Whole Duck (Pressure Cooker)
Whole Duck (Pressure Cooker)
Using the same idea that the pressure cooker produced an outstanding juicy and tender chicken, my wife suggested using it for duck. We sent our brother in law to a local duck farm two days ago and he brought back 2 small ducks, yesterday, 18 Feb 2018, he slaughtered the ducks, plucked them, and sort of cleaned them, and delivered the two ducks to us. I did the final cleaning and prep for the pressure cooker. And oh my, what a tender and juicy duck as well, absolutely delicious! Follow the safety precautions for you type of pressure cooker. I use a 12 psi (80 kPa) 9 liter (9 1/2 quart) stove top pressure cooker.
Ingredients
- 2 small whole ducks
- 8 stalks lemon grass
- 2 handfuls lime leaves
- 1 large onion, chopped
Instructions
- For those in Asia, any fowl will have feet and head still attached.
- Prep the duck by cutting off the feet, head, and neck. Clean the inside and out with running water, clean the inside well. Make sure the heart and liver are removed as well, and clean the gizzard as well if that is not done.
- Beat the lemongrass with a pestle or meat tenderizer, make two bundles and tie each into an overhand knot, place a bundle in each duck, then place a handful of lime leaves in each duck.
- If using the feet, use a cleaver and chop off the toes, and if using the head, chop off bill, yes, I know that sounds weird. Wash the feet, heads, necks, and gizzards. These will go in the pressure cooker. For the hearts and livers, set those aside, those do not go in the pressure cooker. (I boiled the hearts and livers for a snack while cooking the ducks.)
- Place the ducks in the pressure cooker along with the heads, necks, feet, and gizzards. Toss in the chopped onion. Add water as need, it does not need to cover the ducks, but keep the pot 2/3 or less full.
- Add the lid and lock in place, place weight (jiggler) on the top and turn on heat to high. Once the jiggler starts venting pressure and moving, start your time for 30 minutes.
- At 30 minutes, turn off the heat and move the pot to an unused burner and allow to release pressure naturally.
- One duck ready to serve. This was enjoyed with just a simple chili sauce for dipping and rice on the side. Figure 4 servings from one small duck.
Notes
Each small duck cost me 100 Baht, so 200 for both. for 8 servings, this is about 75 cents per serving, outstanding value for a very good meal!
My wife buys duck every chance she has. I guess, I’ll have to breakdown and get a pressure cooker, been wanting one for a while now. Thanks for sharing your recipe. – Brian
This is a perfect way to cook them, only tested on small ducks, not large ducks. Tender and juicy, well liked by the family 🙂
Now that we have a pressure cooker on it’s way, doing a duck is on our to do list…Thanks
Excellent, Brian, keep us posted on how it turns out, size used etc. Once you open the pot, skim the fat and save that 😉
I made this on 18 Feb 2018, my wife and mother in law each took a bite and said this is the only way I am cooking duck from now on! Juicy and tender, nothing short of excellent. This is my Go-To way now to prepare duck 🙂