Turkmenistan: Slow Braised Yshtykma Duck with Apricot Stuffing and Minted Saffron Rice

Turkmenistan sits deep in the heart of central Asia on the edge of the salty inland Caspian Sea. It is a country of sweeping deserts dotted with life-giving fresh water oasis. In antiquity those oases gave the Turkmen people extreme power to control the trade of precious items such as spices between the east and the west on the famous  ‘silk road’ trading route because the hospitality of the Turkmen at their oases meant life or death for traders crossing the desert. 

 

Exposure to the best of spices over many centuries has given Turkmen cooks the opportunity to learn about and appreciate the subtle values of individual flavours and fragrances. As such, they have developed a cuisine that is nuanced allowing ingredients to speak for themselves. Natural flavours of ingredients are not masked by herbs and spices. Rather they are complimented by them.

 

It is a cuisine piled high with foods (such as camel’s milk yoghurt, sweet melons and dried fruits) that echo the Turkmen people’s nomadic history and geography. Pilaf-style rice dishes loaded with mutton, vegetables and spices are a constant favourite (as they are in the rest of central Asia). What distinguishes the culinary practices of Turkmenistan from neighbouring countries is their love for white poultry meats, especially chicken and waterfowl (such as duck).   

 

our 

TURKMEN

menu included

 

SLOW BRAISED YSHTYKMA DUCK 

with 

APRICOT STUFFING

and

MINTED SAFFRON RICE

served with

FRESH MELON PLATTER

and

NAAN BREAD

 

 

SLOW BRAISED YSHTYKMA DUCK  with  APRICOT STUFFING and MINTED SAFFRON RICE

 

This is a one-pot-wonder recipe. It  takes 3 hours to produce 3 dishes with shared flavours. It appears very complicated because it has lots of ingredients and steps but it is totally achievable even for inexperienced courageous  cooks. 

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Primary Ingredients:

·      1 x large Duck (or goose) approximately 2.4 kg, cleaned

·      150 ml sesame oil (perhaps a bit more as needed)

 

Ingredients for Stuffing:

·      1 large or 2 small onion, finely diced

·      ½ cup dried apricots, diced

·      ½ cup raisins, diced

·      Juice of 1 lemon

·      4 large cloves garlic, crushed

·      ½ tsp ground cumin

·      ¼ tsp ground black pepper

·      Cayenne or ground red pepper flakes to taste

·      ¼ tsp salt

 

Spice Ingredients for cooking water

·      1 tsp chicken stock powder (or 2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled)

·      ½ tsp ground cumin 

·      ½ tsp salt

·      Cayenne or ground red pepper to taste

·      Sprinkle of dry dill

·      ½ tsp ground thyme

·      Ground black pepper to taste

 

Ingredients for Rice

·      1 ½ cups Basmati rice, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 40 mins

·      3 stems fresh mint

·      1 tsp caraway seeds

·      100 grams slivered almonds, toasted

·      6 threads Saffron, soaked in 1 ½ cup boiling water for 10 mins

 

Special culinary tools required:

·      Stainless steel curved trussing needle

·      cooking grade thick cotton kitchen twine/thread

 

 

METHOD:

1.    Start 3 hours (or slightly more) before you want to serve your meal by preparing the apricot stuffing for the duck

2.    Sauté and glaze the onions in a small amount of sesame oil for about 5 mins. Keep the pan on low heat as sesame oil has a low ‘smoking’ point

3.     Add the garlic and sauté until glazed and combined with the onions

4.    Now stir in the apricots, raisins, spices and lemon juice and gently cook for a further 5-10 mins then remove from the heat to cool for at least 10 mins

5.    As the stuffing is cooling wash the duck inside and out with fresh running water, drain upside down then dry inside and out with a clean tea towel or paper towel then rub the inside of the duck with salt

6.    Once the stuffing is cooled pack it into the duck, pushing gently as you go  to expel any air pockets that may have formed. Don’t worry if there is some stuffing left over as it will be added to the rice later

7.    Take the trussing needle and cooking twine and sew the cavity of the duck closed. The stuffing will expand during cooking so bigger stitches are better 

8.    Now make the spiced cooking water for the duck. Combine 1 ½ cups boiling water with the prepared spices – see ingredients list

 

NOTES: 

·      from this point a large duck will take 2 hours to cook 

·      Braising is a combination of covered roasting and steaming so the next step is the point where the duck is browned. It won’t get any browner later so take the time to brown all sides of the duck now

·      > Turn the oven onto 180 degrees Celsius now 

9.    Take a large Dutch Oven or similar that has  a tight fitting lid, sprinkle the pot with salt, add 60 ml of sesame oil and gently heat on the stove top

10.         Begin frying and browning  the duck in the hot oil. Go carefully now and turn back the heat if necessary  as the sesame oil can spit when the duck is added, but it is the critical point where the duck is browned

11.         Fry the duck in the sesame oil until golden all around. This will take about 20 mins giving 5 mins for each side and back and front

12.         When the duck is golden brown pour the spiced water around the duck, cover the pot with a lid, place it in the heated oven and slow braise the duck in the oven for 1 hour and 40 mins

13.         Now take the pot out of the oven and  carefully remove the lid away from you so you don’t get a steam burn

14.         Baste the duck with the juices from the pan and pop it back in the oven uncovered for 20 mins basting often until almost all the spice water is evaporated. If the water is diminishing before the duck is cooked add more water to keep the pot moist

15.         After 2 hours remove the duck from the pan and set aside on a deep plate/dish to catch any juices and cover with foil or similar to keep warm 

16.         Pour off the excess duck fat in the pan to reserve for later

 

TIP: There will be quite a bit of excess duck fat. Cool it and freeze it in an ice-cube tray and use it in the future to cook duck fat potatoes. If you want that recipe see my post on France

 

17.         Now start cooking the rice on the top of the stove in the same pot

18.         Add to the pot the soaked rice, saffron water, left over apricot stuffing, fresh mint and any juices that have been released from the duck in the resting pan and bring to the boil stirring often with a wooden spoon

19.         Once the pot is boiling give the ingredients a good stir to stop the rice sticking, put the lid back on and put the pot in the oven for 20 mins

20.         Whilst the rice is cooking remove the stuffing from the duck for serving separately and cut the duck into serving pieces – thigh breast leg etc the same as you would section up a chicken

21.         When the rice is cooked remove the mint

22.         Braised Duck pieces, Apricot stuffing and rice are served separately  

 

NOTE:

You may have a duck or goose that is a different weight to the one used in this recipe and there is a simple equation to work out how long to cook your duck. Cooking time for a duck is 25 mins per lb / 55 mins per kg. So, our 2.4 kg duck needed to be cooked a total of 2 hours 15 mins  (55 mins + 55 mins + 25 mins).

 

 

FRESH MELON PLATTER

Turkmenistan is famous for its melons. Amazingly, it  is  estimated that almost 400 different varieties of heirloom melons are grown in the country. Even more fantastic, melons  are such a great source of  pride in Turkmenistan that they celebrate  a ‘Melon Day’ national holiday in August each year. 

1.    The recipe here is super simple 

2.    Take whatever melons you have, cut them up and make a platter with them

3.    We had Watermelon, Honey Dew melon and Rock Melon so we used them

 

NAAN BREAD

Turkmen meals are almost always served with çörek, a central Asian flat bread which is baked daily  in a clay oven. Its near relative, naan bread, makes a good substitute if you can’t access the authentic Turkmen çörek bread.

These recipes are all Q-Zine originals informed by numerous sources including (though not limited to) the following websites:

https://caspiannews.com/news-detail/turkmenistans-top-10-dishes-2017-10-3-54/

https://www.chefspencil.com/top-20-most-popular-foods-in-turkmenistan/

https://www.advantour.com/turkmenistan/dishes.htm

https://www.advantour.com/turkmenistan/dishes/poultry-dishes.htm

https://factsanddetails.com/central-asia/Turkmenistan/sub8_7b/entry-4820.html

https://ingmar.app/blog/recipe-the-national-dish-of-turkmenistan-ichlekli/

https://www.advantour.com/turkmenistan/food/spices.htm

https://turkmenkitchen.com/en/