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Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup (Mi Vit Tiem)
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5 from 2 votes

Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup (Mi Vit Tiem)

Vietnamese Duck Noodle Soup (Mi Vit Tiem) features slippery noodles, fall-off-the-bone duck legs, and a dark broth.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course: Main Dish, Noodle and Soup
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 524kcal
Author: Sophie

Ingredients

For the Duck Legs

  • 4 duck legs (about 2.25 lbs or 1kg)
  • 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, crushed
  • 1/4 cup rice wine (or sake, white wine)
  • 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon crushed and roughly chopped shallots
  • 1/2 tablespoon crushed and roughly chopped garlic

Other Ingredients

  • 6-7 cups water (see Notes)
  • 8 red dates
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons goji berries
  • 8 dried shiitake mushrooms (about 0.35oz or 10g)
  • 4 star anises
  • 1 black cardamom pod, crushed open
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds (or 2-3 fresh cilantro roots or stems)
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 5 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 shallots, peeled
  • 1 thumb-sized pieces of ginger
  • 1 onion, peeled
  • 1-2 teaspoons rock sugar (to taste, or see Notes for subsitute)

To Serve

  • yellow wheat-based noodles (such as egg noodles or ramen-style noodles)
  • blanched green vegetables (such as baby bok choy)
  • thinly-sliced scallions
  • thinly-sliced cilantro

Instructions

Prepare the Duck Legs

  • In a mixing bowl, add duck legs and massage with crushed ginger and rice wine. This helps eliminate any gamy odors. Rinse and pat dry. Then marinate the duck legs with five-spice powder, dark soy sauce, crushed shallots and garlic for 20-30 minutes.
  • Set the oven broiler to high. Shake off bits of aromatics in the marinade from the duck legs, and place the duck legs skin side up on a wired rack over a lined baking tray. Broil until the skin is blistered and golden with some darkened spots (about 10 minutes).

Cooking the Noodle Soup

  • While marinating the duck legs, soak the red dates, goji berries and dried shiitake mushrooms in room temperature water for about 10 minutes. Rinse and drain.
  • After the duck legs have been broiled, add water, red dates, goji berries, dried shiitake mushrooms, star anises, black cardamom pod, coriander seeds, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic cloves, shallots and onion to a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring it to a boil, add the duck legs, and then lower to a simmer.
  • Simmer the broth with the lid askew until the duck meat is tender and can be easily picked out with chopsticks (about 80-90 minutes). Skim off foams while simmering. If the broth has too much duck fat, skim off most of it, otherwise the dish might be too greasy.
  • Taste the broth and add rock sugar to taste, and adjust seasonings to your likings. If too much liquid is lost during cooking, you can add back a splash of water.

To Serve

  • Add noodles and blanched green vegetables to serving bowls. Place a duck leg in each bowl, sprinkle some scallions and cilantro on top. Then ladle the hot soup into the bowls and serve immediately.

Notes

For a stronger broth, you can add some duck bones or necks and simmer with the duck legs. Another option is to use some chicken bones, or substitute half of the water with chicken stock.
If you don't want to add rock sugar, swap 1/2-1 cup of water with fresh coconut juice. It will add natural sweetness to the broth.
The nutrition fact doesn't include the nutrition values of the noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 524kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 197mg | Sodium: 914mg | Potassium: 288mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 60mg | Iron: 5mg