneless, ~350 g per leg)
• glutinous rice (soaked 4 hours)
• dried chestnuts (pre-cooked, chopped)
• Shaoxing wine
• light soy sauce

Instructions

1. Rinse soaked glutinous rice, drain well. Mix with chestnuts, 15 ml Shaoxing wine, 10 ml light soy sauce, 10 g minced ginger, and 10 g minced scallion. Set aside.
2. Flatten duck legs on cutting board, skin-side down. Pat rice mixture evenly over each, leaving 2 cm border. Roll tightly into cylinders, tucking ends inward. Secure with kitchen twine. (Rolls are compact, no rice oozing; twine lies flat against skin)
3. Heat 15 ml oil in Dutch oven over medium-high. Sear rolls skin-side down until golden brown (3–4 min). Flip, sear other side 2 min. Remove and set aside.
4. In same pot, add 10 g minced garlic, 10 g minced ginger, and 1 star anise. Stir 1 minute until fragrant. Return rolls. Add remaining Shaoxing wine (15 ml), light soy sauce (15 ml), and 300 ml water. Bring to simmer.
5. Cover and braise on lowest heat for 2 hours. Uncover, increase heat to medium-low, reduce sauce 10 minutes until glossy and thickened. Rest 10 minutes before slicing.