Lau Vit Nau Chao (Duck and Soybean Paste Soup)

It's funny how I ended up making this soup. It's all started when hubby called me on the weekend and he told me that he has bought five pounds of water spinach (aka morning glory). What am I going to do with it? Five pounds ...my god!

I have made crab soup last week (bun rieu), and stir-fried water spinach recently as well. Therefore, I don't want to make the same dishes again. Then some of my net friends suggested me to make Duck and SoyBean Paste Soup. To add more fun while eating, I turned the dish into a pot hot.

What is Duck and Soybean Paste Soup you might ask? Well, literally the name said it all. It's duck meat and soybean paste. The dish has soy bean paste (chao). This spice is just perfect to stew with duck meat. The dish has become popular across Southern Vietnam.


After the soup is cooked, I put it in the hot pot.



Here is my bowl.


The cooked soup is accompanied with rice vermicelli and morning glory veggies.


The duck meat was so tender and yummy!


Morning Glory (aka water spinach)


Taro - I cut them into small chunks and fried them. This way its would not fall apart when you add them to the soup.


Rice vermicelli


I love lime so i added some to my duck soup along with some organic chilli peppers.


Stir occasionally to make sure everything is incorporated.


This soup turned out perfect. The soybean paste is not overpower the flavor of the duck meat.

Put the duck meat into the pot.

Marinade the meat with all the ingredients


Add all the ingredients together and get ready to marinade (shallots, ginger, onion, dried chilli peppers, sugar and salt)

T0 make Vit Nau Chao for four to six people, I bought 6-7 duck legs instead of the whole duck. The whole duck has ton of FAT.


The recipe below is a combination of a few recipes I found on the internet and put them together.

Ingredients:
7 duck legs
1 red onion and white onion
2 TB of garlic (minced)
2 TB of shallot (optional)
2 TB of ginger (minced)
1 jar of white soybean paste
sugar, salt, pepper (1 teaspoon)
1 taro (big or small it's up to you)
2 cups of chicken broth
5 cups of coconut soda
1 can of coconut milk
some water

Method:
1) Soak the duck legs in rice wine or vodka and rub it with smashed ginger to remove the smell of its feathers.
2) Chop the duck into big pieces.
3) In a bowl, marinade the duck meat with soybean paste, sugar, salt, pepper, shallot, sugar, salt, pepper and red onion.
4) Marinade the meat in the mixture for an hour or two.
5) Fry taro for a few minutes but make sure it doesn’t break. Fry it quickly so that it maintains its natural flavor.
6) In a pot, stew the seasoned meat and fried taro in chicken broth.
7) Add the coconut soda for sweetness.
8) Add 1 can of coconut milk to make the dish tastier.
9) Cook the broth until it is thick and ensure the duck meat is tender.
10) Add the fried taro.
11) Done

This duck and soybean paste soup is accompanied with bun (rice vermicelli),and vegetables, especially morning glory. You can add extra soybean paste or some chili and lime and use for dipping.