I first fell in love with kiam chye ark (salted vegetable duck soup) when I had this really amazing one at Hup Seng Duck Rice @ Sin Ming Road that was peppery, flavoursome but not overly salty at all. It was one that warmed the tummy and just tasted comforting.
I did my own version without the peppercorns and I was really surprised how robust the broth turned out to be with just an hour of boiling. I didn’t even add extra salt as I used pickled mustard that was already salty on its own. One good thing about pickled mustard is that it doesn’t get mushy after being cooked for a long while so you can still get this crunch when you bite into it. The duck itself is slightly gamey but it can be toned down with the use of ginger or even galangal (with a slight peppery flavour) so try not to omit them. And if you like an even more peppery flavour, just add a teaspoonful of peppercorns. Enjoy this Salted Vegetable Duck Soup Recipe!
Salted Vegetable Duck Soup Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1/2 duck, removed skin & chopped into pieces
400g pickled mustard/salted vegetable, rinsed, drained & coarsely chopped up
3 large tomatoes, quartered
5 slices ginger, lightly bruised
3 salted plums
2 litres water
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients in soup pot and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour. Serve hot.
This looks really interesting! What sort of vegetables do you use?
Thanks! 🙂 It’s actually salted vegetable or pickled mustard green to be exact. Can find this in most Asian grocers and they come in packet forms 🙂