Bún Măng Vịt (Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup)

🧂 Ingredients

• 2 duck legs
• 4 1/2 cups water

  (plus more for parboiling)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
• 4-5 oz soaked dried bamboo shoots

  (see Notes for more details)
• olive oil
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

  (to taste)
• black pepper
• 1 tablespoon crushed or finely minced ginger
• 1-1 1/2 teaspoons crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon water
• vermicelli noodles

  (2 servings)
• thinly sliced scallion
• thinly sliced cilantro
• thinly sliced Vietnamese coriander

  (or sawtooth leaves)

Instructions

• 1 Parboil duck legs in boiling water for a minute. Alternatively, rub duck legs
  with a lot of salt, crushed ginger and a little of rice wine (or sake, white
  wine) to remove gamy odors, then rinse.
• 2 Add 4½ cups of water to a clean pot, then add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, ginger and
  duck legs. Let it come to a boil and then lower to a gentle simmer. Skim off any
  foam. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes with the lid slightly askew.
• 3 While cooking the duck legs, prepare the bamboo shoots (if using). Boil them in
  a lot of boiling water for 25-30 minutes to remove strong smell and taste. Then
  discard the liquid and rinse the bamboo shoots. Tear them into strips.
• 4 After 30 minutes of simmering, remove duck legs from the broth. Separate the
  bones from the meat and add the bones back to the broth, continue to simmer for
  another 20-30 minutes or longer until flavor is strong to your liking. Shred the
  meat.
• 5 Place a pan over medium heat. Add some olive oil and once the oil is hot, add
  shallots. Sauté until shallot is fragrant and starts to have some colors.
• 6 Add shredded bamboo shoots to the pan, give it a quick stir. Add fish sauce and
  stir and cook for several minutes. Sprinkle some black pepper on top. Transfer
  to a clean plate.
• 7 Add half (or all) of the sautéed bamboo shoots to the duck broth and simmer for
  10 more minutes to let the flavors meld together. Skim off excess fat (but do
  leave some of the fat in broth for flavors). If too much water evaporates while
  simmering, add a little more water.
• 8 Prepare the dipping sauce by combining crushed ginger, garlic, fish sauce, rice
  vinegar and water in a small bowl. Adjust to your liking. You may even add a
  pinch of sugar if you want.
• 9 Place vermicelli noodles in serving bowls. Top with shredded duck meat,
  remaining sautéed bamboo shoots, thinly sliced fresh herbs and some black
  pepper. Ladle hot broth into serving bowls and serve immediately with the
  dipping sauce on the side.
• 10 When eating, add a small amount (more or less to taste) of dipping sauce to your
  bowl (or dip the shredded meat into the sauce). If you don't like the dipping
  sauce, you can just add plain fish sauce to season the broth to taste.

Nutrition Info