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Comfort Food for the Peranakan
Comfort Food for the Peranakan 31. January 2020
This Peranakan dish is a must in traditional Teochew or Hokkien speaking families in South East Asia. A hearty soup of duck, preserved salted vegetable, tomatoes, and preserved sour plum.

Sup Itik Tim

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3 litres water, or enough to cover the meat
  • 1.8-2kg duck, cut into 10-12 pieces
  • 1 small pork trotter, cut into chunks
  • 600g salted mustard leaf (kiam chai), cut into large pieces
  • 80g big onion, peeled and cut into segments
  • 50g dried shitake mushrooms, soaked and halved
  • 4-6 Chinese sour plum
  • 1-2 whole tomatoes, cut in half
  • 50g ginger, smashed
  • 60g (about 6 cloves) garlic, crushed
  • Spice pouch (tie in a muslin cloth)
  • 1-2 nutmeg seeds. (Crack and discard shell to extract the kernel
    and smash it once with the back of a cleaver)
  • 1 tsp white peppercorns, crushed lightly

METHOD:

  1. Taste the salted mustard leaf (kiam chai) first, if it is excessively salty, soak it in water for an hour to draw out the salt before using.
  2. Bring the water to a boil in a stockpot and put in the duck and trotter. Allow to boil for 5 minutes until scum rises to the surface. For a clear stock, pour away the boiling water and rinse meat with cold water.
  3. Add 3 litres of water to the pot and bring it to a boil, add in the meat and the rest of the ingredients, including the spice pouch. Bring soup to a boil again before lowering the heat to simmer until the meat is tender. Top up with more water if necessary. Adjust soup to taste, adding salt and pepper as desired.

Recipe courtesy of Perut Rumah Nyonya Cuisine