Homemade Duck Noodle Soup!!

One of our favorite places to eat is Peking Gourmet Inn in Falls Church. I seriously think we should get our picture up on their wall for being one of the most frequent customers. I sit at work sometimes and just crave that delicious Peking duck wrapped in the pancake with plum sauce. Such deliciousness! There have been times when I think that we're going to Peking Gourmet for dinner, but actually get disappointed when we end up going somewhere else! I don't know what they do to that duck, but I am an addict!

Another bonus of going there is that I can ask the waiter to take home the duck bones to make duck noodle soup! What awesomeness, I can make two meals out of a trip to Peking Gourmet.

So what exactly is duck noodle soup. I like to think of it as the Asian version of chicken noodle soup. Nothing soothes the soul like a big bowl of egg noodles and roast duck! So we went to Peking Gourmet last night for dinner and here is tonight's dinner.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Duck bones

2 yellow onions with skin left on

1 ginger root  roughly peeled

2 large shallots with skin left on

6 garlic cloves peeled

1 tbsp whole black peppercorns

palm full of rock sugar

2 tbsp of sea salt

10 cups of water

1 llb Chinese BBQ pork

1 whole roast duck

1 package of egg noodles

Optional:

baby bok choy

watercress

sliced scallions

chili garlic sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the onions, ginger root, and shallots in the oven for 10 minutes to soften. In an 8qt pot, add the duck bones, onions, ginger root, shallots, garlic, black peppercorns, rock sugar, sea salt and water. Bring the pot to a boil and cook for 30 minutes uncovered. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for another 45 minutes. Remove the fat and foam as it forms on the surface of the broth.

Pour the broth through a fine strainer to remove all the particles and fat, toss out all the duck bones, onions, shallots, ginger root, garlic and peppercorns. Return just the broth to a pot and bring to a boil before serving. Cook the egg noodles according to the instructions on the package. Here is a trick I learned from my mother in law for making the perfect egg noodles -- only cook the noodles for one bowl at a time. Then place the bowl with the noodles in the microwave for 30 seconds. Repeat the steps for however many bowls you are serving. Finishing them off in the microwave helps to dry out the noodles so that don't get overly soggy and adds in a little crunch for texture.

To assemble, in a bowl, add the egg noodles, a few pieces of BBQ pork and roast duck. If you want, add in a few pieces of baby bok choy and watercress. Generously add the broth to the bowl and sprinkle with the scallions. If you want a little kick, add in the chili garlic sauce and enjoy!